KONSULT MINDANAW!

BUC AVISORY BOARD

Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla, DD (Archdiocese of Davao) Bishop Hilario M. Gomez, Jr. (UCCP Bishop Emeritus) Dr. Hamid A. Barra, PhD (Ulama League of the Philippines)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM

Project Team Leader Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD , Consultation Coordinators Atty. Udtog Jhal M. Tago (Muslim), Dr. Ofelia D. Durante (Catholic), Dr. Fedelina B. Tawagon (Protestant), Mr. Jimid P. Mansayagan (Lumad), Communication Program Officer Mr. Rafael R. Gomez, Administrative Officer Mr. Jimmie-Loe P. de la Vega, Systems Coordinator Ms. Nancy P. Bullecer, Finance Officer Sr. Lou Solijon, Asst. Finance Officer Ms. Jana Jean G. Dacobor, General Services Ms. Dia de Michelle F. Jaim, Mr. Jay Monte de Ramos, Ms. Myra Luz E. Cezar Report writers: Prof. Rufa Guiam, Atty. Charina Sanz, Ms. Cecile Rodriguez, Ms. Ma. Luz de Castro Consultants: Atty. Soliman Santos, Ms. Mucha-shim Aquiling Arquiza, Ms. Susan Granada, Dr. Tina Montiel, Prof. Alih Ayub, Mr. Paul Paraguya

REGIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Caraga Regional Center: Fr. Saturnino Urios University Regional Coordinator Dr. Alma Eleazar Asst. Coordinator Dr. Mary Grace M. Brongcano Admin Ms. Ivy Flores Northern Mindanao Regional Center: Dansalan College Regional Coordinator Dr. Fedelinda B. Tawagon Asst. Coordinator Mr. Erasmo Gauzon Admin Ms. Grace Cabilan Lanao Regional Center: MSU Marawi Regional Coordinator Mr. Minalang Barapantao Assistant Coordinator Prof. Intuas M. Abdullah Admin Mr. Mujeeb Barra Zamboanga: Ateneo de Zamboanga University Regional Coordinator Dr. Howard Maego Assistant Coordinator Ms. Cecile Simbajon Admin Ms. Maedellee de Villa Ms. Ma. Theresa Regalado Davao-ComVal Regional Center: San Pedro College Regional Coordinator Dr. Serge Opena Asst. Coordinator Dr. Marleonie Bauyot Admin Ms. Joy M. Delgra Central Mindanao Center: Notre Dame University Regional Coordinator Dr. Norma Gomez Asst. Coordinator Prof. Sheila G. Algabre Admin Prof. Reydan Lacson Basulta Center: MSU TawiTawi Regional Coordinator Prof. Said M. Alih Assistant Coordinator Dr. Injungcarna S. Hamis Documentor/Admin Prof. Evelyn G. Rasul Soccsksargen: MSU Gen. Santos Regional Coordinator Dr. Domingo Non Assistant Coordinator Mr. George Gunay Admin Fr. Angel Buenavidez Special FGDs and Data Management: Ateneo de Davao University Coordinator Ms. Maria Luz S. de Castro Shura Team Ms. Christine M. Valencia Mr. Emmanuel John L. Luga Mr. Oneil B. Victoriano Ms. Rosemary M. Fernandez Global Web Team Dr. Cecile Pasino Mr. Neil P. Pancho

Published by the Bishops-Ulama Conference 6/F Elena Tower Inn A. Bonifacio Avenue, Tibanga 9200 Iligan City, Philippines Email: bucsecretariat@yahoo.com Copyright 2010 by the Bishops-Ulama Conference All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher.

FOREWORD
Consultation and dialogue are part of our pastoral ministry as Catholic bishops. The same holds true for Muslim ulama and Protestant bishops and pastors. To do these two activities in a professional manner was a big task and challenge as well as a rare opportunity. Consultation and dialogue for hundreds of focused groups throughout Mindanao involving almost all sectors of society were certainly a gigantic task; to bring together peoples of different religions and political persuasions was enormously challenging; and to do all these for the sake of peace and harmony was a great and welcome privilege. So when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo publicly requested the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) to spearhead the Community Consultations and Dialogue after the collapse of the MOA-AD, we did not hesitate for two reasons: the request was within our capacity and mandate and no preconditions were included in the presidents request. To carry out this unprecedented and historic task we were blessed with the professional support, expertise and laudable commitment of academicians, researchers and analyst from Catholic, Protestant and Muslim Colleges and universities including professionals from the Indigenous Peoples sector. The group was headed by Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ and was called the Project Management Team. The project was labelled Konsult Mindanaw (KM). This was made possible with the financial assistance of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS), Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), and The Asia Foundation (TAF). Our deep gratitude and appreciation for an excellent job goes to Father Alejo and his Team members in the KM central office and in the regions. Equally grateful and appreciative, we the BUC Convenors convey our thanks to the unknown, unnamed and enthusiastic members of the focused groups who represented and symbolized in some way the Voices, Visions, and Values of the people of Mindanao. This Executive Summary booklet deserves the full attention and deep interest of the Philippine Government, development workers, peace advocates, local and international NGOs, and religious leaders and revolutionary movements.

For the BUC Convenors,

FERNANDO R. CAPALLA Archbishop of Davao BUC, Co-convenor

BISHOPS-ULAMA CONFERENCE 6 Floor, Elena Tower Inn, Tibanga, P.O. Box 43836, 9200 Iligan City
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Tel.: (063) 223-2928 Tel/Fax: (063) 223-8120 e-mail: bucsecretariat@yahoo.com

