Universal Peace Federation (UPF) believes that the primary building block of an ideal world is an ideal family and therefore a peaceful and unified world will never be attained without establishing peace and unity in every single family. On December 16-23 and December 26-29, 2006, WCARP NCR-Sta. Mesa Center conducted Peace Assemblies for the UPF 5th World Speaking Tour. The barangays were our target in the fulfillment of 1200 peace assemblies in the Philippines. For WCARP NCR, the goal was 100 peace assemblies and out of 100, Sta. Mesa Center pledged to fulfill 20 peace assemblies.

First, we had a comprehensive meeting with the student team leaders and staff in Sta. Mesa Center last Dec.11 on selecting manpower for the mobilization, finance and logistics for the peace assemblies. We formed teams for the UPF mobilizers and prepared letters for barangay chairpersons. December 12 was the first day of our 3-day mobilization and on December 15 we had our preparation meeting for the scheduled peace assemblies and rehearsal at night.

On the 16th of December (Saturday) our peace assemblies began. The 1st venue we had was in the Brgy. hall of Brgy. 598 Sta.Mesa, Manila. In the morning, we thought it was difficult to invite people because only very few came and our mobilizers were discouraged considering that they were only students. But later, one lady Kagawad (councilor) also invited people from her jurisdiction until the hall was filled. Then we started the program and it went out smoothly with the unity and cooperation of the staff. The first session started at 11am with the Universal Prayer and followed by the singing of National Anthem, Some intermission song numbers followed from W-CARP Scholars and then proceeded later to the major event – the Family Blessing, the video showing and reading of True Father’s speech. The attendees who were blessed in that session were 20 persons including the Kagawad who helped us. After the commemorative photo, we distributed cupcakes and tetra-packed juices to the participants.

To announce for the 2nd session of the Blessing to be held in the same venue, we used the megaphone and that drew more people to the hall until it overflowed. Some of the participants joined the assembly outside of the hall and the total number of attendees who were blessed for the 2nd session were 49, including Brgy. Chairman Ricky Oquendo. In that session, we awarded him the Certificate for Ambassadors for Peace. The speakers (speech readers) for the 1st and 2ndUPF peace assemblies were Ms. Anna Ferr C. Navarro, W-CARP PUP President, and Ms. Christie M. Delfino, W-CARP NCR-Sta. Mesa OIC Center Leader, respectively.

The next day December 17 (Sunday), we went to Sitio Cacalog, Barangay Sta. Cruz, Cogeo, Antipolo City, hometown of one our senior students Mr. Broddie F. Labajo, Internal VP of W-CARP EARIST, from Self-Help Scholar (SHS) batch 2003. We conducted 2 sessions of peace assembly in their compound. His aunt, their area leader, attended previously on December 14. A 1-hour lecture presentation was also given by Mr. Ryan Ilustrisimo, UPF lecturer from UM Phil. HQ, to around 15 participants . The 1st session was a Tribal Messiahship Blessing conducted in the clearings of the compound center attended by 18 members of the Fuentes and Labajo Families. Included in the Blessing was the eldest of the tribe, the 82-year old grandfather Eliseo Fuentes. The speaker (speech reader) for this event was his grandson Mr. Broddie Labajo. The 2nd session was attended by their 12 neighbors and was conducted in the same spot. The speaker (speech reader) for the next event was Ms. Christie Delfino. In these events, our staff cooked and served "puto" with tetra-packed juices for the participants. Thus, on that day we finished our 3rd and 4th peace assemblies. That same day also, we sent advance party for the succeeding day’s events to the province of Rizal.

On the 3rd day December 18 (Monday), the staff and mobilizers moved to Pintong Bukawe, San Mateo, Rizal, the hometown of another senior student Ms. Venus T. Laceste, External VP of W-CARP EARIST, SHS batch 2003. In the event, we were warmly welcomed; in fact the people prepared and decorated a very nice venue called the UPCOB Multi-Purpose hall with a welcome banner which read "Welcome! UPF Universal Peace Federation. . . Rev. Sun Myung Moon & Mrs. Hak Jan Moon . . Welcome guests and participants. .- Brgy. Pintong Bukawe". One of the best singers of Pintong Bukawe joined our staff in presenting song numbers for each of the three sessions we conducted. The 1st session was attended by 20 people including the uncle of Ms. Venus Laceste, Brgy. Chairman Danilo C. Laceste. He gave the Welcoming Remarks and later received the award of Ambassador for Peace Certificate. The 2nd session was attended by 56 participants including 1 Kagawad and the family of Ms. Venus Laceste. The 3rd session was attended by 26 participants. The participants were filled with joy as they received the Blessing through the Holy Wine and Holy Water. One participant who is a college professor congratulated us and expressed his admiration to UPF and to W-CARP members for our commitment and endurance. The speaker (speech reader) for the 3 consecutive events was Engr. Ariel E. Realin, W-CARP NCR-Sta.Mesa Regional Leader. On that day, we finished our 5th, 6th and 7th Peace Assemblies. It was already night when we departed Pintong Bukawe since we waited for the passenger jeepney to arrive serving its last trip from Cogeo. We’re so filled with happiness knowing that on the next day a new dawn would open for the people of the Blessed town.

