8 i\Uk 27 i 
1 " A  
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second Regular Session 
S E N A T E  
S. B. 2569 
Introduced by Senator Villar 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippines is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia. It 
comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, sharing maritime borders 
with Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam. 
It is home to vast mountain ranges and fore&, 
the smallest living 
mammal alive in the Tarsier, the Philippine Eagle, the perfectly shaped cone of 
Mayon Volcano in Bicol, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, the Tubbataha Reef in 
Palawan, among the world's best beaches, and some of the finest delicacies the 
world can ever taste. 
With all these, it is such a shame that the Philippines and its government 
is a country embroiled in deep conflict, not with the Mor0 Islamic Liberation Front, 
or the MOJO National Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf and not even the National 
People's Army. But it is embroiled in deep conflict with fellow Filipinos. 
With this in mind, a lasting solution to the peace process is sought by this 
representation, and the creation of a government agency that will aim to create 
and foster lasting peace is recommended. 
With this in mind, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought, 


8 
AUG 27 [' 1 :.d 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
Second Regular Session 
~~~,~~~~~~ 
Rt; 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
S E N A T E  
S. B. 
~ 
~~ 
Introduced by Senator Villar 
AN ACT 
TO ESTABLISH A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES 
Be it enacted by the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives 
in Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Policies. It is hereby declared the policy of the State: 
1 .I. The Filipino people in their Constitution have committed themselves 
to build "a just and humane society" and a democracy "under the rule of 
law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace."; 
1.2. 
The Philippines adopts the generally accepted principles of 
international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of 
peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations; 
and 
1.3. 
Christianity and Islam are religions of love and peace that 
command believers not to kill. 
Section. 2. Establishment of a Department of Peace. There is hereby 
established a DEPARTMENT OF PEACE (hereinafter referred to as the 
"Department"), which shall - 
2.1 
2.2. 
Be dedicated to: 
Be a Cabinet-level department in the National Government; and 
(a) promoting peace by developing peaceful, nonkilling and 
nonviolent conditions in all local communities and the country as a 
whole; 


(b) peacemaking and peaceful resolution of conflicts; and 
(c) the study of conditions that are conducive to a just and 
sustainable peace, both domestic and international. 
Section 3. The Secretary for Peace. - There shall be at the head of the 
Department a Secretary for Peace (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 
“Secretary”), who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines and 
whose appointment shall be subject to confirmation. 
Section 4. Mission of the Department. -The Department shall - 
4.1. 
4.2. 
4.3. 
4.4. 
4.5. 
4.6. 
4.7. 
4.8. 
4.9. 
Hold peace, non-violence and non-killing as organizing principles, 
coordinating service for and toward peace at every level of Filipino 
society; 
Endeavor to promote freedom, justice and democratic principles to 
expand human rights as conditions favorable to non-violence, non- 
killing and peace; 
Strengthen civilian and non-military means of peacemaking; 
Promote the development of human potential for peacefulness; 
Work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict, 
use field-tested programs conducive to peace, and develop new 
structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; 
Take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies 
and programs that promote international conflict prevention, non- 
violent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and 
structured mediation of conflict; 
Address matters concerning peace both domestic and international 
in scope; and 
Encourage the development of initiatives from local communities, 
religious groups, and non-governmental organizations toward 
peace; 
Be the lead Department dealing with matters of peace, 
understanding, and cooperation for good relations among the 
citizens and between them and the government, and the 
responsibility to protect and promote human rights, and prevent and 
minimize conflict leading to violence and killing. 
Section 5. Responsibilities and Powers. 
A. IN GENERAL -The Secretary shall - 
1. Work proactively and interactively with each branch of the National 
Government on all policy matters relating to conditions of peace and 
conflict resolution; 


2. Serve in the cabinet as the spokesman on matters of peace; 
3. Call on the interllectual and spiritual wealth of the Filipino people and seek 
participation in its administration and in its development of policy and 
programs from private, public, and non-governmental organizations; 
4. Monitor and analyze causative principles of conflict and make policy 
recommendations for developing and maintaining peaceful conduct, and 
the prevention of crisis and violence: 
5. Promote and develop program@) involving citizen participation, e.g. a 
Filipino Peace Program aimed at prevention of crisis and violence, 
involving their participation in all the elements from peace-building, peace- 
making and peace-keeping; 
6. Develop an intercultural competence to manage conflicts among 
individuals and groups. 