RESOLUTION No. 01/09

WHEREAS, THE Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) has been promoting community consultations and dialogues for the past thirteen (13) years in Mindanao; WHEREAS, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) has suspended the peace negotiations and has dissolved its negotiating panel after Supreme Court has judged the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) unconstitutional; WHEREAS, the same GRP has embarked on a new peace paradigm which is community consultations and dialogues and has officially requested the Bishops-Ulama Conference to lead these consultations and dialogues, leaving no directives on how, and when to undertake such activities; WHEREAS, the BUC, considering the Governments request is in line with its objectives, has decided to accept the request as its contribution to the peace process; WHEREAS, the BUC, to effectively undertake these Mindanao-wide activities, sought the expertise of the Academicians and resources of the Christian-Muslim Colleges, Universities and Ministries in Mindanao and after several months of preparations the project General Design was completed by the design committee and submitted to the tripartite commission headed by the three (3) Convenors: Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla, Dr. Hamid Barra and Bishop-Emeritus Hilario Gomez, Jr.; NOW THEREFORE, the Tripartite Commission with a quorum of 7 out of 12 members of the Bishops-Ulama Conference, after the powerpoint presentation of the Project Design and clarifications have been made, has unanimously decided to approve in principle the general features of the Design and has assured the presenters the availability of financial resources for the implementation. It was further resolved to engage the expertise of academicians and researchers for the implementation subject to a mutually agreed Terms of Reference. Furthermore, it was resolved to seek the assistance of funding institutions for financing the implementation of the project. Approved on 19 January 2009 at the Pius XII Catholic Center, UN Avenue, Paco, Manila, Philippines. SIGNED BY:
FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, DD Archbishop of Davao DR. HAMID A. BARRA, PhD

Ulama League of the Philippines

BISHOP HILARIO M. GOMEZ, JR.

UCCP Bishop Emeritus

Visions, Voices and Values: PEOPLES PLATFORM FOR PEACE IN MINDANAO

Peace is not only the absence of war, it is when Muslims, Christians and Lumads dont have to worry about their food three times a day and where to get them, when they have decent homes, when they have enough for the schooling of their children and healthy environment. Theyll not be angry, so theres peace from within and among them. -Urban poor from Central Mindanao
Peace process, therefore, has to be participatory. People dont just desire peace, they also delight in building it. Konsult Mindanaw shares in this wisdom, culled from local initiatives and living insights from many parts of the world1: that while governments and rebel groups may sign peace agreements, ultimately,
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Peace process is too precious to be left alone to the negotiation of two fighting forces ---or even three. We need the visions, voices, and values of diverse groups, starting from those who are directly afflicted by conflict, and extending to those whose lives are also affected. It is understandable that different groups may register opposing analysis on how the conflict in Mindanao started and how it can be resolved. Many Muslims in Central Mindanao and ARMM in general believe that the approval of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) is the answer to the centuries of struggle of the Bangsamoro for self-determination. This position is shared by some Christians as well. Others, however, see Mindanao peace more as a result of satisfying basic needs, respecting collective identities, exercising good governance, caring for the environment, and deepening ones spirituality. Nevertheless, there is one thing people share in common: the desire to be involved in the search for peace. Peace process, therefore, has to be participatory. People dont just desire peace, they also delight in building it. Konsult Mindanaw shares in this wisdom, culled from local initiatives and living insights from many parts of the world1: that while governments and revolutionary groups may sign peace agreements, ultimately, its the people who have the burden--and the joy---of rebuilding schools and houses, re-trusting institutions, welcoming ex-combatants, looking for new breed of leaders, nourishing the environment, energizing tired bodies, bridging gaps across mindsets, healing painful memories, and appeasing the spirits of the land.

For comparative readings on public participation in peace processes, see Accord. Owning the Process: Public Participation in Peacemaking. Catherine Barnes, Issue Editor. London: Conciliation Resources. Cynthia J. Arnson, Ed. Comparative Peace Processes in Latin America, Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. 1999. Vicenc. Fisas, 2009 Yearbook on Peace Processes. Barcelona, Spain: Escola de Cultura de Pau. 2009. John Paul Lederach. The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Oxford University Press. 2005. Harold H. Saunders. A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to Transform Racial and Ethnic Conflicts. New York: St. Martins Press. 1999. Paul van Tongeren, Brenk, Malin, Hellema, Marte, and Verhoeven, Juliette, Eds. People Building Peace II: Successful Stories of Civil Society. European Centre for Conflict Prevention. 2005.

Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao KONSULT MINDANAW 2010

But what does it mean to take seriously the peoples peace perspectives? For Konsult Mindanaw, a project of the Bishops Ulama Conference, it has meant conducting more than three hundred (300+) focus group consultations from Basilan to Butuan, reaching out even to Mindanawon communities in Baguio and Brookespoint. It meant confronting the four major questions: (1) What is your vision of peace in Mindanao? (2) What are your recommendations for the GRP-MILF peace talks? (3) What other activities must we do to attain broader peace? (4) What are you willing to offer and sacrifice for the sake of peace in Mindanao? It meant asking these questions to women wearing veils as well as to retired men in uniform, mobilizing researchers from ten academic institutions and recruiting artists for multi-mediaa communications. It meant reviewing voluminous analyses and conference proceedings. All these were done in a span of twelve months, following the temporary collapse of the GRP and the MILF peace negotiation in late 2008. More than 5,000 individuals participated in Konsult Mindanaw, representing a significant number of Muslim, Lumad, Catholic and Protestant populations from all over Mindanao. Participants came from different sectors of society, including youth, women, professionals, business, traditional and religious leaders, academe, internally displaced persons, childrens rights advocates, armed groups, media people, and artists. We must admit though, that this project relied on a few interviews and secondary sources with regard to local government, partly because they have had their voices heard in many public fora. But all in all, we heard different languages because the process allowed them to tell their stories in an atmosphere that encouraged openness. The benefit of participation, however, was not limited to informants alone. We, the researchers, have experienced this project as a personal landmark in our own lives. In the process of documenting peoples views, we discovered new perspectives. In analyzing the data, we grappled with

our own prejudices and misconceptions. For us, then, Konsult Mindanaw was a humbling experience. Instead of bragging about the comprehensiveness of this consultation series, we are encouraged to compare notes with other groups and listen to all those who have something to say. Listening---and listening intently--has been for many of us not just an intellectual and democratic exercise, but a moral and even a spiritual journey. In this Peoples Platform for Peace in Mindanao, we offer our contribution to the current peace initiatives. Without playing on words, we stumbled upon six platforms for peace in Mindanao. These platforms are not formulas or sure-fire solutions to conflict, but a kind of foundation and support for all our efforts to assert the struggle to understand and live in mutual understanding with each other. The first of these platforms is Sincerity. It is all over the recorded sentiments of the Konsult Mindanaw participants. We hear people expressing suspicion that some of those who are in charge of peace process are not really interested in the resolution of the conflict. But when they say mistrust, we hear their plea for signs of sincerity. Security addresses peoples fear of all kinds of violence, from state-related war to clan conflict to private armies and proliferation of arms, to the fear of hunger and even of ecological disaster due to environmental plunder. Sensitivity is our word for recognizing the many hurts people experience ranging from the effects of historical injustice, to discrimination, misrepresentation, neglect, and culture-blind governance and development programs. At the same time, we also recognize the peoples energy and commitment to participate in peace building, whether as individuals or as communities, and hence we highlight Solidarity. Solidarity is not an abstract feeling of sympathy, but a collective action of different groups for the sake of the common good. Spirituality may come as a surprise to some civil

