The CoRe Group is set to launch its campaign to promote collaborative dialogue processes for company and community conflicts.  Through partnership with the Ateneo de Manila Law School, a forum entitled Dialogue: Transforming Company-Community Relations will highlight the case study on the Ambuklao and Binga ancestral domain conflict.  The forum will be held at the Ateneo Professional Schools auditorium on December 5, 2011 at 2:30pm.  A video documentary on the process produced by Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government will be shown.

Keynote speaker for the event is Ms. Meg Taylor, the Vice President of the Compliance Advisor / Ombudsman (CAO) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).  Other special guests will include representatives of stakeholder groups intrumental in the successful mediation process. 

If you wish to participate in this event, please email the CoRe Group Secretariat at secretariat@coregroup.org.ph.   You may find the program of activities here.

An interesting mix of prosecutors and non-prosecutors from various fields received scholarships from the AUSAID and the Conflict Resolution Group Foundation for a two-week training and internship on mediation. The training was held from Aug. 15-19, 2011 at the Mei King Function Hall of the Garand Regal Hotel in Lanang, Davao City. Fiscals from various prosecutors’ offices in Mindanao were invited to join the training. The non-prosecutors that were invited came from diverse backgrounds such as law, non-government and non-profit, the private sector, the academe, and local government. This significant combination paved the way for an appreciation of mediation as a non-adversarial means of conflict resolution among the trainees.

Participants were exposed to the rudiments of mediation and negotiation as effective tools in mediation. Principal trainors were Prof. Annabelle T. Abaya, the country’s pioneer in conflict resolution, and Mr. Tristan C. Besa, a seasoned facilitator and mediator. They were later joined by former Valenzuela Prosecutor Dominador Bornasal, Jr. who explained the technicalities of mediation to the trainees. With his was Dr. Francisco Ramirez, Jr., the internship supervisor who introduced the components of the internship to the group.

The participants were introduced to the theoretical framework as well as the paradigm shift from the adversarial process of litigation to mediation. The training included exercises and group discussions on negotiation, non-adversarial communication, and mediation. Through these activities, their communication skills were refined.

A practical internship followed the rigorous classroom training wherein the participants were allowed to mediate actual cases filed at prosecutors’ offices at the Department of Justice. The practical internship was a hands-on activity where the trainees were exposed to actual criminal cases such as violation of BP22, theft, reckless imprudence, slander, and grave threats, among others.  Participants were able to produce a 92% success rate which illustrates that mediation can work even in criminal cases.

The training and internship is part of a two-phase project that aims to institutionalize mediation at the National Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice.

Representatives of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative (CSRI) of the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University visited the office of the Conflict Resolution Group Foundation in February 2011 to conduct interviews as part of a video documentary highlighting the mediation process involving the 60-year dispute between government and communities in Benguet. The CSRI team also took a trip to Barangay Ambuklao and Barangay Tinongdan to document experiences of both government and community representatives throughout the successful mediation process. The Ambuklao-Binga case was chosen together with 2 other successful mediation cases in Peru and the Niger Delta that will illustrate positive effects of collaborative negotiations between business and community

The CSRI has been working on a project under Prof. John Ruggie, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Human Rights, to gather information including case studies of successful mechanisms that can properly address company-community disputes. The CoRe Group, along with other international NGO’s, has been assisting the CSRI in this endeavor. The 3 video documentaries shall be made available on the CSRI website in June 2011. test

On January 9 to 21, 2011, the Institute for Inclusive Security (IIS) held a colloquium in Washington, DC on the role of women mediators in building peace. Twenty-one (21) experts in the field of mediation from different backgrounds across Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Latin America were present to discuss ways on how to elevate the role of women mediators in peacebuilding. A report released by the IIS on the colloquium showed that the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) determined that participation of women in high-level peace negotiations are very little despite acknowledging the key role that women play in local and international peacebuilding. Data showed that less than 10% of negotiators are women and less than 3% represent signatories of peace agreements. The Institute for Inclusive Security is dedicated to promoting the inclusion of all stakeholders in peace processes through research, training, and advocacy. It is this principle that guided the participants in the duration of the colloquium.

Ms. Annabelle Tecson-Abaya, an expert in the field of mediation from the Philippines, was chosen to represent the country in this significant event for women peacemakers. Topics such as gender inequality, the role of women in conflict, and the different solutions on how to increase the number of women in mediation were discussed. The colloquium ended with a list of recommendations that the participants believe would be of great importance to the role of women in mediation. Ms. Annabelle Tecson-Abaya is the leading expert on mediation in the Philippines and the founder of the Conflict Resolution Group Foundation. Her invitation to this colloquium illustrated our country’s rich experience in mediation and the availability of highly qualified mediation practitioners in the Philippines. The CoRe Group has trained over 3,000 mediators with more than half being women. For more information on the results of the colloquium, you may refer to the official website of the Institute for Inclusive Security or the Hunt Alternatives Fund website.

