1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 (2)

In October we will know if the nominated ``1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Price 2005’’ will collectively be named as this year’s winner of the Peace Prize.

Last June 29, the names of the nominated 1,000 women (999 actually) from 153 countries were announced simultaneously in different parts of the world. Twenty seven are from the Philippines.

Behind this unprecedented global search for 1,000 women was the Association 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 which was began in 2003 on the conviction that the commitment of women working for peace should be acknowledged and publicized. Last week I wrote about the criteria used.

Who are they, where are they, what are they doing? (You can read the short biographies in www.1000peacewomen.org.) Here are the Philippines’ 27 women and what they have to say on their work for peace.

Ma. Lorenza ``Binky’’ Dalupan-Palm: ``The peace process involves more than negotiations (with armed groups). You can’t achieve social transformation just sitting across a negotiating table.’’

Cecile Guidote-Alvarez: ``I envision a world free from poverty, pollution, ignorance, injustice. This must be done through culture so that it is peaceful. We have to develop minds and hearts that care and share.’’

Miriam ``Dedet’’ L. Suacito: ``Blessed are my companions who offered their lives while walking the path to peace.’’



Corazon ``Dinky’’ Juliano-Soliman: ``Visualizing peace means sounds of laughter, conversation, life at its best, singing, dancing, productivity and abundance.’’

Adoracio ``Dory’’ C. Avisado: ``I see the need for the Supreme Court to act like a conductor of an orchestra. Once they raise the baton, everyone will follow its way.’’

Delia Ediltrudes ``Duds’’ Santiago-Locsin: ``People should learn to let public officials know that what they are doing is wrong. They should not keep quiet about things that need to be changed.’’

Eliza del Puerto: ``I am childless but I have 40,000 children. The children in Basilan suffer the most from this senseless war and they need all the love and help we can give them.’’

Hadja Bainon Guiabar Karon: ``I don’t need a monument. I just want people to be empowered, as I am, especially the women and the youth, and assert their rights.’’

Haydee Yorac: ``You should believe in what you are doing and convince all the other people who work with you that what you are doing is important. And then you treat them like human beings, not like automatons.’’

Irene Morada Santiago: ``A just peace is not achievable nor is it sustainable without the energies, dreams, imagination and inspiration of women.’’

June Caridad Pagaduan-Lopez: ``My hope for women is more freedom, more courage to get out of the box, more openness to new ways of looking at themselves.’’

Loreta Navarro-Castro: ``We may not see the results in our lifetime but we must go on believing that someday, that critical mass will be reached and more meaningful change will happen.’’

Sister Mariani Dimaranan SFIC: ``It is fitting to remember and take to heart that no prison is large enough, or evil strong enough, to stop a people’s forward march to freedom.’’

Marilou Diaz-Abaya: ``Filmmakers can moved towards an advocacy for the redemption of human dignity. It is their privilege to reverse the current culture of despair to a culture of hope.’’

Mary Lou Alcid: ``In a globalized economy, will migrants just be a disposable factor to employers? I would like to be optimistic, working for migrant rights.’’

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer: ``Conflicts are best resolved not through annihilation of one party but the transformation of all actors toward a common vision and shared responsibilities and accountability.’’

Myla Jabiles-Leguro: ``Peace education is a must among schools and other institutions. It is as serious as math and science. If we do not give it equal importance, then we are not giving peace importance too.’’

Piang T. Albar: ``I want to educate our people for education is the best means to transform them for the better. It enhances human understanding and relationships, and strengthens faith and closeness to God.’’

Pura Sumangil: ``If a person is poor, he is not free because he is not given a choice, except for what he has.’’

Ana Theresia ``Risa’’ Hontiveros-Baraquel: ``We have to find another way of engaging in conflict and trying to resolve our conflicts without violating each other.’’

Seiko Bodios Ohashi: ``I will live the rest of my life in Negros because the women, children and men in this island really make my life rich and valuable.’’

Sister Mary Soledad Perpinan RGS: ``My body is complaining of the harness of my arthritic knee. Maybe it is my body that absorbed all the pain and brokenness. But my spirit mercifully has not. One does what one believes is right.’’

Teresa Banaynal Fernandez: ``The more difficulties you encounter, the more you are honed and deepened in understanding, in reflecting on the events.’’

Teresita ``Tessy’’ Ang-See: ``Our blood may be Chinese, but our roots grow deep in Philippine soil, our bonds are with the Filipino people.’’

Teresita ``Ging’’ Quintos-Deles: ``Hope is the lifeblood of peace advocacy. We have to make an act of faith every day to overcome all threats to peace so we can become effective peace advocates and peacemakers. We have to sty the course.’’

Zenaide Brigida ``Manang Briggs’’ Hamada-Pawid: ``I speak the memories of the hearts of my people. These pictures of the heart have been orally transmitted from our ancestors. We keep adding what we want to keep, and soon they will be part of lore.’’

Zenaida ``Zeny’’ Tan Lim: ``While, indeed, we have, in our own little way, helped our people chart a beautiful, promising future for ourselves, so much remains to be done.’’