The Rotary Club of Camp Aguinaldo Peace Projects

The Rotary Club of Camp Aguinaldo (RCCA) is composed of an interesting mix of service personnel and civilian professionals from different fields of endeavors. It is based in the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, located in Quezon City in the Philippines.

Peacebuilders in this active Rotary club work with local civil authorities, including the Civil Relations Service, who support their efforts to build peace in this region of the country. Their current peacebuilding programs include the Peace Ambassador program initiated by Past President Gerardo M. Zamudio. This program bridges gaps and fosters dialogue between all members of this unique Filipino community.

The RCCA was also involved in painting one of the longest stretches of peace mural art in the world. These impressive peace murals cover entire sections of walls in Camp Aguinaldo, along the main thoroughfare of Metro Manila and Boni Serrano Avenue. The project was initiated by RCCA Past President Rolando Jungco, and received widespread coverage by media organizations.

A portion of the Peace Mural splashed on the front page of the Metro section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a major newspaper in the country.

This Peace Mural project preceded Peace Debates among the top universities in the Philippines. The Rotary Club of Camp Aguinaldo also has a long-running peace and development radio program aired every second and fourth Wednesdays, broadcast over DWDD 1134 kHZam radio, with live stream on Facebook, CRS Virtual TVR. The program is hosted by Rotarian Valentina Clemente.

Club President Elect Jose Victor Vargas Jr. organized the 4^th National Youth Leadership Summit to develop peace through love of country, involving more than 100 youth leaders from throughout the Philippines. This event presented the Yes for Peace, or “Bayanihan ng Bayan,” campaign to youth leaders. Yes for Peace, “Bayanihan ng Bayan,” is a non-government peace initiative developed in the University of the Philippines System in 1988. Its education and advocacy component has been implemented through the country’s Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education since 1996. Responses to the campaign stood only around 4,000,000 in 2013 when the RCCA first adopted it. This figure jumped to more than 11,200,000 in 2016 (when the results were symbolically turned over to the government), in promotion of peace. In 2018, the program continues to inspire Filipino youth leaders in peacebuilding activities, and they even join in “peace marches” to promote positive peace within the Philippines.

Yes For Peace, “Bayanihan ng Bayan,” a program adopted by the Rotary Club of Camp Aguinaldo, joins a Peace March to promote peace in their Rotary district.

RAGFP salutes the unifying peacebuilding efforts of the Rotary Club of Camp Aguinaldo, and of all our members in the Philippines.