(UPDATE) PRESIDENTIAL Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez called for the creation of a Department of Peace that will eventually replace the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru).

Formerly known as the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the Opapru was established through Executive Order 158 signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte in December 2021.

The Opapru manages, directs, integrates, and supervises the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Process by promoting and reinforcing reconciliation and unity among Filipinos.

Its major objectives are embedding peace, reconciliation and unity in the social fabric; enhancing resilience for peace; and pursuing social, economic and political reengineering.

Galvez said that as Opapru, the organization has recalibrated its peace-building strategies to focus more and be responsive to emerging developments in the peace and security front.

With the creation of the Department of Peace, he hopes that all the peace initiatives of past and present administrations will be consolidated, integrated and institutionalized.

"Because we saw the best practices of other countries, there is actually an institution ... there is actually a Ministry or Department of Peace," Galvez said.

He said that under the agency's current setup, a majority of Opapru management and personnel hold contractual positions, and therefore, do not have security of tenure.

Galvez said transforming the Opapru will ensure a state entity with a more permanent character.

Aside from overseeing the government's implementation of the peace process, the Opapru is also the lead agency in formulating and implementing the National Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security as well as the National Action Plan for Youth, Peace and Security.

It also spearheads the mainstreaming of peace education in the country, in partnership with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

Read The Rest at :