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STORIES OF PEACEMAKING
#1. Moros Refusing to Fight Their Brothers/Sisters
#1. Moros Refusing to Fight Their Brothers/Sisters In our culture, the "tarsilah" is a traditional concept of the Moro society meaning a story handed down from one generation to another generation through either oral or written means. These "tarsilah" are the way our wisdom is passed to future generations. They do not only rely on genealogy, but on a world view that relates to a history which undergoes continuing conflict and changes. On March 18, 1968, eighteen (18) young Moro Muslims from Tawi-Tawi and Sulu Islands were killed in cold blood by their military instructors on Corregidor Island just off the coast of Manila. They were among the nearly three hundred young Muslim recruited by the Philippine Military to be given secret training in jungle survival and sophisticated clandestine sabotage activities. On finishing the course of the their training, the military officers revealed that they were to be dispatched to Sabah to conduct sabotage work in that East Malaysian state over which the Philippines had, in 1962, bid territorial claim. The Marcos regime wanted to destabilize Sabah in order to cook up some excuses for the Philippines to send regular invasion forces to occupy the state. Upon learning of the real intent of the training, the Muslim trainees objected. They refused to follow orders. They did not want to create disturbances and war in a territory where most of the inhabitants were their parents' relatives. Disturbed by the non-cooperation and refusal to go on war against innocent people, the Marcos regime thought it wise to seal the secrecy of the training operation. The military decided to massacre the trainees who refused orders for the sake of peace. But this incident became the birth of the Bangsamor, whereby for the first time in Moro history and in its century old struggle, the thirteen Muslim ethnic tribes were united and declare their right to self-determination.
#2. Muslims and Christians Uniting Basilan was once a very beautiful island. It is now turned into a battlefield between the Abu Sayaaf Group (ASG) and the military. When the ASG took two Christian teachers hostage and subsequently killed them, the potential for a serious conflict was created. The teachers were killed even though the Philippine government paid the ransom demanded by the ASG. This act could have sparked a violent conflict between the Christians and Muslims but was adverted when the Muslim civilians attended the vigil and joined the funeral activities for the two Christian teachers and expressed their sincere sympathy and condolences. It was discovered that some government and military officers received part of the ransom money, so it was clear that they were not serious about solving this problem. The villagers felt that the military was simply trying to use this event to create violence between the Christians and the Muslims. The grassroots always have the wisdom to make unity between the two faiths and they work hard to prevent these situations from becoming more violent.
#3. GM Corn Struggle The Monsanto Company is planting GM corn in Mindanao. They have large plantations. For the natives, this kind of experiment is very dangerous and takes much of their land. The indigenous people appealed to the company to stop planting those crops but they did not listen. Then the people decided to uproot the plants. Prior to that, they discussed the consequence and decided to accept whatever would come. They uprooted the plants overnight and the company sued. They continue their fight to protect their land.
#4. Reflecting on Peace I know for sure, each and everyone of us here often dreams of peace. But how could we take a piece of peace if those in the powers hold and keep peace alone in their hands? It is high time that we, the minoritized groups of people, must share equality and freedom with the rest of the peoples of the world...that discrimination and conflict imposed by the powers that be must end. To the Moros, the aspiration of peace stems from its history and their innate longing for equality before God. History tells us that before the coming of Islam on our shores, the natives lived in a peaceful community. They had practiced a communal way of living. The source of livelihood depended largely on farming, hunting, fishing and trading. Foods gathered were shared by one another, each according to his/her need. Land was owned through declaration or "pusaka" (heirloom) individual and communal ownership. There was no land titling and land was not for sale then, but for donation according to the need of the individual or groups, for example the need for a school ground. Every community or village had its own chieftain as well as group of elders as great and honorable leaders over their respective communities. Thus, the elders or chieftains settled their conflict through serious talks, marriage and other forms of amicable settlement. Today, even in some instance, the offending party has to kneel down and kiss the feet of the aggrieved party. The underlying perception here is to develop humility. During the Islamic era, the Moros or Muslims perception of peacemaking developed. During the end of the blessed month of Muslim Ramadanor fasting, otherwise known as Hariraya Puasa, two conflicting sides, hug with one another, make peace, offer and or ask for forgiveness. So, to the Moros peace is also perceived through the command from the holy Quran.
