MACTAN, Cebu – President Arroyo yesterday urged international religious leaders and government officials at the Regional Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, Development, and Human Dignity to promote interfaith dialogues in fighting terrorism around the world.

"What we are doing here today is every bit as important as building up military forces to fight terrorism, destabilization, and injustice here at home and across the globe," the Chief Executive told a gathering of more than 150 delegates from 15 nations at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mactan, Cebu.

In formally opening the three-day conference, President Arroyo said interfaith dialogues and intergovernmental cooperation among neighboring countries can help bring peace and understanding among people and stomp out terrorism.

The meeting, participated in by more than 150 delegates from 15 countries including New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, aims to promote understanding and harmony in the Asia-Pacific region through interaction, networking, and cooperation among leaders of various faiths and civil society groups.

The regional interfaith conference is expected to come up with the "Cebu Declaration on Regional Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, Development, and Human Dignity" which will contain specific projects aimed at promoting peace and development in the region.

Mrs. Arroyo said the historic divide between Christian and Muslims in the Philippines is narrowing dramatically due to the government’s focus on interfaith dialogue and the people’s willingness to accept the sincerity of those who have different religious or ethnic ideologies.

"As a result of the progress we have made in Mindanao, I am confident that peace is within our grasps and if peace in Mindanao is attained, it will be in large part due to interfaith dialogue and the intergovernmental cooperation of friends and neighbors," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo also asked participants in the dialogue to seek divine intervention so they could use their diversity creatively to come up with sustainable plans of actions towards long lasting peace and Godly transformation.

"We must follow our faith and have faith in each other if we are to truly lift up the poor, transform war into peace, and stomp down intolerance and violence brought by terrorism based on a false reading of the divine message or a misuse of a divine message that those who misused it do not believe in in the first place," Arroyo stressed.

Clark, who also spoke at the opening of the conference, said that interfaith dialogue among nations can effectively address the tension caused by religious violence.

She stressed that strengthening interfaith ties, especially in the face of increased violence, will be a long-term process, saying there is no quick solution to the current situation around the world.

"But long-lasting peace in our nations, our region, and our world can be built by a growing understanding of the values and beliefs we share in common, and by a willingness to accept and respect difference," she said.

Clark also challenged the media to help foster dialogue by fulfilling the need for accuracy, the need for balance, and good taste in reporting, especially on religious and ethnic related news.

Citing the international debate and violence triggered by the publication of the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which many in the Muslim world found blasphemous and deeply offensive, Clark said there clearly was a misjudgment in publishing the cartoons.

"I believe the central issue is one of judgment – of whether to publish, knowing that publication would inflame tensions and provoke division. Publication in such circumstances cannot be good judgment and deserves to be criticized on that basis," said Clark.

Clark also announced that the New Zealand government has issued an invitation for the third meeting of the regional interfaith dialogue to be held in her country.

The first interfaith dialogue was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in December, 2004, bringing together 136 religious leaders from 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to thresh out practical measures that governments and communities can take to improve social conditions and promote harmony and development on the grassroots level.

Arroyo urges nations to reject ‘terrorism cloaked in religion’

By GENALYN D. KABILING

President Arroyo yesterday called on people all over the world to to reject "terrorism cloaked in religion" and "godless" forces seeking to topple the government, using religious faith as arsenal.

The President called on people to be united in faith despite cultural differences to combat terrorism and destabilization as well as attain lasting peace and stability.

"We must never accept terrorist violence cloaked in religion by anyone at anyone. Terrorism is murder and no religion anywhere can abide by the faith of the faithless that kill and maim in the name of God," she said during the regional interfaith cooperation summit in Cebu.

"Neither should we allow an ideology that scoffs at religion as the opium of the people to be the reason to overthrow the government," she said.

The President noted that her faith in God has kept her strong in the face of residual destabilization threats from what she described as an unholy alliance of political opponents, communist rebels and renegade military soldiers.

"My own faith is built on the teachings of Jesus and the stewardship of the Catholic (Church). And I like to believe that my faith gives me the strength and wisdom to reach out and find common ground even with those who do not share my beliefs," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo urged the participants at the conference to reach out across cultural and religious barriers, saying that what they are doing is just as important as building up military forces to fight terrorism and injustice across the globe.

"Faith is the great antidote to terrorism. Faith is the great antidote to Godless ideologies. We must turn up the flame of faith and understanding as we help lower the sword of poverty and destruction," she said.

RP invites interfaith conference participants to Tripartite Forum

By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has invited the delegates in the ongoing interfaith conference in Cebu to become partners in the Tripartite Forum for Interfaith Cooperation for Peace which the Philippines will launch at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on March 24.

Romulo said that the participation in the Tripartite Forum of the 15 countries represented in the interfaith conference in Cebu would help the forum in crafting specific activities aimed at preventing world conflicts while promoting a deeper understanding among peoples of varying cultures and religions.

"The Philippines continues its commitment to interfaith cooperation and intercultural dialogue, and we encourage all delegates here to participate in this upcoming Tripartite Forum to further ensure that our joint vision of peace development and the respect of human dignity through interfaith cooperation is fulfilled," Romulo said.

"While the Forum’s mission defines the secular nature of the partnership – leaving discussions of doctrinal and theological issues to religious experts – it will nevertheless focus on practical and measurable activities to create value added to the rhetoric on interfaith dialogue and cooperation for peace," Romulo said.

The "Cebu Dialogue for Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, Development and Human Dignity" aims to come up with a Cebu Declaration that will contain specific cooperation programs which will be implemented at the grassroots level by the 15 participating countries.

The Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace was recommended by 16 countries led by the Philippines, 110 non-government organizations recognized by the UN, and three UN bodies.