On December 19 (Tuesday), we conducted Peace Assemblies in Payatas, Quezon City, hometown of our members Ms. Liberty Nacita and Ms. Leila Leocario. We first went to our schedule in their barangay’s Women / Children Livelihood Center. In this barangay, we were not able to gain the cooperation of barangay officials and could not have conducted 1st session at noon, if not without the help from a vocational professor to conduct peace assembly with her class. And so the 1st session was attended by 25 students from the Payatas vocational class. The 2nd session took quite long to start because it was not easy to invite. With the persistence of our staff, it was attended by 17 participants including 2 army soldiers in uniform. Later, we moved to the home of Ms. Leila Leocario. As we arrived, the family gathered with their neighbors for the 3rd session of Peace Assembly. In attendance were 14 participants including family friends. At night, we transferred to Ms. Liberty Nacitas’ family; and there we held our 4th session with 16 participants including their neighbors. The speakers (speech readers) were Engr. Ariel Realin for the 1st and 3rd sessions while Ms. Anna Ferr Navarro took charge for the 2nd and 4th sessions. We arrived in the center almost 1 a.m. already. It was truly an exhausting day yet a victorious day also for we touched the hearts of many couples and parents, especially the two families we have visited. This concluded our 8th to 11th Peace Assemblies.

Our 5th and 6th day events were on December 20 (Wednesday) and December 21 (Thursday) respectively. At this time, some of the UPF staffs were already tired and sick but we had to go on for the next two succeeding days. We had only one schedule for each day; the first one was held underneath a tent beside the small chapel at Ang Buhay St., Guadal Canal, Brgy. 597 Sta. Mesa, Manila attended by 14 participants. This would be our 12th Peace Assembly. The barangay hall where we held our program on the 6th day was newly reconstructed and newly painted. However, it rained quite long and hard, that only 13 participants attended for the 13th Peace Assembly. We found it was difficult to invite in the two barangays since their barangay chairmen were not present during the events and the mobilizers were not in good physical condition. SOme of the mobilizers were already being summoned by their parents to go back home for Christmas vacation. The speaker (speech reader) in the two barangays was Ms. Anna Ferr Navarro. In the afternoon, the mobilizers followed up some barangays for our next schedules.

December 22 was the 7th day of our assemblies. The hall where we have conducted our 14th peace assembly was a spacious conference room located at the barangay hall 2nd floor of Brgy. Corazon de Jesus, San Juan, Manila. Their Brgy. Chairman Alipio N. Mendoza, a friend of a member's aunt Ms. Nanette De la Torre, was supportive and he attended the program together with the barangay secretary. 25 participants including the officals received the Blessing. The speaker (speech reader) for this event was Mr. Brian Masangkay, W-CARP EARIST President and Center Leader of W-CARP NCR-Sta. Mesa Center 2. We could not make another session in that barangay because we were only given half day to use the hall. After our lunch in the center, we moved to Marianito St. Brgy. Gulod, Novaliches Q.C. to the residence of Ms. Mary Ann M. Lacandazo, W-CARP Alumni, for our 15th and 16th Peace Assemblies. The speakers (speech readers) for these two events were Mr. Eryl Quindao, Regional Leader of W-CARP NCR-Muntinlupa and Ms. Christie Delfino, respectively. The 15th Peace Assembly was attended by 12 participants, held at 4p.m. in the garden of Lacandazo Family, and the 16th Peace Assembly was attended by 16 participants, held at 6:30p.m. in the basketball court of Brgy. Gulod.