society groups, development partners, and government agencies, but not to ordinary people, who see that peace can only be lasting if there is healing, which in turn requires more than economic and social intervention, or political and military solutions. Dialogue, and consultation itself, is a spiritual mission. Even the land itself needs ritual healing for all the wounds that have been inflicted upon it down the long history of conflict, having to absorb bombs, blood and corpses. Finally, we include Sustainability to account for the institutional requirements to support these various efforts. We know that there is so much more to be gleaned from the richness of the original data and experience. And there is so much more to learn from other groups and initiatives! Allow us, however, to share the following synthesis of our multisectoral and cross-regional consultation, as well as our recommendations, in the service of the formal peace talks and of the broader peace process in our beloved Mindanao. God bless our land, our peoples, and our fumbling search for peace.

KONSULT MINDANAW 2010

Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao

Photo by Jowel Canuday

SINCERITY
If both sides are sincere, Peace can be achieved. I feel good if the agreement is implemented, but I feel bad if the agreement is not implemented, because the conflict becomes bigger and bigger. --- Rural folk in Basulta

Acknowledging Peoples Mistrust and Confusion

People are confused on the diverse views, actions, and pronouncements of the different agencies of government in dealing with conflict and rebellion. Peace panels, for example, take one approach, military has another tack, congress cries neglected, local government feels bypassed, and Malacanang washes hands. People are searching for sincerity as

expressed in consistency and coherence of actions from their leaders.2 Similarly, people get confused on the positions of the different Moro groups and their supporters. People are not clear on the positions of the MNLF, MILF, and other clans, organizations, and personalities. Some areas register a grave concern
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over the infighting between and among different subgroups of the Bangsamoro population. Even NGOs are divided, for reasons not clear to people. Participants in Konsult Mindanaw registered a strong demand for sincerity especially on the part of the Philippine Government, but also from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and their supporters. This demand is especially addressed to leaders and officials who in both government and MILF hold positions of trust and accountability. Participants are looking for good examples or models of sincerity .

This does not necessarily mean that people are totally cynical about the efforts of the government. SWS notes in its national survey that most see government as sincere in its efforts to reach out to Muslim rebels in order to achieve peace in Mindanao. SWS Surveybook on Muslim Attitudes and Opinions 1995-2000, SWS National Surveys, p.77.

Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao KONSULT MINDANAW 2010

Responding with Concrete Forms of Sincerity

Policy Cohesion. The Philippine Government must develop a more cohesive and rationalized government policy on peace process. All government agencies directly and indirectly involved in the peace process--including the military, the legislators, the local government officials, the security cluster of the cabinet, and others---must be in constant dialogue, to avoid serious inconsistency of policy direction and practice in dealing with revolutionary groups and other actors involved in conflict. The government must not be trapped by shortterm interests but must take a long view and clear vision toward lasting peace. The new administration must take advantage of the fresh mandate from the people in order to galvanize support for the more viable negotiated solution to the armed conflict.
Transparency through Public Consultation and Communication. The GRP and MILF peace panels, in cooperation with civil society (including media), the International Contact Group and the Malaysian facilitator must develop a comprehensive Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) Program that will address all issues and concerns of the on-going peace process. It should be designed with maximum people participation in mind, making it accessible to all sectors in the communities and to all institutions. A primer on the on-going peace talks should be developed by a team of experts, the members of which will be recommended by both panels. As a tool for expressing sincerity, the primer and the substantive dialogues will have to present the following messages: (1) That both parties are sincere; (2) That as a matter of fact, the two parties have already reached an agreement on some important points; (3) That they have discussed a number of things but would welcome citizens views on how to move forward; and (4) That they have received substantive recommendations which they have not discussed and for which they need the views of the public. Messages like these might win openness to some

forms of eventual compromise solution. They might even win cooperation of the people in the implementation of a future agreement. Fulfill Previous Agreements. Sincerity on the part of the Philippine Government requires an honest assessment of its commitment to previous peace agreements, such as the Final Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other former rebel groups. It would be good for people to know how many of the provisions of the Agreement have been realized. While the next peace negotiation is underway, the maximum implementation of those commitments must be enforced. For the Indigenous Peoples, fulfilling previous agreements would include those sealed between their Lumad and Moro ancestors in the past, as well as between Lumad and settlers and corporations in recent history. Strong Mandate for the Peace Panels. Sincerity also demands that the Government chooses the best peace panel members. Members of the peace panel must be known to be with integrity, competence and love for Mindanao. As much as possible, they must come from Mindanao and are known to be dedicated to peace initiatives, and are known to be of high moral quality. The members of the panel must study hard and work as a team. Sincerity also demands that once they pass scrutiny, the GRP peace panel must be given a clear and strong mandate. Peace panel members, however, are not political figures. Government must present a credible face to the peace process; this role can be played by a prominent government official who enjoys and attracts peoples trust. Bangsamoro Unity. Similarly, Bangsamoro groups must also try to achieve unity of purpose among the various revolutionary groups, civil society organizations, rebel supporters, and those who are duly elected or appointed in government service. In response to peoples concerns, the MNLF and MILF, in particular, must achieve consensus on at least some of the major points being addressed in the peace negotiations. Key leaders of the Bangsamoro struggle must also express their sincerity through the selection of credible representatives. In this way they can win the trust of the people.

