A South Korean media group and Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) have released a peace documentary film titled “Great Legacy” about the international peace building efforts which should be imitated by others at war.
Mindanao which started in 1960 is one of the longest conflicts the world has ever seen in Philippines where approximately 120,000 deaths were reported and other people displaced in their millions.
In celebration of National Peace Consciousness Month, a peace documentary titled “Great Legacy” premiered in a cinema in Davao City with representatives from the government, media, as well as civil society leaders, religious leaders across the country, and peace advocates from Mindanao in attendance.
The documentary produced by SMV Media Group, a broadcast company based in Seoul, South Korea, in collaboration with Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international non-profit organization affiliated with the UN ECOSOC advocating for global peace, showcased HWPL and actors engaged in peace-related activities in Mindanao.
Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte congratulated the makers of this peace film.
“By showing people documentaries and films on peace, we encourage more to join our peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts for our communities,” he said.
HWPL’s peace movement in the Philippines started when HWPL Chairman Lee Man-hee, a Korean war veteran and peace activist, visited Mindanao and mediated for peace in 2013.
The peace agreement was signed by Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla and Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” G. Mangudadatu in Santos City before 300 people including politicians, university professors, religious leaders, and students.
The representatives on that day promised to cooperate in ceasing the conflict and building peace in Mindanao region which has long suffered the aftereffects of war.
This agreement became the starting point of HWPL in raising public awareness about peace in Mindanao and throughout the Philippines, based on the universal principles of mutual understanding, respect, and harmony.
HWPL’s peace initiatives include law enactment for peace, interfaith dialogues, peace education, youth and women empowerment, which has brought leaders in different countries to support peace in Mindanao.
In the film, Martin Lee Hojian, former chairperson of the UN Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, praised HWPL and the Filipino people who had a keen passion for peace.
Nabil Tirmage, Asia Pacific Broadcasting Development Organization program manager, said that the civil peace agreement in 2014 is an “amazing case of realization of peace that the world should study and embrace.
“The conflict in Mindanao has been a major variable in Southeast Asia and the global situation. The establishment of peace in Mindanao was a global task and required constructive intervention from the international community,” he said.
He added that the documentary will create an understanding of the imperativeness of Private sector, like HWPL in Mindanao, in peace efforts.
SMV Media Group announced that the documentary film will be accessible through various channels in different countries including broadcasting stations and multiplex theaters.
