DOWN SOUTH
They come in peace
On Friday, February 19th, Bob Timonera will be launching his book Soldiers for Peace at the Finster Amphitheatre of the Ateneo de Davao University at 1:00 pm. The book documents the birth of a peace advocacy among Mindanao soldiers and goes on to explore how elements within grapple with workable avenues to institutionalize peace education in soldier training and recognize peace work as a legitimate function of the man with the gun.
It is quite fitting for the book to have its national launch in Mindanao. After all, it was here in Mindanao that the peace building model was evolved through the efforts of some military visionaries who, with the help of community stakeholders, have chosen to wage a quiet revolution while working within the traditionally insular AFP system. It is hoped that their efforts would spell in the end the paradoxical transformation of a war machinery into a peace machinery.
Published by the Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc., Soldiers for Peace traces the beginning of the peace agenda among soldiers through the example of Lieutenant General Raymundo B. Ferrer, presently the commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and briefly the martial law administrator in Maguindanao last December. He was also the ground commander of the 2008 pursuit operations against rogue MILF elements who protested rather violently the non-signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
Gee–he doesn’t sound so peaceful, does he?
There’s the paradox. When it’s time for war, our community can’t ask for a better soldier. But when it’s time for peace, the Peace General believes there’s no need for war. Ding Ferrer can discriminate which response is called for by the situation.
Bob’s book quite creditably covers Ferrer’s tenacious attempt to insinuate the peace agenda into the concerns of the military organization in the last five years. From Basilan to Maguindanao to the bigger Eastern Mindanao. It’s growing. It might very well be the lasting legacy of the soldier this social scientist calls the vanguard of the future AFP.
This book represents a reversal of roles for Bob and me. Here at MindaNews, I write, Bob edits. He crows whenever he finds “sipyat ni Ma’m Gail! Yehey!”
For Soldiers for Peace, he wrote, I edited. It was my turn to badger him about “Context, Bob, context!” Apparently, Bob has never met an editor like me. He’s more used to editors who slash and burn. My version of editing required him to fill in the blanks.
In fact, I think I’d created some of the blanks for him to fill. I hope he will work with me again, but if not, I really can’t blame him.
As Bob’s editor, I join him in humbly offering this book as a worthy addition to the growing peace literature to emerge from Mindanao of late. As an academic, I find a lot of merit in this book – elements of peace psychology, alternatives for security sector reform, controversial criticisms of counterinsurgency efforts, convergence with nuanced opposition, and an optimistic outlook on post-conflict rebuilding. It echoes my advocacy for the AFP to be more responsive to the call of the times and the needs of the people.
Throw in Bob’s newest interest in narrative journalism and his impeccable eye for photography, and we have one book that really deserves to see the peaceful light of day.
Please email me at gail@mindanews.com if you’re interested to come to the book launch. Seats are by reservation. The affair is day formal.