December 23 was the 8th day of our assemblies. In the morning we conducted our 17th peace assembly in Sta. Elena Chapel at Aciete Extension, Brgy. 636 Nagtahan, Sta. Mesa, Manila. The venue was so serene, big and very beautiful. However, only 16 participants came including the president of the Catholic religious workers of the community. The Brgy. Chairman was hesitant to attend because he is a born-again Christian, and so he was not able to attend as well as all the rest of the barangay officials. Nevertheless, as we had been doing since the start of our peace assemblies, the W-CARP scholars invited people by themselves and later during the program presented CARP songs and dances as intermission numbers and served snacks after the program. The speaker (speech reader) for this event, Mr. Brian Masangkay, gave some reflection, internal guidance and inspiration to the participants and they really thanked us a lot. The chapel was opened only until 12 p.m. so we decided to move to another location in the afternoon. The next venue for our 18th Peace Assembly was the Padilla-Castro Residence in Pook Palaris, UP Diliman, Q.C. where our member Karissa Camille Padilla lived during her childhood days. When we arrived there, we initially proposed to conduct our assembly at the very bright and dignified multi-purpose hall near our venue, but we were not allowed. We conducted our program somewhere else. The speech reading was performed by Ms. Christie Delfino. Only 10 participants attended the event. They were few but attentively listened to the speech and Closing Remarks given by Engr. Ariel Realin. The head of the family sincerely expressed his support by giving positive comments and by shaking our hands in gratitude.

During the speech reading at the event in Pook Palaris, a very loud blast was heard and shook everyone in attendance. And as we have departed and passed by the multi-purpose hall mentioned earlier, it was now dark and poorly lit, totally different from its original description. We have learned later that the blast was caused by a truck hitting an electric post directly adjacent to one of the hall corners. The electric post got broken, fell down on the hall and caused great damage on its walls. The surrounding houses were without power, except for venue where we held the Blessing, and some houses near the venue.

Our 19th Peace Assembly was conducted at the Brgy.Hall of Brgy. 640, Buencamino St. Malacañang, Manila on December 26, 2006. On this event, we were only 7 in the mobilization team. Only the secretary of the barangay helped us since the chairman had a "hang-over". The program started past 12 noon already although our schedule was in the morning and ended at 2 p.m. There were 12 participants who attended the event. The 20th & 21st Peace Assemblies were conducted in the Daycare Center of Brgy. 118 Tondo, Manila. The 1st session was attended by only 10 participants. One of them was a little bit close minded because she was a Baptist and criticized us. Another woman came late who was so positive to us; she rectified the negative atmosphere and transformed it into positive by explaining that she already attended a seminar in our Headquarters a couple of years ago and spoke of many great accomplishments of our movement. The 2nd session was attended by 10 people and one of them was a woman who was so inspired by the speech and guidance. She said "Even if we don’t eat anymore, our hearts were already full." The 22nd Peace Assembly was conducted in Brgy. 73 Tondo, Manila in the residence of our member’s relatives. The 11 participants from different homes welcomed us with warm hearts and were really so happy. One of the couples who were attending that time have just separated but upon attending the Family Bessing, they were truly inspired and came back together again, according to Ms. Beverly Buenconsejo's testimony, our church member who is a related of the couple.

The 23rd and 24th Peace Assemblies that we conducted were the 2 sessions in the Daycare Center of Brgy. 630, Sta. Mesa, Manila. These events were very much exciting as compared to other events. We had to ride on the trolley with our center’s 24" T.V. going to the venue which is located along the train railway. The speech reader from the 19th up to the 24th event was Mr. Broddie Labajo. He had to raise his voice on this event since we had no microphone and the surroundings of the venue were a bit noisy. The first session scheduled in the morning was attended by 18 participants while the 2nd session in the afternoon was attended by 28 participants. When the 2nd session started, one of the participants - a grandmother said, "I was pulled here by the Lord". After our loud cheers of "Mabuhay" (local version of Eog Mansei) signifying the end of the program, she danced while singing "I am glad I am alive to see this day."

Couples and families were really blessed upon attending the programs. They were all happy receiving the Holy Blessing Ceremony and they would want to welcome us again in the near future with overwhelming hearts and aspirations. The success of the events was right behind the hands of the program coordinators and the other volunteers who worked hard to fulfill the assigned task given to them. These 24 events were made possible through the guidance of Heavenly Father and by the cooperation of the good spirit world, the absolute good spirits, the barangay officials and constituents, and the wholehearted efforts, sweat and tears of brothers and sisters. We are hoping that we can liberate many more barangays to offer to our beloved Heavenly Father and True Parents.

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