By Mai Gevera

Davao City (6 November) -- Instead of keeping the peace process negotiations from the eyes of the public, peace builders are now told to come up with a communication plan to see better results.

In the recently held roundtable discussion on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) with the stakeholders as initiated by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, the resource speaker suggested better communication planning as the way to go.

Dr. Robert Hannigan, the invited resource speaker, was responsible for the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) of 1998 in Northern Ireland.

He also worked with Prime Minister Tony Blair to achieve the Government's objective of establishing the power-sharing institutions envisaged in the GFA.

Peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon agreed on the comment and suggestion made by Hannigan saying that communication plan is indeed a very critical and important factor in the peace process.

"We now have a communication plan and all these consultations involving various stakeholders are part of this communication plan," he said.

Esperon admitted that a communication plan is critical in selling the idea to the people and getting their nod for support.

The peace adviser also disclosed that results of the on-going dialogues are coming in and that the final assessment is set on the first week of December.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is said to be relying for her future moves on the peace process from the results of these dialogues.