Good Governance of ARMM. Failure of governance in the ARMM is seen by many as a sign of insincerity not only of local officials but also of the national government. The ARMM was created by the Philippine national government to address Bangsamoro grievances. The prevalence of perceived rampant corruption in the ARMM destroys trust. They even fuel violence. Refusal to discuss the prevention of corruption in the peace negotiations will not build trust and confidence. On the contrary, sincere acknowledgment of past and present misbehavior can lead to more effective measures to ensure wise and just allocation of both local and foreign funds intended to serve the people. Highlighting good practices within ARMM can win public trust both inside and outside ARMM.3 Critique, not Cynicism. Critics of the peace process have to show sincerity as well by contributing informed analysis and viable alternatives. Together with other peace advocates, critics must be respected as citizens who take their public accountability and their faith imperatives seriously. Prophetic voices from the margins disturb us even as we claim to speak about peace.4
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Along with land tenure program, practices of good governance must be promoted and actively enhanced. Transparency and accountability will help demonstrate sincerity in facilitating restorative justice to the Moro people. Local leaders and national leaders have in the recent past acted as architects of destabilization, which in turn created more conflicts on a micro levelPromoting good governance at all levels is a necessary ingredient in resolving conflicts. Land Tenure Stories in Central Mindanao. 2009. Davao City: Local Government Support Program in ARMM. The grinding cycle of poverty and ignorance, and the dependence of the people on informal structures are permanent fixtures in the near-absence of governance in the [ARMM]. There is a failure to deliver basic services and a general breakdown of government institutions. These function dismally or not at all, or are misdirected to serve the personal interests of those in power. Any delivery of services must go through the local kingpin. The feudalistic patron-client relationship remains the norm. Amina Rasul. 2003. A Look at Corruption in the ARMM and the Role of Faith-Based Organization in Fighting Corruption. In Muslim Perspectives on the Mindanao Conflict: The Road to Peace and Reconciliation. Makati: AIM Policy Center, Asian Institute of Management. 4 Unless we see scholarly works and political speeches free of all the rhetoric, much still remain to be written and un-written. We want concrete outcomes on the ground, in homes, in hearts, not in glossy academic papers and well-researched proposals or political analyses, certainly not of those dubious ones by intellectuals and self-claimed religious authorities cum political cadres who have not felt what loss of self-determination and oppression really are in being invisible and powerless, while dumped to the side and assigned roles to weep and heal the wounds (peace-criers, huh!) as men having the sole privilege of digging the grave, burying and avenging the dead, exclusively performing the salatul janazah to save souls, while women are conveniently excused for having menstruations, or hushed off to the kitchen to fetch the snacks. Mucha-Shim Quiling Arquiza. Nashiza Speaks on Peace Talks. In Children of the Ever-Changing Moon: Essays by Young Moro Writers. Edited by Gutierrez Mangasakan II. Manila: Anvil.

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Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao

Photo by Jowel Canuday

SECURITY
Vision of peace kanang lugar nga wala nay pulis, wala nay military, mga bangko wala nay security guard, mga tawo nga makalakaw anytime of the day, or anytime of the night, nga dili maglingi-lingi kay hadlok sila. --- Religious leader from Zamboanga Peninsula

Addressing Peoples Fears

Many Mindanawons do not feel safe. Some people fear physical violence and armed conflict. When asked about their vision of peace, most of the participants mention no more conflict and end of fighting. They want to go on with their ordinary lives without fear. We want our children to go to school, and come home alive. And to some

extent, this is true to those living in areas outside of armed conflict, because violence is not limited only to the clashes between government and rebel forces of both the MILF and the New Peoples Army (NPA). There are also regionalized sources of fear, like clan conflict, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and militarization around big industries, plantations, and mining operations. In expressing their vision of peace, Mindanawon imagine a radical reduction of arms, guns, fighting, and checkpoints.

During many of Konsult Mindanaw results utilization forums, people ask, We have no plantation of guns, why are there so many guns around? Laws on the acquisition and holding of firearms are already in place but the implementation leaves much to be desired. A number of political families both Christians and Muslims---are reported to have arsenals of small and long firearms and stacks of ammunitions. These families blatantly flaunt the use of these firearms through their private armies. These guns are supposed to provide security for the

Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao KONSULT MINDANAW 2010

traditional politicians, but they also become sources of insecurity for ordinary people in the communities where these families rule.5 The bakwits (displaced populations) want to return home but they need to feel secure that they will not be caught again in the crossfire. For decades Central Mindanao and Lanao regions have been the arena of armed conflict in Mindanao.6 Children and women remain to be the most vulnerable during times of conflict and prolonged displacement. 7 Special focus group discussions and voluminous secondary data confirm this sad state of the perennially displaced persons. While there are concerns that cover the whole of Mindanao, and even the country, the different regions and sectors also have to contend with unique sources of conflict. Rido or clan conflicts are a source of great anxiety in Central and Northern Mindanao, and the Basulta region.8 The Basulta area has to solve kidnapping issues. In many parts of Mindanao, especially ARMM, drugs are a menace. Many parts of Eastern
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Mindanao are exposed, more to the New Peoples Army than the MILF.9 In Davao and other places as well, urban death squads have killed almost a thousand in the last ten years right at the heart of the city.10 Some people equally fear hunger and poverty. They are also deadly. Conflict is the result of the lack of basic needs. It is also true that conflict itself is a source of this deprivation. War destroys schools, roads, and properties. Fighting results in the burning of crops. The universal Mindanawon vision of peace is intimately linked with well-being, with the delivery of basic services, especially having food on the table, health care, and affordable and meaningful education for the children. And those who live in delicate environment fear of natural and manmade disasters that lead to destruction of life and property and to forced displacement. Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga, Davao Region and Southern Mindanao regions struggle with environmental conflicts. The wanton exploitation of natural resources also sows fear among the people as it is often accompanied by militarization. Participants from rural communities link the conditions of unpeace to the issues of environmental destruction, land-use and management and land ownership. Lumad farmers, professionals, and tribal leaders in at least two regions (Northern Mindanao and Central Mindanao) complain that the exploitation is done in the ancestral domain of the Lumads. Many of the owners of the corporations are not from Mindanao. This fact rubs more salt to the wounds that exploitation has wrought among the Lumads. In resolving conflict and achieving lasting
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peace, the roots of environmental conflict should also be resolved.