#5. Justice What is the root cause of the conflict? Poverty, land, lack of respect and recognition of culture and belief, inequality, discrimination, and the virtual disregard of the right of the Moros to determine their own political, economic and cultural destinies and not religion per se is the root cause of the conflict in Mindanao. For it is not the Moro Muslims, Christians farmers or the tribal Lumads, but foreign and local big businesses (B.F. Goodrich, Sime Darby, Dole Pine Apple, etc) who have the monopoly of Mindanao's vast natural resources. This monopoly has resulted in the marginalization of the Moro Muslims, Lumads and the Christian people. At present, there are about 485 multi-national corporations and transnational corporations in Mindanao. The income produced from the Mindanao wealth is repatriated to the mother countries abroad. The tall buildings and offices and beautiful houses in urban centers, especially Metro-Manila, also come from the bowels of Mindanao. The deployment of about 56.53% to 60% of the total strength of the AFP manifests to protect these foreign capitalist interest and not of the Mindanaons. For as long as the peoples in Mindanao remain oppress and exploited, peace will hardly reign. But as Muslims embracing peace, Moros perceived peace through the command from the Holy Quran:
While we must always be ready for the good fight lest it be forced on us, even in the midst of the fight we must always be ready for peace if there is any inclination towards peace on the other side. There is no merit in a fight by itself. It should be a joyful duty not for itself, but to establish the reign of peace and righteousness and God's law. (The Holy Quran, a Translation and Commentary by A. Yusul Ali, p. 430) Now that the new millennium has come and the scourge of globalization continuous to hit us, it is high time that we strengthen our solidarity. Peace is a global issue faced with global concerns, it is just for us in the Asian region to promote and call for just peace. Let us continue to exert efforts and goodwill to contribute in the attainment of peace in the region. Let the minoritized peoples in Asia be heard and attain equality, justice and peace!
#6. Bual, Isulan and Sultan Kudarat This chapter in Bual's History, dig deep into the minds of the Barangay (village) Folk who would not want to talk about it let alone opened it. But the needs to be done for one significant reason, it showcases a classic example of how a culturally - diverse community was driven into conflict, was about it and mind ahead towards reconciliation. It started many years ago. Bual, which was then known as Daguma, had been home to the Maguindanaon. The earliest Maguindanaon inhabitants of the area were the families of Hadji Hamid Malunao and Datu Galmak, The former, however, had moved to a neighboring village. Both families were related to each other both by affinity and intermarriage. At the height of the migration in the 1950s, one of the hundreds of people lured by Mindanao being touted as the "Land of Promises" was Leon Perales. From his origin in Iloilo, Perales found his way to Bual, where he established friendly relations with Hadji Malunao, So deep was their friendship that Malunao virtually considered Perales as his son. For the whole village, he was the patriarch's adopted son and his right hand. The Hadji gave him land. Soon Malunao was entrusting to him documents, including two land titles guaranteeing of a total of 20 hectares. But time came when Leon Perales, without Malunao's consent, used the land titles as collateral payment for a financial loan he got from a local bank. In principle, it was Malunao's property that paid for Perales' debt. It was known, however, that before the Hadji died in 1993, the adopted son had agreed to sign a written agreement requiring him to give or pay back what he owed the former, Unfortunately, Perales did not live long to fulfill the agreement. Hadji Malunao and Leon Perales would not have had anticipated that such agreement would become a source of dispute between their respective children, With the old friends' death, the children of the Hadji turned to the Perales siblings, demanding payment or their land back. The Perales firmly refused to pay; saying it was their late father's obligation, not theirs. Why would they be made to pay for something they did not take? But the Malunao heirs allegedly seized the latter's cattle. Even as small attempts were made at settling the dispute, stronger factors built up the tension between the Malunaos and the Perales. Then it was known that the eldest Perales. Leo, had organized a group of fellow Ilongo's, mostly from outside of Bual. Finally, the dispute climaxed in a tragic episode. In December 1996, witnesses said that Leo, Gregorio and Noel -children of Leon Perales - had led in the burning of a Muslim settlement in Bual. In the fateful event, the first house to go up in smoke was that of Jakosalem, a descendant of Datu Galmak. Mokamedin, the witness whose account became the primary tool in pinning down the Perales, was a grandson of Hadji Malunao. The chain events must have been doubly painful for young Mokamedin. His mother, Bae Dungay, a daughter of Hadji Malunao, was married to Datu Mandu a grandson of Datu Galmak. Hence, being a legitimate heir of both pioneering Maguindanao families, and being a witness to his family's suffering under the very same individuals he might have also considered a family, could have been his strongest motivation for coming forward. As early as the eve of 13 December in 1996, a series of gun-firings directed at Muslim houses took place. In the early dawn of the following day, the residence of Bual Barangay Captain, my Uncle Jakosalem Galmak, was set afire. This triggered the mass evacuation of Muslim residents, mostly women. So a group of us Muslim men decided to keep vigil during the evening as threats that more houses would be burned got serious. In the evening of 15 December, at around 7:30, as we kept watch over the neighborhood, we saw three torches of fire thrown into the cog roof of a house twenty meters away from where I and five other companions were, The torches came from the house of the Perales family where group of men were posted at time. The torches failed to instantly ignite, so two persons, each with a torch in his hand, and whom I clearly recognized as Leo Perales a.k.a. 