SOURCE: Theresa de Langis, Across Conflict Lines, Women Mediating for Peace, 12th Annual Colloquium Findings, The Institute for Inclusive Security, 2010.

Benguet Provincial Governor Nestor Fongwan announced last May 28, 2009 the creation of the Indigenous People’s Heritage and Cultural Site in Ambuklao and Binga. This is with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement signed by 10 stakeholder groups represented by Bokod Mayor Mauricio Macay, Itogon Mayor Mario Godio, Barangay Ambuklao Chair Polido Tello, Barangay Tinongdan Chairman and IP Head Norberto Pacio, Bokod SNI-IPO Chair Eugene Alico, National Power Corporation (NPC) President Froilan Tampinco, Power Sector Assets & Liabilities Management (PSALM) President Jose Ibazeta, and SN Aboitiz Power Benguet (SNAPB) Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Rubio. The Indigenous People’s Heritage and Cultural Site grants the use of the residual areas of Napocor in Marian Village and Sombrero for the use by the indigenous peoples of such common facilities as the school, gym, day care center, market, multi-purpose halls and other facilities. With the MOA, the management of the area is being transferred to the Barangays of Ambuklao and Tinongdan. The establishment of the Site is aimed at empowering the Indigenous Peoples, determining how these areas can be used to improve their quality of life and ensuring their continued use and maintenance for future generations.

The MOA also confirms the commitment of SNAPB to millions of pesos of corporate social development funds for projects on infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, cultural development, and other programs that the people might prioritize. NPC and PSALM boosted their determination to assist the people by vowing to identify land for the use of agriculture, agro-forestry, and similar projects and to provide funds for environmental protection.

The MOA is a product of 7 months of rigorous negotiations among the stakeholders’ representatives. It will be recalled that the local communities had been in loggerheads with government for the past 60 years on claims over the land, which had been subject to government expropriation and declared as watershed and protected area. While the sale of the hydroelectric plants in Ambuklao and Binga by NPC and PSALM to SNAPB was welcomed by the people as a chance to re-ignite the development of the area, it also revived the age-old “wounds” around unresolved land issues.

The assistance of the International Finance Corporation/World Bank, specifically the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman (CAO), was sought by the local communities since the IFC financed SNPAB in its plant rehabilitation efforts. The CAO is a facility of the Office of the President of the World Bank that provides assistance to people and communities who may be affected by projects that the IFC-World Bank funds.

CAO met with all the stakeholder groups who identified the meaning of land as recognition/respect for their culture, opportunity and security. They also expressed a strong desire to start “the healing of the wounds” through negotiations, guided by the values of generosity, voluntariness, collectivity, inclusiveness, and respect. A 5-day joint workshop sponsored by the CAO on collaborative negotiation preceded all negotiations in September last year. What followed was an open engagement by all representatives in meetings between September and April, leading to the drafting of the MOA that was signed today.

Chairman Tello who was initially very cautious says, “I signed the MOA because there is nothing to lose and everything is to be gained.” Chairman Norberto Pacio says, “This may not be everything but it is something we can now move forward from.” Ozone Azanza of SN Power noticed that after the collaborative negotiation workshop, “The communities are actually negotiating now.” Throughout the last 60 years, defensiveness, distrust and suspicion reigned in the relationship between government and the people. However, the space provided by the CAO for open and sincere dialogue paved the way for the people to express their needs, their fears and anxieties, as well as their hopes and aspirations.

Mike Hosillos of SNAPB said “There is much more that we need to work on after the MOA. But we must celebrate this victory if we are to move on to more victories. We share the expectations of the people that through our collaborative partnership, we will all gain from the development and growth of Ambuklao and Binga.” This thought is shared by Rose Kepes who said, “The MOA is like a marriage contract. We have to work on our relationship everyday that we live together.” Governor Fongwan called the MOA a “breakthrough.” After 60 years of immovable position-taking by the stakeholders, “a way had been found to talk meaningfully and everyone is actually listening,” Marcela Pedro of Ambukalo comments.

The people of Ambuklao and Binga still have much to sort out following the MOA. There will be trust and relationships to rebuild. More negotiations need to be pursued to make the Site happen by the end of 2009. The daily task of patiently working together to develop the land, preserve the environment, and grow their dreams along opportunities they identified will be the challenge. But with people talking and engaging each other, instead of judging, blaming or demanding from one another, the prospects for success is now much more promising.

A team of mediators of the CoRe Group which included Annabelle Tecson-Abaya, Tristan Besa and Mia Quiaoit-Corpus were hired by the CAO to take the lead in this 7-month collaborative conflict resolution process. The CoRe Group Foundation is the leading mediation NGO in the Philippines with over 3,000 trained mediators in over 200 private and public organizations.