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PRESident Jose Ramos-Horta of the Democratic Republic of
Timor Leste on Monday underscored the importance of
holding dialogues in settling conflicts to attain
lasting peace.
Ramos-Horta
said leaders must learn to sit down, talk and listen
instead of resorting to violence or use of force, which,
he said, often leads to tragedy.
Speaking
before members of the academic community at the Malcolm
Hall of the University of the Philippines College of
Law, the visiting Noble Peace Prize winner said “the
means do not justify the ends.” He survived an
assassination attempt early this year.
Ramos-Horta
was the guest speaker of a forum dubbed “South-to-South
Peoples Solidarity: The East Timor Experience,” the
first of the Larry Ilagan Forum Series marking the 20th
Anniversary of the Initiatives for International
Dialogue in cooperation with the University of the
Philippines Centennial Lecture Series.
Ramos-Horta
finally set foot at the Malcolm Hall 14 years after
being barred from attending a dialogue at the same venue
to tackle and highlight the plight of East Timor, to
break free from Indonesia.
Then the
Special Representative of the National Council of
Timorese Resistance and of the imprisoned East Timorese
resistance leader and icon Xanana Gusmao, he was
supposed to attend the Asia-Pacific Conference for East
Timor scheduled on May 31 to June 4, 1994, but was
barred by a court order, after intense political
pressure was put up by then Indonesian President Suharto
on the Ramos administration.
Ramos-Horta
said despite his people’s tragic experience in the hands
of Indonesia, the East Timorese never exacted vengeance.
“Even
today, not a single Indonesian was killed by East
Timorese. Exacting vengeance will make us no different
from our oppressors,” he said. Ramos-Horta said he felt
sorry for those who attempted to execute him, saying
they, too, were victims of circumstances.
He said
the actions of those who attempted to kill him are “a
result of influence” not entirely in their own, but that
of a different place and setting.
Ramos-Horta
said what happened 14 years ago, should not be taken
against the Philippine government, blaming solely the
Indonesian government’s “disastrous” public relations
stunt at that time.
“Had
they only allowed the conference to go on with me
attending it, we may still be holding the same dialogue
today, quietly,” he said.
During
his lecture, Ramos-Horta recognized the historic People
Power Revolution as a remarkable feat of the Filipinos
when it unseated a dictator through peaceful means.
He also
acknowledged the Philippine media’s support for the
cause of East Timor, saying it was only in the
Philippines that the call of the people East Timor for
independence from Indonesia was loudly heard. |