Expanding the Promotion of Security11

Sustain Formal Peace Talks. Pursue the current negotiation of the GRP with the MILF as well as with the MNLF, without losing time, but not with undue haste simply for political convenience. The people welcome the reciprocal suspension of military operations and actions of both the government and rebel forces. The work of the International Monitoring Team deserves respect, affirmation and further support. If done with transparency and consultation, the formal peace talks can provide a clearer horizon that casts out a lot of peoples fears.12 Intensify Humanitarian Work and Reintegration Program. Humanitarian work must prioritize the response to the
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Accounts and studies on warlordism of some political clans have recently been given attention in recent literature, even before the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao, allegedly committed by some members of the Ampatuan clan. This topic, however, has been practically silenced in official government and foreign donor reports, as well as in the majority of civil society discourse. See, for example, Peter Kreuzer (2005), Political Clans and Violence in the Southern Philippines. PRIF Report No. 71. Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Francisco J. Lara Jr. and Phil Champain (2009). Inclusive Peace In Muslim Mindanao: Revisiting the Dynamics of Conflict and Exclusion. London: International Alert; Philippines: Shattered Lives Beyond the 2008-2009 Mindanao Armed Conflict. ASA 35/006/2009. Francisco J. Lara Jr (2009) Collusion and collision in Muslim Mindanao. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/178735/collusionand-collision-in-muslim-mindanao (7 dec)
6

According to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, the Philippines tops the most number of IDPs with 600,000 in 2008.
7

The United Nations Childrens Fund has placed the number of children and women to comprise 80% of the total number of IDPs in Mindanao in 2008, totalling 480,000 (Center for Women Resources 2008). While trauma among women and children is pervasive, interventions to help them recover is intermittent and lacking (Balay Rehabilitation Center, Inc.) Global Security and the UN CHR has reported that children are being recruited by the MILF as fighters although the MILF leadership has repeatedly denied this.
8

Cf. Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao. Ed. Wilfredo Magno Torres III. Makati City: The Asia Foundation.

The CPP-NPAs nationwide politico-military presence, in terms of guerrilla fronts, is most felt in Mindanao. In the AFPs assessment of CPP-NPA guerrilla fronts as of Yearend 2008 with a nationwide total of 62 (the CPP-NPA says that it is about twice more), 30 are in Mindanao, 21 are in Luzon, and 11 are in the Visayas (including Palawan). And so, on top of hosting the whole Moro front, Mindanao also currently hosts nearly half of the CPP-NPA guerrilla fronts nationwide. This fact should cause us some pause to rethink what we call the Mindanao Conflict. This rethinking perhaps pertains first of all to the advocates of the Mindanao Peace Process as the main way to solve the Mindanao Conflict.
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For other references on security, see for example: Defining the Human Security Framework in the Philippine Context. Proceedings of the Third World Studies Center Policy Dialogue Series 2006. UNDP. Promoting Peace, Development and Human Security: The Mining Act of 1995 and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA). 2009. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Council(PSSC) in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Discourses, Views and Experiences on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration: International and Local Perspectives. 2009. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Council(PSSC) in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Developing a Security Sector Reform Index in the Philippines: Towards Conflict Prevention and Peace-Building. Security Reform in the Philippines: A Preliminary Analysis. Quezon City: Institute for Strategic and Development Studies/ UNDP/OPAPP.
12

You Can Die Any Time Death Squad Killings in Mindanao. 2009. New York: Human Rights Watch

For a reader on the GRP-MILF peace talks, especially on the MOA-AD, see the good collection of important voices in Pieces for Peace: The MOA and the Mindanao Conflict, and the Voices of Dissent: A Postscript to the MOA-AD Decision, both published by Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc., and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (2009). See also the whole series of Autonomy and Peace Review, published by the Institute of Autonomy and Governance in Notre Dame University, Cotabato City.

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Voices, Visions & Values: Peoples Platform of Peace in Mindanao

internally displaced persons, who simply want to go back to our homes and farms. Bakwits will be allowed to return home if both military and rebel forces jointly commit to preserve the ceasefire in their communities. A round-the-clock security detail including a composite of both military and rebel elements, including representatives of the Bakwits themselves should be put in place. Resettlement and wholesale reconstruction in all former conflict areas, to include rebuilding of farm to market roads, irrigation systems, and restoration of basic services such as education and primary health care, must be undertaken immediately. Reconciliation and healing among people in conflict-affected areas must also be an integral part of the restoration of peace. Former combatants who return to their communities must be provided appropriate reintegration programs for their return to public life. They must also be consulted in the design of such programs. Women and child combatants may require special approaches. For these women and children, hosting communities must be made ready psychologically and economically, to welcome them back. Radically Reduce Arms and Arrest War Profiteers. It is painful enough for people to be caught in the crossfire; it becomes really devastating to see that some of the arms and ammunition used by rebels and private armies come from government military arsenals. Government, together with civil society groups and religious leaders must work very hard to reduce firearms proliferating in Mindanao. Laws against the sale, acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunitions by individuals and private armies should be strictly implemented to reduce or eliminate illegal or loose firearms. The national government, through the DILG must look into what is legally allowed for local chief executives in terms of acquiring and possession of firearms and ammunitions. Those found to be possessing firearms beyond what is legally allowed should be held accountable and brought to the bar of justice. This requires a thorough audit of military firearms and supplies; citizens groups can be tapped to handle

