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Peace mission takes noble shot at Lebanon |
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by Raul S. Beltran from the Peoples Journal Online
A PARTY list congressman has joined an inter-parliamentary mission that will leave tomorrow in a noble bid to seek a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Rep. Mujiv Hataman, of Anak Mindanaw, said he will be joined by University of the Philippines professor Walden Bello. The trip was organized by FOCUS, an international non-government anti-war organization with members from Asia, Europe, Latin America and other continents.
Hataman said members of the delegation will shoulder expenses for the mission expected to take at least a week.
From Manila, Hataman and Bello will proceed to Tokyo, Japan, to link up with other delegation members who include parliamentarians and members of various NGOs from India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Europe.
The group will then leave for Damascus, Syria, en route to the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Even as international efforts to broker a ceasefire have faltered between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Hataman said the international peace mission still hopes a truce will still be achieved.
Hataman aims to personally witness the condition of the thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) trapped in Lebanon.
The congressman expressed concern for the safety and well-being of the OFWs, majority of them domestic helpers who, he said, could be in worse conditions than refugees fleeing the fighting between the military and the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu.
Hataman lauded the government’s efforts to repatriate the OFWs and expressed hope the warring sides will heed the appeal of the international community for a ceasefire.
The lull will allow the repatriation of civilians in Lebanon.
Hataman noted that the war has sealed off all exit points from the country. The sea is the only means for the OFWs to leave for Syria or Cyprus, where they can take chartered or commercial flights to the Philippines.
The party list solon recently filed House Resolution 1315 urging Congress to join the call of international and regional organizations for a halt in hostilities between Israel and Lebanon. He expressed regret that the war has victimized mostly civilians, including young children.
“The heavy price of this conflict does not benefit anyone except those who are providing and selling military hardware,” Hataman said.
In his resolution, Hataman also called for the active participation of “all civilized and peace-loving nations to join Muslims all over the world in pressuring Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon.”
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