Peace is Made Possible in Mindanao, Philippines and Around the World with HWPL

    HOUSTON, TX, September 26, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- HWPL – or Heavenly Culture, World Peace, and Restoration of Light – is a global peace organization established in 2013 and led by Chairman Man-hee Lee which shares the message of world peace and implements practical ways to ensure peace not only in this generation, but in generations to come. HWPL proposed the DPCW – Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War – in 2014 as an international law which would aid in the establishment of world peace and protect human lives from the tragedies of intra- and international wars. The DPCW is currently under review by the UN and hundreds of international leaders have signed in support of this law to end war and establish peace for lasting generations.

HWPL's message of peace began in the region of Mindanao, Philippines even before the DPCW was established. Mindanao, Philippines is a region known for its historically bloody civil war over the past 40 years, stemming from the Philippine government and the Moro groups in the country colliding since the Moro Massacre in the 1960s. This civil war over the last 40 years has resulted in over 120,000 casualties, with Catholicism on one side of the war and Islam on the other.

In order to establish an end to this bloody conflict, Archbishop H.E. Antonio Ledesma invited HWPL and its Chairman Man-hee Lee to work in the region and negotiate a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the religious groups in Mindanao. Archbishop Ledesma stated: "We welcome the offer of working together and we hope to reach out to the young people; this is very important to both Christians and Muslims." On January 24, 2014, Chairman Lee visited Mindanao to begin the peace agreement between the conflicting communities and brought nearly 300 leaders from all sides of the conflict to work together toward peace. The former governor or Maguindanao, Esmael Mangadadatu stated during the event: "We are brothers and sisters, the Christians, Muslims, and Judaism, all of us are one. We should not fight one another because what we really need to fight is the ones who get in the way. Let us achieve world peace."

This peace agreement gave hope to the people of Mindanao who had wished for peace for the past 40 years of the conflict. Later in 2015, the former governor of Minguidanao named January 24th "HWPL Day" to commemorate the efforts done by Chairman Lee and HWPL to establish peace in the region. On January 24th, 2016, the peace monument was erected at the Moro-Islamic Liberation Front Camp Darapanan to serve as a symbol for remembrance of the establishment of peace and the continuation of peace in Mindanao. Since this peace agreement, peace activities have been spread all around the Philippines, including Peace Education implementation in elementary and high schools by the Philippine Ministry of Education.

The establishment of peace in Mindanao in 2014 kicked off the drafting of the DPCW, and Mindanao has taken the lead in implementing this international law by preventing and resolving conflict continually. An HWPL Peace Museum was built in Davao City to document the history of establishing peace in the Philippines and show people around the world the amazing work done by HWPL and Chairman Lee. In September 2019, Cotabato City in the Philippines passed a city resolution to support the DPCW, followed by Kapalong, Davao del Norte and Davao City in 2020. In 2022, three more peace monuments were erected in Cotabato City, Barangay Foz and the Siniloan Integrated National High School. The Peace Education curriculum given by HWPL has also trained over 2,200 teachers from 2019-2022 to teach peace in schools for lasting generations of peace.

Since the establishment of HWPL, Chairman Lee has traveled around the world 31 times sharing the message of peace to the leaders of different continents and countries.

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