this. Burning confiscated arms may be ritualized. Religious leaders may be asked to help in campaigning against this war economy.13 Strengthen Localized Security Strategies. Local government units, through the Office of the Local Government Operations Officer and the local PNP must embark on community policing where constituents participate actively in formulating localized security plans and implementation strategies for their respective communities. A model program on community policing has been implemented by the National Democratic Institute, Cotabato City office. Some military officers themselves insist that we need to clarify the different roles of the military and the police; let the police do police work, and the military should stick to solving insurgency problems. Military authorities must not magnify ordinary criminal acts as insurgency just to justify military operations. More military officials are getting actively involved in the peace process, in collaboration with Balay Mindanaw and the Mindanao Peace Institute. This is a positive development.14 But there are still some areas where local warlords control the armed forces. We need to be extra careful in dealing with this thorny issue. DILG, OPAPP and the LGA must orient newly elected and re-elected local government officials in conflict-affected and conflict vulnerable areas on EO # 3 (Defining Policy and Administrative Structure for Governments Comprehensive Peace Efforts), updates on the peace processes in Mindanao, and the roles of LGUs. The same agencies need to mainstream participatory,
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conflict-sensitive and peace promoting local development planning among LGUs in conflict-affected and conflict vulnerable areas through capacity building support and oversight. Indigenous conflict resolutions should be made a part of the legal system especially in Rido cases. Employ Peace Lens in Economic and Environmental Projects. Clearly, development and delivery of basic services to the people rely heavily on achieving peace and good governance. Projects in conflict-affected and vulnerable areas must be conflict-sensitive. Many documented cases have shown that well-meaning development projects have inadvertently led to conflict due to the lack of conflict analysis in the project design. Policies to ensure conflict sensitivity of projects must be formulated. DILG and OPAPP must promote conflict sensitivity in local government operations, particularly in service delivery. It must ensure that the design, delivery, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of basic social services are conflict-sensitive to avoid negative impact. MEDCO and other government agencies overseeing ODA projects and the Mindanao Working Group must also monitor regularly the delivery of ODA programs and projects in Mindanao. This can be done with civil society participation, with the goal of aligning projects goals with Mindanaos peace and development priorities and peace outcomes.15
15

According to a 2008 study commissioned by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada: The prevalence of gunrunning/smuggling of firearms has been attributed to the countrys geographic configuration; the prospects for huge profits; the increased connivance between gunrunning syndicates and corrupt law enforces; and the persistent involvement of political and influential families in these activities in order to beef up their private armies. The same study reveals that the number one source of firearms in Mindanao is the military and police. Lack of transparency among government officials is cited as a proof that government officials do not perform their functions honestly.
14

See Enhancing the Role of the Military in Building Peace: A Special Report on Peacebuilding Training Program for the Philippine Marine Corps. Institute for Autonomy and Governance/Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

A number of literature documenting forums have been previously dedicated to the concern of Peace and Development, and they do not need repetition here. Basic reference would be MEDCos Impact Assessment of the Mindanao 2000 Development Framework Plan, 1995-2010 that is now being used as a take off point for the Mindanao 2020 Peace and Development Framework. See also Checkpoints and Chokepoints: Learning from Peace and Development Paradigms and Practices in Mindanao. 2007. Davao City: Mindanao Studies Consortium Foundation, Inc.; Building Unities and Strengthening Cooperation: Towards Peace and Development in Mindanao. Davao: Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation, Mindanao ICCO Partners; Joint Needs Assessment for Reconstruction and Development of conflict Affected Areas in Mindanao. Pasig: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank; Peter Wallace. Assessment of the Business and Investment Climate in the ARMM and Strategies to Address the Problems (Davao City: Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM-2) Project, 2003); and others.

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SENSITIVITY
Our communities are so divided. Deep-seated biases and prejudices often dictate the way Christians and Muslims would relate with one another. Mutual suspicion has brought about deep mistrust between and among faith communities in Mindanao. --- Catholic priest, Cotabato

Addressing Peoples Hurts

Layers of hurts. Peace process has to deal with layers and layers of biases and prejudices, all kinds of hurts due to experience of discrimination, dispossession, neglect, insult, misrepresentation, labeling, and ostracism. Much of it is rooted in lack of understanding of historical crimes and insensitivity to other peoples identities, cultures and traditions. Responses from KM participants illustrate of the reality of structural discrimination in Mindanao. The subjects of such discrimination are usually the Muslims and the Lumads, especially in the Palawan, Caraga, Central Mindanao and Northern Mindanao region. Forms of discrimination

range from non-access to governments basic services to unfair treatment in the workplace to militarization. Respect for culture and faith was also sought by the Muslim and Lumad groups. Interestingly, the Protestant group stated the need to reconcile with Muslims, understand their culture and learn to love and respect them. Colonial Legacy. Konsult Mindanaw participants observed that the conflict in Mindanao is a result of a long history of colonization resulting in the present perceived or observed biases, prejudices and intercultural discrimination. Some ethnic groups are struggling for autonomy, seeking to transcend their unjust histories of colonization and domination of majority ethnic groups. The armed conflict has fuelled extreme biases and prejudices among the

different cultural groups. As pointed out by a Catholic priest working with the internally displaced persons in Central Mindanao: Is Christian-Muslim Dialogue possible in a situation of widespread violence and ethnic strife as in the case of Mindanao? The answer to this question seems to me what a lot of people would like to know when we talk about Interfaith Dialogue. Our communities are so divided. Deep-seated biases and prejudices often dictate the way Christians and Muslims would relate with one another. Mutual suspicion has brought about deep mistrust between and among faith communities in Mindanao.16
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Layson, Roberto (2005). Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Mindanao Amidst Uncertainties. Paper presented at the Interreligious Dialogue Conference in Bali, Indonesia. www.cpn.nd.edu/Christian article.doc

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Losing Land. One perennial source of conflict is the complex land issue. The intractable land issue dates back from colonial times when unjust policies on land acquisition and ownership were enforced. More recent policies and practices like defective cadastral surveys, land grabbing and neglecting due process of getting free, prior and informed consent from the people have exacerbated the complex land problem. Land Reform Laws have been made suitable to protect the landed from losing their lands to tenants. Being looked down upon. Structural discrimination refers to the policies and practices of majority institutions depriving other groups of economic, social and political opportunities. This is prevalent in all regions as expressed in the consultations. Many communities have built up strong biases and prejudices among the different ethnic tribes. Experiences of prejudice and discrimination abound in the stories and visions of peace of consultation participants. People say that peace is: when people smile at me even if I am wearing the turong/hijab ; one understands the cultures of the people in Mindanao not only the Muslims; cultural discrimination is eradicated to see unity; there is no majority or minority; no discrimination of culture and religion but fair and equal opportunities for both Christian and Muslims; ang pinakamahirap kong experience is dealing with our Muslim brothers and the other minorities kasi magkaiba, malayo talaga ang understanding ng majority o ng Christian group than the minority. (My most difficult experience was in dealing with our Muslim brothers and other minorities, because the Christian majoritys understanding of the minority was really very different.) The Lumads Being Left Out. Lumad respondents strongly assert that the NCIP is weak in processing indigenous peoples ancestral domain claims. In some cases, it even serves as instrument of handing over the IP lands to exploiters. For the Lumads in general, their concept of peace is equated with food adequacy, cohesive family and clan relations and self-governance. These are anchored on their right for self-determination and land ownership. Furthermore, the tribal leaders cited that peace

is when there is no hunger, no displacement from the land, harmonious relation in the family, and the tribes are managing their own community. For them, peace is threatened when the land of the Lumads is subjected to massive deforestation, state-sponsored systematic disposition of land divesting them of resources thus, threatening their survival.

