[HWPL]

[HWPL] Peace Tours of Man-hee Lee (16): "The Creator's Will is Peace"

On January 24, 2014, HWPL Chairman Man-hee Lee, who mediated the Civil Peace Agreement in Mindanao, and Catholic and Islamic leaders who signed the agreement are taking a commemorative photo

Man-hee Lee, Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), has embarked on world peace tours since 2012 after receiving the heavenly mandate to “end war and achieve peace in the global village.” Catholic Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, whom Chairman Lee met in the Philippines during his sixth peace tour in September 2013, asked Chairman Lee to help end the conflict in Mindanao. At that time, Mindanao was a war zone, home to a repeated bloody conflict. The climate in Mindanao posed a risk to anyone's life.

In January of the following year, at the age of 84, Chairman Lee visited the battlefield, where bullets had been raining down from afar, with his peace delegation for “peace.” Explaining why he agreed to visit this specific place at that time, Chairman Lee said, “Someone who is working for peace asked me to go there for peace, so I couldn’t refuse. I said that I would only go if God were with me.”

On January 24, 2014, former Catholic Archbishop Fernando Capalla of the Archdiocese of Davao, Mindanao, Philippines, signs the End of War and World Peace Agreement at a civil peace agreement ceremony in Mindanao

Upon the visit to Mindanao, the process of realizing a peace agreement in the presence of Catholic and Islamic leaders required a series of miracles that challenge the boundaries of human logic.

On January 24, 2014, Chairman Lee emphasized that "the Creator's will is peace, not war" at a gathering of government and civil society leaders, youth groups, and university professors at a hotel in General Santos, Mindanao. Following this, he asked the attendees, “Do you want peace or war?” and asked them to raise their hands if they wanted peace. When all attendees raised their hands, Chairman Lee called the Catholic and Islamic leaders present at the scene forward, and said, “Then sign the peace agreement.”

The impromptu peace agreement was attended by former Catholic Archbishop Fernando Capalla of the Archdiocese of Davao and the Governor of Maguindanao, Mindanao, and the two sides signed an agreement for world peace and the cessation of conflict. The Civil Peace Agreement in Mindanao, which served as a prelude to the end of the 40-year bloody conflict, was achieved in a dramatic and unexpected moment.

On January 24, 2014, the Governor of Maguindanao, Mindanao, signs the Agreement on World Peace and Cessation of War at the Civil Peace Agreement Ceremony in Mindanao

Immediately following the signing of the peace treaty, Catholic and Islamic officials immediately delivered the results of the agreement to the government and Islamic forces. Upon hearing the news of the civil peace agreement, the Philippine government and the Islamic Army (Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MILF) agreed on the peace agreement for the cessation  of the 40-year civil war and signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 25, the very next day. At that time, the peace agreement was evaluated as the most significant step in the negotiations between the two sides, which had been suspended and resumed repeatedly over 17 years.

In May 2014, the so-called Bangsamoro Basic Law recognizing the Islamic Autonomous Region of Mindanao entered the legislative process in the Philippine Parliament, and the legislative process was completed when President Duterte signed the bill in August 2018.

View of the Youth Peace Seminar held at Mindanao State University on January 25, 2014

The prelude to the end of the bloody conflict in Mindanao was reported through Philippine state-run broadcaster PTV and private broadcasting outlets. Former Philippine President Ramos, who heard the news of the peace agreement, expressed his gratitude at a meeting with Chairman Lee, saying, “You did something that even the president couldn’t do.”

On January 29, 2014, Chairman Man-hee Lee is taking a commemorative photo after meeting with former Philippine President Ramos. Former President Ramos commented on the Mindanao Peace Agreement as “something that even the president couldn’t do”

In January 2014, Philippine PTV reporter Elizabeth Kachin, who delivered the news of the Mindanao Civil Peace Agreement which had been negotiated through the mediation of Chairman Man-hee Lee, highlighted Chairman Lee's ‘sincerity for peace’ as the driver behind these dramatic peace achievements in two separate interviews.

Reporter Kachin said, “Chairman Man-hee Lee was different from other politicians. Chairman Lee said, 'I've come a long way to Mindanao, where bullets have rained down, for peace alone.' The residents of Mindanao, tired of the dispute, quickly recognized the difference between a politician and Chairman Lee. Chairman Lee's sincerity for “peace” moved them.”

The Philippine media said, “Numerous peace treaties have been made to cease the war, but the conflict has always persisted. Many peace activists have worked for this, but it was HWPL, headquartered in Korea, that bore fruits of peace.”

In May 2015, in Maguindanao, where the Mindanao Private Peace Agreement was signed, the unveiling ceremony of the ‘HWPL Peace Monument’ is being held to commemorate Chairman Man-hee Lee’s peace achievement

In May 2015, the province of Maguindanao, Mindanao, erected the ‘HWPL Peace Monument’ to commemorate Chairman Lee’s peace achievements. At the site, a large number of key figures and regional representatives who participated in peace talks representing the government and MILF pledged to work hard to maintain peace and develop Mindanao. In addition, January 24, when the Civil Peace Agreement was signed in Mindanao, was designated as ‘HWPL Day’ and a commemorative event was held for ‘Liberation from War to Peace’. On that day, the leaders promised to “never again fight in front of God and all peoples of the world” and to “become messengers of HWPL and peace.”

In January 2016, on the second anniversary of the Civil Peace Agreement in Mindanao, the HWPL Peace Monument was erected in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao, where the MILF garrison was stationed. It made it official externally that peace in Mindanao had come to be achieved through HWPL. Visiting the MILF base to attend the unveiling ceremony of the Peace Monument, Chairman Lee and his peace delegation were warmly welcomed by the people of Mindanao. The endless lines of welcoming crowds illustrated how much the people of Mindanao were longing for ‘peace’.

Following the agreement, HWPL continued to provide support for the settlement of peace and restoration of daily life and education for the locals. Their welcome represented their gratitude to the Korean peace activist, who made it possible to return to daily life.

The Mindanao Civil Peace Agreement served as an opportunity to promote Chairman Lee to the international community. Chairman Lee, who has received numerous peace awards, said, “The true prize is peace,” and revealed that he will not stop the movement for peace until the day ‘the cessation of war and world peace’ is realized.

In January 2016, in celebration of the 2nd anniversary of the Civil Peace Agreement in Mindanao, the unveiling ceremony of the ‘HWPL Peace Monument’ is being held in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao where the Islamic Army MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) is stationed

Peace!!