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ROAD TO PEACE
A Solidarity Speech Delivered By
Commissioner Ronald L. Adamat
WARP Summit 2018
Seoul, Republic of Korea

PART I: Introduction
Anyoung haseyo! Good day to all of you!
Let me start with 2 quotes I developed about Peace:
1. “Peace is as sacred as life. But peace and life
are sustained where there is development.”

2. “Peace should be anchored not on religiosity

but on spirituality.”
Thank you for extending to me the invitation to speak
before this noble and great organization of peace
advocates!
 HWPL Chairman Man Hee Lee,

 Ministers and Government officials past and

present,

 HWPL officers and members,

 International peace advocates attending the

WARP Summit:
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Again, my greetings of peace and solidarity in behalf

of the Philippines’ Commission on Higher Education!
I am Dr. Ronald L. Adamat, a Commisioner of the
Philippine Commission on Higher Education
(CHED).

I am happy to be invited by Chairman Man Hee Lee

to attend this very significant event and express my
solidarity and commitment to peace work as
envisioned by the HWPL.

My knowledge tells me that this organization is

associated with the United Nations Economic Social
Council (UN-ECOSOC) and has been forging
partnerships with peoples and governments around
the globe to promote world peace and end wars and
hostilities, transcending differences in culture,
religion and politics.

And today we should ask ourselves: Why do we have

to work for peace? Why do we have to band ourselves
in the name of peace?

I know your answers are as good as mine!

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Don’t you imagine how close to perfection this world

would be if there is Peace and there is Development
amongst people?
But how can peace and development be attained?

Education has to play a major role in the process as it

serves as a means to attain the same. And to make
education more relevant and significant, it has to be
grounded on values, because education without
values will never amount to the upright
transformation of a person.

PART II: Significance of Peace

Peace is very significant to me as a native of the island
of Mindanao coming from the Teduray tribe.

When I was a young boy, I have dreamed of peace

coming to my hometown.

This dream pushed me to seek education, because I

believed that it was through getting myself a good
education that I can become an effective peacemaker
and instrument in bringing about development and
progress to my people!
I grew up wondering how so much violence and
lawlessness; so much disunity; so much hatred had
come to my people!
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I questioned God why he allowed my people to suffer

so much from war!
But like many boys and young men in my family, we
were mostly trained to become warriors! We were
trained to defend our people and communities, in
times of war and conflict! We believed that the only
way to peace is war!
 But as boys, we would play war with other boys to
show that we do not fear our enemies nor of
violence; playing war for us was fun and exciting!
 We would play war as often as we want. But one
day we were asked if we could instead play peace!
And nobody knew how to do it!
Question: Does anybody here among you know how
to play peace?
(How about if I ask you to greet the one seated next to
you with a peace greeting?)
Attempt To Peace
For decades my government has attempted to come
up with different political solutions, economic
solutions, cultural solutions and even religious
solutions to achieve peace, but have failed!

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So we have made efforts to seek educational solutions

to bring peace to our people!
As an educator, I myself have learned that peace is
as sacred as life, because peace provides for
the right conditions where life could grow,
blossom, and prosper!

My experience tells me that peace recognizes no

borders, because it transcends beyond cultural,
political and religious barriers!

Because, peace should be anchored not on

religiosity but on spirituality!

And in my peace advocacy, I found out that:

“Getting rid of greed for power and profit is

tantamount to arresting two of the evil
reasons why conflicts persist among
peoples.”

Hence I have always been contemplating on this idea

of doing peace, of spreading the spirit and culture of
peace, wherever I am: whenever, however,
whichever!

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 For decades I have stood my ground for peace and

fought for the recognition of the rights of the
Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in my country.
 I have fought for wider accessibility of quality
tertiary education to all marginalized students,
including the Indigenous Peoples, believing that
education would transform our youth into
becoming instruments for peace!

Peace Issues & Challenges

I have pursued my peace advocacy and dedicated my
life to peace initiatives.
I have committed all of my energy for peace!
And based on my own judgment, there are at least
4 essential types of peace, namely:
a. There is what I call Positive Peace. This
refers to doing affirmative action programs for
people’s empowerment and development. To
sustain such, one has to be at peace with his
God, for it’s only when one is at peace with his
God where personal peace is attained – an
indispensable ingredient that will necessitate
effective promotion of the culture of peace.

b. Preventive peace. This is peace that

prevents, blocks or restrains violence and
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unpeace from happening even as early as its

symptomatic stage.

c. Negative Peace. This peace means the

absence of violence, war, and everything that
destroys life, but lacking the heart, sensitivity
and concern for others.

d. Curative peace. This is peace that tries to

solve or correct all violence and unpeace as
they come.

And today, I am happy and proud to tell you about the

good news, that through my initiative, the Philippine
Commission on Higher Education has approved to
integrate Peace Studies/Peace Education into
the subjects under the tertiary education curriculum
and shall be implemented amongst State Universities
and Colleges, Local Universities and Colleges and
private higher educational institutions across the
Philippines.
My proposal would ensure that students would be
equipped with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values
in conflict resolution and peace work.
This Peace Studies or Peace Education would involve
other learning environments outside the four walls of
the classroom, including the entire community.
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I believe this could strengthen the foundation of

social justice and development in our society.

PART III: Challenge

In closing, let me share with you my mantra on
education:
“Education must be grounded on values…
Education without values
will not amount to the upright
transformation of a person.”
Yes, if values are embedded in all of us,
o radicalism would have no place,
o criminality will not prosper,
o corruption will lose its appeal,
o hatred and conflict would disappear!
Henceforth, bringing the peoples of the world to
cultural solidarity will cause peace to blossom
and promote life today!
Yes, we have to work together to transform
the world into becoming ONE BIG GLOBAL
FAMILY LIVING TOGETHER IN PEACE!
Thank you very much.