“Political problems have no ultimate military solutions. Peace is a slow process with few shortcuts. But the longer armed combat continues, the longer and harder will be the road back to peace,” Alert’s founding secretary general Martin Ennals, warned in the 1988 Waging Peace conference which he then described as “one step, but not the last.”

Since then, the ground-breaking gathering has become an annual event bringing together peace advocates from different conflict regions in the country, and on a few occasions from the south and southeast Asian regions, representing diverse experiences and perspectives. These events have provided safe spaces for updated analysis and shared strategies, innovative ideas and bold initiatives such as the people’s Christmas ceasefire, local and international third party facilitators, monitors for the compliance of human rights accords and focus on the underlying factors of the conflicts which in effect constitute the peace agenda.

In brief, Alert’s focus through the years has been to assist in creating conditions conducive to the pursuit of peace that is sustainable by engaging in appropriate, locally-owned and sustainable ways to advance the work for peace.

Alert has been working alongside local partners to explore ways of advancing peace negotiations between the differing parties in the Philippines, while aiming to maintain regular communication and establish meaningful discussions.

Informal exchanges have taken place involving the official facilitators of the peace talks and members of the negotiating panels of both the Philippine Government and the National Democratic Front. However, no formal talks have yet taken place since they were suspended in mid-2004. International Alert, together with local peace advocates, has worked with both parties to explore ways to advance the process.

Alert has a supportive role to play in these negotiations, as an impartial outsider with many years experience of working with all sides to the conflict, advising those engaged in facilitating the peace process and consulting regularly with members of the peace panels from both sides. This has allowed Alert to provide contextual analysis and recommendations on alternative ways forward, even during periods when the talks have been stalled or suspended. Continuing to provide this form of low-profile support as the talks continue, Alert has also engaged in bringing together other friends of the peace process able to complement and contribute to the work for peace.

Alert has a track record of engagement with local peace advocates, accompanying their efforts and helping to amplify their advocacy and strengthen their work, while broadening the peace constituency within and outside the country.

Through the Waging Peace process, the formation of a network of peace advocates in key areas of the country has been encouraged. Moreover, sectors of society significant in the work for peace have participated in meaningful peace initiatives involving religious leaders and business leaders, among others. Alert thus facilitated the Business Leaders Building Peace conference and book launch in December 2007 and continue to collaborate in the work of the Bishops Businessmen Conference.

Alert has worked with women peacemakers from different organizations and institutions who are among the most active in the peace front. It has also sustained support for youth peace advocates assembled in the Generation Peace network. Aiming to encourage a successor generation of peace advocates, the work with youth and capacity building for peace leadership has become a significant element in the long-term work for peace in the country.

Working with political leaders from both Houses of Congress and civil society circles, Alert supported efforts to draft a national peace policy and to sustain ways to address the moral imperative in the practice of politics.

Testifying before the joint hearings of the House Committees on Human Rights and Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, Alert presented a principled agenda of working for a durable peace based on the respect for rights and social justice. Given the current political landscape and the dearth of morality in politics, Alert’s advocacy of peace-related politics linking principles with decisive political leadership has become a peace imperative. In so doing, the prospects for ensuring the establishment of a more successful and sustainable peace process conducted in a more strategic manner will be greatly enhanced.