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Dr. Stefan Friedrich, Head of KAS Team Asia in the Berlin Headquarters, met with Hermogenes E. Ebdane, Jr., Secretary of National Defense during his recent visit to the Philippines last 17 May 2007.

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung has been supporting programs related to the peace process in cooperation with Department of National Defense. Earlier in the day, Dr. Friedrich and KAS Country Representative Klaus Preschle discussed these programs with DND Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina and Executive Director of the Balay-Mindanaw Foundation Ariel Hernandez. BMFI facilitated 10 seminars from military commanders in Western Mindanao, which basically targeted to improve the communication abilities of the military leadership in conflict situations. The partnership program between KAS, DND, OPAPP and BMFI offers an overview to the so-called Mindanao problem, the issues of the peace process, possible political solutions and special trainings on communication in conflict situations. The program also offers dialogue between the military, the MILF and the local government units.

Sec. Ebdane and Undersecretary Carolina express their satisfaction with the on-going programs, which contribute to the National Defense Reform in the Philippines. “With the support of KAS we got the modules we needed,” according to Undersecretary Carolina, it will help the Philippines to transform the military into an active stakeholder of the peace process and to prepare for a post-conflict scenario.