Research-based peacebuilding

Evidenced-based research must not only be utilized but maximized to its full potential to build a more compassionate, harmonious and peaceful society.

- SECRETARY CARLITO G. GALVEZ, JR.

Whenever I visit a community — a remote sitio in Basilan, a coastal village in Sulu, or a former conflict area in Maguindanao — I am reminded that peace must be built not only with respect, empathy and understanding, but with experience and knowledge.

This was the heart of the 5th Peace Research Conference held last week. As I listened to the participants speak — scholars, community leaders, government partners, and young researchers, I realized how far we've come and also how much work remains.

When we at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) launched this conference way back in 2021, our vision was simple but ambitious: to make research the backbone of our peacebuilding initiatives.

We wanted to ensure that every policy that we crafted, program that we implemented, and community dialogue that we conducted was guided by evidence and data. Like a navigator, we wanted to know the terrain, geography and the people we had to deal with.

Four years later, this annual gathering has grown into one of the country’s most credible platforms for evidence-based peacebuilding. It has become a venue where academic rigor meets lived experiences and where policy proposals become courses of action.

As a former soldier and now, as a peacebuilder, I have seen what happens when decisions are made without understanding the realities on the ground. The implementation of agreements hit a roadblock, programs become ineffective, and communities are left behind.