'Toto' and Leonardo Dumile A.K.A 'Nardo' came forward and set the house on fire. They started with the roof over the kitchen. In a few minutes, the whole house burned. Another house standing next to it also caught fire. Before long the whole barangay seemed to be burning. Surprisingly, the police and the two other groups - the 61st Phil. Army and the Scout Rangers - deployed in Bual to "secure peace and order" had not done anything to avert the incident. The barangay folk believe the police knew what was going on, but none of them ever attempted to do something to prevent the burning of houses. They simply refused to respond. By noon of December 16, 1996 more than two hundred houses were razed by fire. Sadly, four persons were killed and hundreds were left homeless. The municipal government was in a dilemma. The most immediate need that arose out of the tragic events of 1996 was how to respond to the problem of economic dislocation, As hundreds of Maguindanoan evacuees were herded in evacuation centers in lsulan town, the need to secure food enough to last for days was top priority. The earliest assistance came form the Kadtuntaya Foundation, Inc. (KFI), an NGO based in Cotabato City, which also sought the support of CR8. Initially, the joint support from both organizations was focused on providing relief goods. Eventually, more support was mobilized from local government units. To systematize the provision of relief assistance, a task force was organized to facilitate the immediate and long-term needs of the evacuees. Understandably, the conduct of relief operations was merely stopgap measure aimed at mitigating the effects of the tragedy. Long-term needs included the eventual return of the victims to Bual. At that very stage, though, it was out of the question. The trauma caused by the events was so deep it took some time for the victims to begin dealing with it. It was only after four months that some of the evacuees started returning home. A majority of them, however, remained unwilling to return and by 12 April 1997, only around 30 families had gone back to Bual. As more evacuees eventually returned home and as the tension began to simmer down, the process of rehabilitation and healing also started. But given the seriousness of the situation, a polarized village was imminent. So efforts at reconciling the evacuees with the rest of the villagers were the order of the day. The first was the conduct in 1997 of seminars on culture of Peace. The activity was geared towards arresting any further polarization of the community, restoring mutual trust and respect among tribes, and promoting peace in Bud, The seminars were attended by various sectors from both Muslim and Christian groups, representatives from the local government, the MNLF, the MILF and the military. During the seminars, the participants were challenged to do something to improve their relations, as 'they are not natural enemies. Other controllable factors are responsible for past animosities." Consequently, some significant victories arose out of the conduct of the Culture of Peace education. It encouraged the community to organize themselves as Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Mamayan ng Bual (SAMAKANA), a local organization established on 10 December 1998. Scarred by their experiences of violent conflicts and inspired by their newly gained unity, the organization subsequently formulated a manifesto to transform Bual into a Zone of Peace. The emergence of SAMAKANA and The declaration for a peace zone paved the way for a more proactive KFI intervention, via a three-year project billed as Bual Integrated Development and Peace building Program (BID-PEACE). The project provided a venue for the translation of the vision for peace into concrete collective efforts. The projects they have done so far one establishing a community cooperative, intereligious consultation, community symposium on different Muslims & Christian traditions and celebrations, yearly celebration of religious & cultural activities that promote dialogue, capability - building activities to enhance skills of workers & members, ecological farming, establishment of pre school center for Moro & Christian children, conduct of monthly mothers education class in primary health care, regular immunization and establishment of referral system. These peace initiatives have not been without institution backing. These ore homespun effort that would not have been possible were it not for the active participation of the community. For its part, KFI saw to it that the local organization would assume the key role in implementing the project. KFI's role has been limited to providing backup support. The implementation of BID-Peace has led to some significant discoveries. Despite their property and lack of formal education, people have realized they are capable of making a difference in their lives. It is not implausible for people of different ethnic origins and religions to work together. The number of women who are actively involved in the project provides yet another proof that they share as much responsibilities in efforts for peace and development. It is quite remarkable that BID-Peace's Set of Officers and Management Team are equally distributed between men and women and between Bisaya and Maguindanao. It has been five years since the tragedy happened. The perpetrators have been caught and sentenced. Life is getting back to normal, the police & military assigned in the area were replaced, yet their presence is a constant reminder of the eventuality for which the should always be prepared - war.