The Customary Laws. Customary laws and indigenous peace pacts must be reviewed and taken seriously. After the review, these pacts should be included in the written and official local history of the communities. A reenactment of such old pacts may be conducted as a result of the renewal of local agreements. Multicultural Sensitivity in Education. Peace education promoting cultural sensitivity and solidarity should be made an integral part of formal, nonformal and informal education. Multicultural sensitivity programs should be developed especially for educators and top educational administrators for them to discover their own biases as expressed in their views and behavior as well as in the school policies they formulate. This training should be made part of the curricula offered by police and military academies, and in the programs and projects of non-government organizations. The Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) should prioritize peace education for both basic and teacher education, as provided for by Executive Order 570. EO 570 institutionalizes peace education in all levels of education in the country. Implementing guidelines of EO 570 should be disseminated to all heads of both public and private schools, colleges and universities. The implementing guidelines should be systematically disseminated to all public and private school heads. Healing of Trauma. Exposure to war and violence and prolonged displacement has caused deep emotional and psychological trauma among them. KM participants recommend that there should be more psycho-social interventions designed towards healing of trauma experienced by victims of war. Several GOs, NGOs and private institutions that implement such programs adopt unique and effective strategies to heal trauma such as Kiddie Fun Day events under the OPAPPs H.E.L.P. Project, self-awareness seminars, etc. Likewise, children who are recruited to engage in the war as combatants suffer from severe trauma should be given special attention. For one, the rights of children should be duly recognized by both the MILF and the government, especially in times of conflict, and even way beyond it.

Intensifying Collective Sensitivity

Respect to Right to Self-Determination. Both Moros and Lumads call on the majority population to respect their right to selfdetermination and self-governance. This is to correct historical injustice while at the same time recognizing that Mindanao peoples need to move forward in peace. Respecting the Lumads right to their ancestral domains that will later on be incorporated into the Bangsamoro governance should also be guaranteed. Fast tracking and subsidizing survey and processing of indigenous peoples land claims within and outside the Bangsamoro territorial boundary need to be done. Legitimate rights of settlers to their lands will also have to be respected. In many places, attempting to reconcile conflicting assertions on land claims has led to an impasse. Recent studies on land and identity formation point to some possible ways out of the impasse, like introducing a twist in storylines and discourse formation.17 Clarifying the BJE. The MILF needs to clarify what the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) is all about, including what its policies and processes are on land acquisition and ownership. This will allay the fears of many non-Moro groups on the implications of a BJE on their lands. The announcement of the BJE caught many people by surprise. It also created a furor among the majority population that led to the botching of the MOA-AD, and the BJE, through a Supreme Court ruling on its being unconstitutional.
17 Land Tenure Stories in Central Mindanao. Davao City: Local Government Support Program in ARMM.

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Photo by Jowel Canuday

SOLIDARITY
The peace process should come from the grassrootsChristians, Muslims, and Lumads should be included in the peace processInclude Lumads in the peace talksThe peace talks must be multi-sectoralThe process shall start from the grassroots in the different places of the provincesThe youth must be involved in the peace processIt should be the Filipinos who shall lead the peace process All sectors must do their part in the peace processIt should not be the rich only to discuss because the poor have also their rights to be respected and heard Kining FGD karon mao unta ang gihimo sa una, kinahanglan ang participation gikan sa katawhan. Naay representasyon gikan sa pribadong sektor ug government sector. Ensure participation of BUC, LGUs, Rich , Poor, IPs. Business, Academe. --- Various sectors all over Mindanao

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Appreciating Peoples Desire and Demand for Participation

Konsult Mindanaw is witness to peoples gratitude for being consulted. People are eager to take part in peace building. The responses to Question 4, What are you willing to offer or sacrifice for the sake of peace? is a harvest of peoples generous sharing of insights and pledge of time, expertise, and resources for the sake of going beyond the current state of unpeace. Artists volunteer to build peace monuments, composers continue to sing peace. People in business dare to invest a portion of their capital in conflict affected areas. Parents also pledge to teach their children the importance of respecting other groups. Individuals offer to learn the language of other groups. Academics plan to do more relevant research on Mindanao issues. Psychologists also expressed willingness to spend time for the healing of children affected by war. Consultation is a sign that the peace process is sincere and will bear fruit, and therefore people want to become part of it. From grassroots consultations as well as from various literatures, we know that only when there is meaningful participation by the public will there be support for negotiated agreements like the MOA-AD. Agreements most likely gain legitimacy when the public gets to be involved in all stages of peacemaking - from preparatory, processes, negotiations, agreement signing to implementation. The public has a sense of ownership over it when it participates in the process of shaping the contents and providing substantive inputs on the issues being negotiated. Without public participation, agreements that are reached exclusively on negotiations between leaders of combatant groups, while satisfying their core interests, may also fail to address the underlying substantive issues that are of concern to the public.

