Last September 20, Peace for Life launched a conference in celebration of the International Day of Peace with the theme of “Waging Just and Lasting Peace: A Look into the 2024 International Peoples’ Tribunal and Respect for International Humanitarian Law” at the Institute of Small Scale Industries, UP Diliman.

The conference was attended by church leaders from different Christian denominations, churches, and religious groups including the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the Promotion of Church People’s Response, and the Church of the Risen Lord – UP Diliman. Students, the academe, and multisectoral groups were also present in the conference. In total, there was more than 70 participants to the conference.

The 2024 International Peoples’ Tribunal (IPT) and its implications in peacebuilding in the Philippines was the bulk of the conference’s discussion with the presentation and messages of actual witnesses to the IPT, Ms. Jonila Castro and Eufemia Cullamat. The 2024 IPT is a quasi-judicial forum serving as platform for the Filipino people, especially victims of State violence and IHL violations, to testify and present evidence and legal arguments against war crimes committed by the the Duterte and Marcos regimes in the support of the Government of the United States. The result of the tribunal is a resounding guilty verdict.