#7. Friends and Enemies Regarding the Muslim-Christian Youth Movements for Peace and Development, we established this organization to unite the three youth groups of the community; the Muslims, Catholics and the Miracle Life Fellowship International. We did this after the conflict (see story above). The structure of the organization included youth representatives of every faith. I was the President representing the Muslims. There were 3 Vice Presidents representing the Ilocano tribes (they also represent the MLFI because basically that is their religion). There was also a Vice-President for the Ilonggo tribes, (they represent the Catholics) and a Vice-President for Muslim affairs. After we set up the group, we organized a series of seminars and workshops on the Culture of Peace, Peacebuilding and other issues. The Kadtuntaya Foundation Inc. funded by the Catholic Relief Services gave these seminars and workshops to us. During those trainings, the prejudices, stereotyping and biases of these diverse tribes, cultures and religions were brought out and discussed. In time the non-Muslim people began to understand why the Moro Muslims were struggle for the right to self-determination. Before this, it was not easy for us to explain the history of the Bangsamoro people and have a good discussion on this history with the others. But after the seminars, many of non-Muslim friends were enlightened and we became good friends. Then there was the time under the administration of Joseph Estrada, when he declared his all out war policy against the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front). Our community was never directly affected by this war because the three groups of people were now united, unlike before. Then, if there was a conflict between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, there was also suspicion between both sides. The Christians didn't trust the Muslims because they perceived that all Muslims were helping the MILF, and the Muslims suspected that the Christian would join the Military government to attack and kill the Muslims. But because of the unity of the people, those attitudes were minimized and when there was an encountered between the MILF and the AFP (Philippine Military), everybody in the community remained vigilant at night to avoid sabotage from the outsiders. Everyone in our group new that some members of our organization belonged to the MILF groups and also that some were recruited by the Philippine military as Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), which are para-military troops used by the military to attacked the MILF. When there was fighting, these youth knew that their friends were going to the other group to fight. Yet, when the fighting ceased, they came back together and even engaged in basketball and other games. Very sadly though, some of these friends didn't return because they were killed on the battlefield. These kinds of things didn't happen only in our organization. There are also some members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who have brothers fighting in the other groups. They (AFP soldiers) even extend some financial help to the others because, according to them, they have a salary and their brothers going to the battlefield don't. When leaving for the field, some leave their homes on the same day and take the same transportation. Some even pay for their brothers transportation fares. This is just one small piece of an ocean of sorrow that the war has brought to us here in Mindanao. We are all neighbors and help each other when there is a need. We may even be relatives. When we are together we have seminars and play basketball together. But these friends and relatives become enemies on the battlefield. This brings heavy tears to my eyes.
#8. Peace In most of the Moro communities we visited, opinions vary as to what they believe Peace is. One group stated that for them Peace is doing your work quietly without interference from others,. Doing the things you like to do and moving around freely without fear. Another expressed that peace is sublime and should start from within- for how can we understand peace when inside us is topsy-turvy?…By accepting things as they come and to be contented with what we have brings inner peace. This in turn would make us deal with others peacefully because we have learned to appreciate the value of being at peace with ourselves and the environment, thus, the conflict is lessen.
#9. Justice The concept of justice for some people in the community can be seen in the way they deal with arrangement of sandbag carriers. If someone hires them for a day's labor a price is set. The leader commands the group and he himself join in the carrying of the heavy sandbags. He also has another task that of taking note of those members who carried more loads than the rest. If the end of the days work, the one who hires them if he is more than satisfied in the job may increase the carries fee. The leader in this turn will pay more to carriers who carried more bags than others. The Idea being that who labored most gets the bigger pay. Nobody question the system since to them is fair and just.
#10. Conflict Majority of the people in our community believes that the conflict is but a natural process of interaction amongst people. Quarrel, we clash, one once to do this things others do not. There is misunderstanding yet they are part of how we operate in our environment. What is unnatural is when conflict gets out of hand, and starts to involve different tribes. Like in a certain barangay in Isulan, a group of Christian men raze with fire the houses of the Muslim triggering a mass evacuation. This event resulted out of a land dispute between two families. This "Unnatural Conflict" which they equate with the personal differences and altercation has always the tendency to divide people. The tribal differences would then be played up and up and faction occur. Which is why the people of some community is careful not to point fingers whenever conflict arises but to come together, discuss the problem and find a solution that will be satisfactory to all parties concerned.
#11. Community For some residents, the concept of community is best manifested in their way of helping each other, care for their children and do household chores. When a mother in the household got sick, the women of other house would come and make house for her. They would take care of her children, do her laundry, clean the home and care for her. In turn, when she gets well, she'll do the same for other mothers. In this way the spirit of togetherness amongst the residents remains strong.
#12. Human Relationship For the families, it's best understood in the way they treat one another, they are sensitive to the other persons feelings and needs, when they sense that he or she wants don't want to be disturb, they leaving the person alone, or when a mother needs someone to look after her children for a while, there is always somebody who would volunteer. According to them, the highest act you can do for another is showing your respect, by respecting that person you have to be sensitive to him or her. In this way the bond within the community is strengthened.
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