7. Assist in the establishment and funding of community-based violence 
prevention programs, including violence prevention and counseling and 
peer mediation in schools: 
8. Develop strategies and implement programs to address unhealthy 
manifestations of violence in Filipino culture as they relate to both humans 
and animals. 
B. HUMAN SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES - The Secretary shall address and 
offer nonviolent conflict resolution strategies to all relevant parties on issues of 
human security if such security is threatened by conflict, whether such conflict is 
geographic, religious, ethnic, racial, or class-based in its origin, derives from 
economic concerns (including trade or misdistribution of wealth), or is initiated 
through disputes concerning scarcity of natural resources (such as water and 
energy resources), food trade, environmental and gender concerns. 
C. EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES -The Secretary shall - 
1. Cooperate with educators to develop a peace education curriculum, 
which shall include studies of - 
a. The human rights movement in the Philippines, Asia, and 
throughout the world, with special emphasis on how cooperative 
endeavor and involvement have contributed to advancements in 
peace and justice: and 
b. Peace agreements and circumstances in which peaceful 
intervention has worked to stop conflict; 
2. In cooperation with the provincial educators and departments of 
a. Commission the development of such curricula and make such 
curricula available to local school districts to enable the 
education - 


utilization of peace education objectives at all elementary and 
secondary schools in the Philippines; and 
b. Offer incentives in the form of grants and training to encourage 
the development of provincial and city peace curricula and 
assist schools in applying for such curricula; 
3. Work with educators to equip students to become skilled in achieving 
peace through reflection, and facilitate instruction in the ways of 
peaceful conflict prevention and resolution; 
4. Maintain a site on the Internet for the purposes of soliciting and 
receiving ideas for the development of peace from the wealth of 
political, social and cultural diversity; 
5. Proactively engage the critical thinking capabilities of grade school, 
high school, and university students and teachers through the Internet 
and other media and issue such periodic reports concerning 
submissions; 
6. Development of an intercultural competence to manage conflicts 
between individual groups; 
7. Provide a diploma/degree course of instruction in peace education, 
after which graduates will be required to serve five (5) years in public 
service in programs dedicated to domestic or international non-violent 
conflict resolution; and 
8. Provide grants for peace studies departments in colleges and 
universities throughout the Philippines. 
D. DOMESTIC RESPONSIBILITIES -The Secretary shall --- 
I. 
Finance local community initiatives that can draw neighborhood 
resources to avoid and reduce or 'stop killing, create peace projects 
that facilitate the development of conflict prevention and resolution at 
the local and national levels and thereby inform and inspire national 
policy for peace; 
2. Develop community-based strategies for celebrating diversity in 
languages, cultures, and religions, promoting respect, and combating 
prejudice and discrimination; 
3. Assist in the establishment and funding of community-based violence 
prevention programs, including non-killing, and violence prevention 
counseling and peer mediation in schools; 
4. Develop policies that address domestic violence, including spousal 
abuse, child abuse and maltreatment of the elderly; 
5. Develop policies to address violence against animals; 
6. Analyze existing policies, employ successful, field-tested programs, 
and develop new approaches for dealing with the implements of 


violence, including gun-related violence and the overwhelming 
presence of handguns; 
7. Develop new programs that relate to the societal challenges of school 
violence, gangs, racial or ethnic violence, violence against gays and 
lesbians, and police-community relations disputes; 
8. Make policy recommendations to the Secretary of Justice regarding 
human rights and labor law; 
9. Counsel and advocate on behalf of women victimized by violence; 
10. Provide for public education programs and counseling strategies 
concerning hate crimes; 
11. Promote respect for racial, religious, and ethnic diversity; and 
12. Ensure that the principles of building a culture of peace guide regional 
official languages and employment of equity policies. 
E. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES -The Secretary shall --- 
I, Advise the Secretary of National Defense, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 
and the Secretary of Interior and Local Government on all matters relating 
to domestic peace and to human and national security, including the 
protection of human rights and the prevention of, amelioration of, and de- 
escalation of unarmed and armed domestic and international conflict; 
2. Provide for the training of all government personnel who administer post- 
conflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn communities; 
3. Sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute resolution 
initiatives, create special task forces, and draw on local, regional, and 
national expertise to develop plans and programs for addressing the root 
sources of conflict and violence in troubled areas; 
4. Provide for exchanges between the Philippines and other nations of 
individuals who endeavor to develop domestic and international peace- 
based initiatives; 
5. Administer the training of civilian peace-keepers who participate in 
multinational non-violent police forces and support civilian police who 
participate in peace-keeping; 
6. Facilitate the development of peace summits at which parties to a conflict 
may gather under carefully prepared conditions to promote nonviolent 
communication and mutually beneficial solutions; 
7. Submit to the President recommendations for reductions in weapons of 
violence and destruction including stopping their proliferation; 
8. Advice the Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations on 
matters pertaining to violence and peace, and the United Nations Security 
Council; and 
9. Provide ethical and value-based analyses of issues and problems to the 
Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local 
Government. 


Section 6. Principal Officers 
1. UNDERSECRETARY FOR PEACE - There shall be in the Department 
an Undersecretary for Peace, who shall be appointed by the President. 
The Under-Secretary shall designate the order in which other officials 
of the Department shall act for and perform the functions of the 
Secretary during the absence or disability of the Secretary. 
2. BUREAR DIRECTORS - There shall be in the Department such 
Bureau Directors as may be necessary and authorized by law. 
3. AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY FOR PEACE - Each officer 
described in this section shall report directly to the Secretary or the 
Under-Secretary and shall, in addition to any functions vested in or 
required to be delegated to such officer, perform such additional 
functions as the SecretaryDJndersecretary may prescribe. 
Section 7. Bureau of Peace Education and Training --- There shall be in the 
Department a Bureau of Peace Education and Training (Bureau) who shall carry 
out those functions of the Department relating to the creation, encouragement, 
and impact of peace education and training at the elementary, secondary, 
university, and post-graduate levels, including the development of a Civilian 
Peace Service (CPS). 
The Bureau, in cooperation with the .local offices of the Department of 
Education, shall develop a peace curriculum and supporting materials for 
distribution to schools in the various local communities. The peace curriculum 
shall include the building of communicative peace skills, non-violent conflict 
resolution skills, and other objectives to increase the knowledge of peace and 
non-killing conditions and processes. 
The Director for Peace Education and Training shall --- 
I. Provide peace education grants to colleges and universities for the 
creation and expansion of peace studies departments; and 
2. Create a Community Peace Grant program under which grants shall 
be provided to not-for-profit community and nongovernmental 
organizations for the purposes of developing creative, innovative 
neighborhood programs for non-violent conflict resolution and local 
peace-building initiatives. 
Section 8. Bureau for Domestic Peace 


There shall be a Bureau for Domestic Peace, the Director of which, in 
collaboration with local government heads, shall be responsible for promoting 
and undertaking domestic peace activities, including the development of policies 
that increase awareness about intervention and counseling on domestic violence 
and conflict, and those functions in the Department affecting research and 
analysis relating to creating, initiating and modeling approaches to peaceful 
engagement and non-violent conflict resolution. 
The Director for Domestic Peace Activities shall --- 
I. Develop policies and build on existing programs responsive to the 
prevention of violence and killing, including the 9elQpment of 
community policing strategies and peaceful settlement sMlls among 
local officials and police and other public safety officers; 
2. Develop community-based strategies for promoting and celebrating 
diversity and promoting respect for such diversity; 
3. Study the impact of violence and war, especially on the physical gnd 
mental condition of children. 
