In Barangay Siguel, General Santos, peace will begin with new classrooms, working toilets and children learning how not to fear one another.

Japan has committed $321,273 (P18.92 million), to rebuild part of Bawing National High School and bring peace education into its classrooms.

Recently, Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya signed the grant agreement with the NGO ChildFund under Tokyo's Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects.

Barangay Siguel is a rural community where Muslims, indigenous peoples and other groups have long lived side by side, but where poverty, weak school facilities and lingering prejudice continue to test that coexistence.

The project will replace aging buildings and sanitation facilities at a public junior and senior high school attended by 1,577 students.

Just as important, it will introduce peace education programs designed to bring together students from different cultural and religious backgrounds, and encourage dialogue, mutual respect, a better understanding of one another.

Teachers will also undergo training focused on intercultural learning and classroom approaches that promote peace.

The idea is to make schools more than places of instruction. Students will eventually take the lead through peer mentoring, cultural exchanges, sports activities and other community programs intended to carry those lessons beyond the campus.

For Japan, the initiative is part of a broader effort that has been running for more than two decades.

Since 2002, Tokyo has funded 69 NGO-led projects across the Philippines through the same grant program, committing a total of ¥2.092 billion (P780 million).

The assistance reflects Japan's longrunning emphasis on community-based development, particularly in conflictaffected areas where stronger schools, better facilities and everyday interaction between young people are seen as investments in, more than education, a more stable and inclusive future.