Philippine village was first to declares itself 'space for peace'

Published: 2008-02-27

NALAPAAN, Philippines (CNS) -- In a land that for years has known only war, this is a peaceful place. Water buffaloes cool off in the streams that outline the deep green fields where farmers harvest huge piles of rice. Children wander along dirt roads to schools where they will learn how to resolve conflicts at the same time as they learn to read and write. Women pause in their labors to talk about new houses the community is going to build. Soldiers occasionally wander through the village, but they do not use their weapons. It is a space for peace. In 2003, Nalapaan was the first village in the area to declare itself a "space for peace." For years the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front used the village as a staging ground for attacks on government troops. So the army attacked the village unmercifully, burning homes, destroying the water system, forcing residents to flee for the nearby town of Pikit while their crops rotted in the fields. Then Oblate Father Bert Layson, the priest at Pikit's Immaculate Conception Parish, convinced both armed groups to back off. He found international aid groups willing to help the 350 families return and re-establish their livelihoods.

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .