In celebration of the Bangsamoro Foundation Day, the We Are One Music Peace Festival was held at the Cotabato State University (CSU) Gymnasium on January 26, 2023.
Around 3,000 students from different schools and youth organizations attended the music peace festival to call for the cessation of wars around the world including Ukraine and Russia.
Guest performers including famous YouTuver and singer, Mikey Bustos, hyped up the youth with their performances and stage presence. Korean ‘oppa’ singers Aiden and Jin also surprised the audiences when they sang Tagalog songs.
Bangsamoro youth sang along with Samraida, “Queen of Moro Songs” and Nisha Bedaña of Idol Philippines Season 2 Top 10, and rock ‘n rolled with local bands, The Genremen Band and The Hauz Band.
In attendance also was a peace activist who has advocated peacebuilding in Mindanao, Lee Man-hee, Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL).
“I was here before and we walked together with students for peace. Let us all become peace messengers. So, let’s achieve peace without war in our time and make it a legacy for future generations,” he said.
This event was organized by Kutawato Greenland Initiatives (KGI), a non-partisan civil society organization that is committed to foster a suitable environment for sustainable development with peace, justice and equality by providing services to the vulnerable and marginalized sectors of the community. It is also participated by its peace partners, HWPL, International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG), International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP), BARMM Government, City Government of Cotabato and SPIN Media PH.
On the following day, the HWPL-VIP Peace Monument was unveiled at the school grounds of CSU. Dr. Sema Dilna, University President of CSU, and Dr. Ronald L. Adamat, Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) both attended the unveiling ceremony and expressed their support for the continuous peace efforts being conducted for the students in the university as symbolized by the peace monument.