4. Implement the UN Resolution 1325 to promote enhanced participation 
of women in peace in all aspects of peace activities ranging from 
peace-making, peace-building to post-conflict reconstruction; 
5. Review and implement UN deliberations R2P2 - Responsibility to 
Protect; 
6. Publish a monthly journal of the activities of the Department and 
encourage scholarly participation; 
7. Gather information on effective community peace-building activities 
and disseminate such information to local governments and non- 
governmental organizations in the Philippines and abroad; 
8. Research the effect of violence in the media and make suGh reports 
available to Congress annually; and 
9. Sponsor conferences in the Philippines to create awareness of the 
work of the Department. 
Section 9. Bureau for International Peace (BIP) - There shall be a Bureau of 
International Peace, the Director of which shall be responsible for the country’s 
international peace activities. 
The Director for International Peace shall --- 
I. 
Provide for the training and deployment of all Civilian Peace Service 
graduates and other non-military conflict prevention and peace-making 
personnel; 
2. Sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute resolution 
initiatives in countries experiencing social, political, or economic strife; 
3. Advocate the creation of a multi-national non-violent peace force; 


4. Provide training for the administration of post-conflict reconstruction 
and demobilization in war-torn societies: 
5. Provide for the exchanges between individuals of the Philippines and 
other nations who are endeavoring to develop domestic and 
international peace-based initiatives; 
6. Carry out those functions affecting arms control programs and arms 
limitation agreements; 
7. Advise the Secretary of Peace on all inter-agency discussions and all 
international negotiations regarding the reduction and elimination of 
weapons of mass destruction throughout the world, including the 
dismantling of such weapons and the safe and secure storage of 
materials related thereto; 
8. Assist 
nations, 
international 
agencies 
and 
non-governmental 
organizations in assessing the locations of the build-up of nuclear 
weapons; 
9. Develop non-violent strategies to deter the testing or use of offensive 
or defensive nuclear weapons, whether based on land, air, sea, or in 
outer space: 
10.Serve as a depository for copies.of all contracts, agreements and 
treaties that deal with the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons 
or the protection of outer space from militarization; and 
11. Provide technical support and legal assistance for the implementation 
of such agreements. 
Section I O .  Bureau of Human Rights and Economic Rights (BHR). --- There 
shall be a Bureau of Human Rights and Economic Rights, the head of which shall 
be the Director for Human Rights and Economic Rights who shall carry out those 
functions in the Department supporting the principles of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 
December 10, 1948, and subsequent UN Declarations on Human Rights. 
The Director for Human Rights and Economic Rights shall --- 
I. Assist the Minister/Deputy Minister in furthering the incorporation of 
principles of human rights, as enunciated in the United Nations General 
Assembly Resolution 217A (Ill) of December 10, 1948, into all agreements 
between the United States and other nations to help reduce the causes of 
violence: 
2. Gather information on and document human rights abuses, both 
domestically and internationally, and recommend to the Secretary non- 
violent responses to correct abuses; 
3. Make such findings available to other agencies in order to facilitate non- 
violent conflict resolution; 


4. Provide trained observers to work with non-governmental organizations for 
purposes of creating a climate that is conducive to the respect for human 
rights; 
5. Conduct economic analyses of the scarcity of human and natural 
resources as a source of conflict and make recommendations to the 
Secretary for non-violent prevention of such scarcity, non-violent 
intervention in case of such scarcity, and the development of programs of 
assistance for people experiencing such scarcity, whether due to armed 
conflict, maldistribution of resources, or natural causes; and 
6. Assist the Minister, in cooperation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and 
the Minister of Finance, in developing strategies regarding the 
sustainability and the management of the distribution of funds from 
international agencies, the conditions regarding the receipt of such funds, 
and the impact of those conditions on the peace and stability of the 
recipient nations. 
Section 11. Staff &Organizational Affiliation. Officers and staff W i n  the 
Department of Peace may be drawn on secondment from national, provincial, 
city, or municipal organizations, civil society organizations and businesses. 
International staff may also be engaged. 
Section 12. Consultation in drafting treaties and agreements. The 
Department of Peace shall be consulted in the drafting of treaties and peace 
agreements. 
Section 13. Repealing Clause. 
All laws, presidential decrees, letters of 
instruction, executive orders, rules and regulations, or any part thereof 
inconsistent with this Act shall be amended or modified accordingly. 
Sec. 14. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days 
following its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of 
general circulation. 
Approved.