Ceasefire a pre-condition

Following up on my interview last week with Former Speaker Jose de Venecia on his 3-step proposal for peace to new Iran President Hassan Rouhani, which has elicited international interest, he told me that his call for a ceasefire in Syria is an “absolute, logical pre-condition” to enable international and Syrian teams to roam Syria and “locate and destroy undisturbed” President Hassan Assad’s chemical weapons.

“The inspection teams simply cannot do their task in the midst of civil war, without a ceasefire,” de Venecia said. He said if Iran, which has great influence in Syria, asks for the ceasefire, President Assad will agree to enable the dismantling of the chemical weapons and avoid a threatened US missile attack, and which he said will also benefit rebel forces. De Venecia said the “interim ceasefire” could then lead “to a wider, larger, more lasting ceasefire in Syria and hopefully to a transition and an eventual negotiated political settlement.”

To pursue his Track II diplomacy, JDV, founding chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), representing more than 300 ruling and opposition parties in Asia, and president of the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) wrote his letter-appeal to Iran’s President Rouhani on September 9, a day before Russian President Vladimir  Putin’s surprise initiative to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons.

JDV followed up and presented the  letter-proposal to the ICAPP meeting in Seoul, Sept. 11-13, and to the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) of which he is president. CAPDI is an alliance of civil society organizations, private sector and former government leaders, with officers in Jakarta under former Indonesian Vice-President Yusuf Kalla as chairman. The proposal received support in Seoul, Jakarta and Islamabad, articulated by Pakistan Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, ICAPP rapporteur and CAPDI Secretary-General.

In attendance in Seoul, two of Iran’s former diplomats Nijad Hossenian and Masoud Islami, secretary general and undersecretary general, respectively of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), called the Philippine proposal “brilliant” and invited de Venecia, the ICAPP standing committee and the APA executive committee to meet in November or early December in Islamabad to discuss other problems in Asia and to establish synergy between the Asian parliaments (APA) and the Asian political parties (ICAPP).

Incidentally, JDV founded ICAPP, APA, and CAPDI more than ten years ago. All three are now successful Asia-wide organizations. JDV transferred ICAPP’s headquarters from Manila to Seoul, APA’s headquarters from Manila to Tehran, for lack of operating funds, and hopefully he said to bring Iran closer to the “center” and bring about a full-scale Asian Parliament like the one in Europe. He said moderation in Tehran is likely under its wise and enlightened new President Hassan Rouhani with guidance and new tack from the respected Iran Supreme spiritual leader Ali Khamenei.

De Venecia said Rouhani is beginning to take the high political and moral ground as indicated in his letter last week to the Washington Post on what promises to be new options for peace at the United Nations General Assembly opening in New York in the next few days, where there is a good chance of a meeting between Rouhani and US President Obama and perhaps could lead as well to a reduction in the sanctions on Iran.

In his September 9 letter to President Rouhani, de Venecia said Iran leader’s intervention in Syria, “will also signal Iran’s turn toward political and economic reform under the guidance of Ali Khamenei and the president’s leadership. Certainly it will ease (President Rouhanni’s) own hopes for ending Iran’s nuclear standoff with the world powers. It could even lead to the recognition of Iran’s major role as a peace-maker and a new beginning in Tehran’s foreign relations.”

The third part of de Venecia’s 3 steps for peace is for Iran and Saudi Arabia to initiate serious dialogues at the regional level among the rival forces of Islam – Sunnis led by Saudi Arabia and Shi’ites led by Iran to address the root causes of the multiple conflicts which have spread throughout the region, resulting in endless bloodshed and hatred among Muslim brothers.

De Venecia told this columnist: “Sometime back, I had the privilege to write to His Eminence, Sayyed Ali Khameni, Iran’s spiritual leader, and to His Majesty king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, proposing a direct dialogue between the leaders of Islam’s two major groups, the Sunnis and Shi’ites, to address the worsening politico-religious tensions and conflicts in Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria and the upsurge of religious extremism in a number of areas in South and Southeast Asia.”

There was a time, he said, when the “Saudi Arabian leadership made a most successful visit to Tehran which contributed to a significant improvement then in Iran-Saudi Arabia relations.”

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Shiatsu anyone? One can learn this Japanese traditional massage  in  a six-hour course  to be conducted by former Health Secretary Jimmy Tan Galvez on Saturday, Sept. 28,  at Flor’s Garden in Antipolo.

Dr.  Galvez  has just returned from Nagoya, Japan, where he studied shiatsu at the Asian Health Institute. Siatsu, he told me, is the Japanese traditional massage. “It is mainly a dry massage, done with your clothes on, using the fingers, palms and hands.”

“The scientific basis of shiatsu comes from the meridians and channels of traditional Chinese medicine,” Dr.Tan said. “The Asian traditional systems believe  in a fourth circulatory system of the human body. North American-European medicine (otherwise known as Western Medicine or conventional medicine) believes in only three circulatory  systems, namely, blood, nerves and lymphatics. Asian traditional medicine believes in the fourth — circulation of energy.”

The meridians for massage, according to Dr.  Galvez,  are named after the body organs where its effect on health and wellness will be felt,  and  the balance of energies of yin/yang or hot/cold will be restored and energy blockages removed, thus removing pain and providing relief from any illnesses of such organs.  The meridians are named after body organs like lungs,  large intestine, heart, small intestine, liver, gall bladder, spleen/pancreas, stomach, kidney and urinary bladder, the brain and spinal cord and the sexual and reproductive organs.”

 Shiatsu is  called Chi in Chinese, Reiki in Japanese, Prana in  India, Hindi  n Kisig in Pilipino.

There will be a tour of Flor’s Garden where one can learn about medicinal plants, their uses and cultivation. Healthy gourmet recipes (prepared by chef Fred) will be served during lunch and snacks. Also available at Flor’s Garden is Domini’s Guyabano Tea with Lemon Grass, a remarkably healthy drink.  

Call Lin for details and reservations:  6356092 or 09057044872.

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