Peace: One heart at a time

(I have asked my daughter Liana Elena Romulo to write about her grandfather, Carlos P. Romulo. On Jan. 29, Liana talks about war and her grandfather’s tireless quest for peace at the Ateneo Law School Amphitheater in Rockwell at 10 a.m.)

After 17 years of combing through Lolo’s letters and speeches, I think I finally understand what he meant when he said, “Peace is not built with words. Peace must be written in the human heart.” I believe he meant that the way to global peace is one person at a time, one heart at a time. Governments sign peace treaties all the time, but always it’s a temporary solution. The surest (and only) way to peace is to come together with a real willingness — a wanting — to stop fighting, stealing, hating; and a genuine desire to help others.

Today would have been his 117th birthday. To honor him, we recently opened the Romulo Peace Center, a place that endeavors to bring out the potential good in people through contemplative practices like meditation and yoga. A generous donation from San Miguel Corp. made it possible to create the center, and all proceeds generated by it in its first year will go to the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development, earmarked for a project to build a more climate-resilient Philippines.

Lolo was once featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! as the most awarded human being on the planet. His multifaceted career as a teacher, soldier, diplomat, and writer spanned more than seven decades, but what made him extraordinary was that he distinguished himself in every one of these roles.

By the time he died in 1985 he was a Philippine National Artist for Literature, and he’d collected 140 international awards and citations. The Pulitzer Prize in journalism, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the United Nations Peace Prize were a few of his crowning achievements.

Remembered most as a world statesman who advocated for human rights and decolonization, Lolo received — in addition to the 140 awards — 70 honorary degrees for his contributions to international cooperation and world peace. Yesterday, my family was delighted to learn that the US Philippines Society, at the suggestion of Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr.  has established the “Carlos P. Romulo Award” to recognize significant contributions to the Society and for efforts strengthening US-Philippine ties. 

“Men pray for peace,” he said, upon receiving an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University, “but they refuse to do those things that make peace possible. We profess, but do not perform. We wish, but do not will.”

The year was 1960. The world was in turmoil, and had been his whole life. He was born in 1898, just as the revolution against Spain was ending. Then came the struggle against the United States, our new colonial boss, followed by World War II, and the Japanese Occupation. After that the Americans launched (from Philippine soil) air and sea actions against Korea and Vietnam, and one year before he made this speech, the brutal Chinese occupation of Tibet which since 1949, had forced the 14th Dalai Lama into exile.

Peace today, more than half a century later, seems not only possible but necessary if we are to survive as a species. We have to do “those things that make peace possible.” With weapons of mass destruction, war is a winner-less proposition. With global warming, nature is kicking our butts. Meanwhile, genocide, rape, and torture still exist in many places, while an ever exploding population demands more resources than our planet can give. More oil, more water, more food. We’re simply out of time. 

Fortunately, there is a distinct shift all over the world toward consciousness and away from greed. If Lolo were alive today, he might have been hopeful. In 1960 we were “too weak to resist the fierce compulsion of forces and events,” but today, in numbers growing exponentially every day, people are waking up and getting stronger in their resolve. The recent Paris trauma notwithstanding, there were four million souls marching in solidarity.

“There are hideous incidents and beings that are human cancers,” Romulo said in 1949, as president of the UN General Assembly. “But in the main, our world is made up of people of potential good, willing, if the path before them is outlined, to become sharers of the light.”

 We are changing as individuals within our hearts and minds, which makes change on a global level an unprecedented possibility. People are keenly aware that the world is shifting in big ways, and they want to be part of the transformation.

The Peace Center hopes to galvanize individuals to act for the greater good.

We not only reflect the current global movement toward consciousness, but also seek to help it gain momentum. As a gathering place for positive change, we wish to share the light with many others.

 “Sometimes,” said Romulo, “a glimmer of understanding can show the way.”

For more information about the Romulo Peace Center, please go to http://peacecenter.carlospromulo.org/  text 0921 315 2644, or email [email protected].