Some development programs failed due to the lack of people participation or partnership. When government agencies and donor institutions implement development projects, they bring with them their notions and agendas they think will work in an area. But soon, they realize that their programs have been abandoned by the beneficiary communities. They are told, later in the project duration, that water systems have not been maintained, that health centers have instead become the stable for goats and other livestock. An easy answer is that the people have not appreciated the value of what had been given to them. The real answer probably lies in the process by which the program had been introduced. And this partnership must recognize the important contribution of community members in making the project successful. It is therefore important to get people to actively participate in the peace process. Their willingness to participate in turn depends on their level of awareness and understanding of the issues that are the subject of negotiations between a state and a rebel group. In a country that has been divided along religious fault lines, such a process is imperative. The state needs to secure the consent from its majority constituents on a deal with a group that is perceived by the majority as the cause of all the trouble. The leadership of the rebel group also needs to explain the raison dtre of their armed struggle to the majority, not necessarily to win them over, but to open lines of dialogue with them and eventually prevent demonization of the group and its cause. Participation means engaging people to provide substantive inputs and feedback on the negotiation agenda. People will support the agreement if they are able to contribute their inputs on issues affecting them and that these are being considered as subjects of the negotiation. A good communication program could address the information deficit and help galvanize a strong peace constituency in support of the peace negotiations. In designing such program, it would be

good to acknowledge the peoples right to information and their right to a voice, making communication participatory. It becomes participatory or rightsbased when it allows the exchange of information between all stakeholders, especially with those who feel excluded from the process. An effective exchange of information allows a combination of approaches: downwards provisions of good accurate information from the government and the peace panels; upwards participatory flow of information from the public; and horizontal communications involving people and communities talking to each other. Medias power can either be wielded to achieve peace or to create conflict. The power of media range from educating, to actually shaping, enhancing or even changing peoples mindsets and values. With such a power, media can be an effective avenue in providing political education to encourage awareness and people participation. Media is also seen as an effective means of drawing out the voice of the people, and consequently bringing these to higher authorities. The media is an entity seen to facilitate the consultation process.

Channeling Peoples Desire for Solidarity

Information and communication channels and structures should be set up, providing a venue for peoples participation. The creation of peace and order councils is mandated under the Local Government Code. Their scope and functions are spelled out through executive orders. Mostly, these are focused on peace and order securityrelated concerns, not peace-building. The mandate of these councils can be reviewed, especially toward ensuring peoples participation in the peace process. The review should include status of Local Monitoring Teams (LMT) in the LGUs under OPAPP. Through this and other

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mechanisms, people could get involved. People could also be trained to participate in their organizational assemblies and meetings. Peoples organizations and civil society can send resolutions and position papers, attend Peace summits and other initiatives for peace. The current efforts of the OPAPP deserves to be given a chance and must be supported, despite the perennial lack of time and resources.
Respect Local Units of Identity and Organization---Local units of identity like the family, barangay, tribe, peace and development community (PDC) should be respected and recognized. These are peoples mechanisms for establishing identity, dignity and maintaining psychosocial equilibrium. These organizations can be tapped to do community-based needs analysis as well as for conflict management, reintegration of ex-combatants, conduct of public rituals, and even for relief distribution. Build social infrastructure that connects communities rather than divide them. Support initiatives that establish bridges between different or even conflicting ways of life, such as intercultural or interreligious dialogues, cross-regional exchange, gender sensitivity programs, intergenerational sharing. Institutionalize consultation. So-called the other peace processes, with smaller armed groups, must be enhanced. They are radically different in approach from that of the big top-level peace negotiations. Concerned communities and tribes in Mindanao can formulate a local peace and development agenda that will have an immediate impact on the ground. This can be done through consultations that will identify needs and resources that will be translated as projects. This can lead to the empowerment of local communities. Empowered and sustainable communities are the genuine foundation of peace. The participatory processes in the consultations will allow the communities to win small victories and build peace by themselves. The final political settlement is important but the communities need not wait for this. Building peace for them is here and now. This community-level process continues to be pursued independent of the panel-level talks and despite the latters delay.

Pay special attention to the needs of internally displaced persons and conflict affected areas: (1) Develop a more systematic and holistic approach to serving the bakwits, during war and in the intervening periods, (2) Invest in indigenous ways of coping with conflict and in the way they organize and reorganize, build and rebuild their communities, (3) Ensure that humanitarian aid truly serves the needs of the IDPs,18 (4) Draw up a realistic and sensitive program for their reintegration, preparing both the ex-combatants as well as the hosting communities to avoid introducing new friction or reigniting old issues. Promote Business with Conscience. Provide an attractive policy environment for corporate social and environmental responsibility (e.g., via tax incentives, assistance in tapping financial mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism, etc.); institutionalize and uphold government-civil society partnership in the enforcement of environmental laws all throughout the supply chain. Schools for Peace. Schools as institutions of education play a crucial role in molding the young generation of Lumads, Muslims and Christians to be makers of peace. Schools can accomplish this by institutionalizing peace education; teaching the real Mindanao history; giving scholarship especially to Lumads; working for the upgrading of literacy in Muslim communities; teaching values and educating the youth of their role in society. Media. Media should be a channel by which people will understand the peace process. It can be an important vehicle to push for transparency in the peace process. More media practitioners in the peace process for the sake of transparency. Given this role, media should practice responsible journalism. Before coming out with a report, journalists must check and double check their sources of data so they can avoid making exaggerations and sweeping generalizations. Reporters and journalists must provide a balanced picture of the context of the conflicts that are reported in the news. Labeling, i.e. a Muslim suspect is a common manifestation of irresponsible journalism that discriminates against Muslims. Journalists should always
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avoid using a religious identity, i.e. Muslim to describe a suspect in a crime. Respondents also emphasized that media should practice accurate reporting. Moreover, media practitioners are cautioned not to allow themselves to be used by unscrupulous politicians whose only aim is to advance their selfish interests. The struggle of media practitioners to be true to their social mission has to be recognized and supported. The Mindanao peace movement is actually showing the way for the national peace movement and deserves support and recognition. Below the relatively quiet surface of the peace constituency are the increasingly active efforts at peace advocacy, peace education, peace research, relief for evacuees, rehabilitation and development, interfaith dialogue, reconciliation and healing, women in peace-building, culture of peace, peace zone-building and other communitybased peace initiatives. Peace workers have indeed acted locally, and usually more than when acting nationally. Their separate but interrelated and collective efforts at various levels, in various peace fronts, are a source of hope that eventually a critical mass consolidated into a strengthened peace movement will turn the tide in favor of peace. By 2003, seven peace networks came together to form a coalition called Mindanao Peaceweavers: the Agung Network, Bishops-Ulama Forum (BUF), Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), Mindanao Peace Advocates Conference (MPAC), Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC), Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement (MPPM), Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN), and Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ). The work of the MPC and its Bantay Ceasefire in engaging or accompanying the GRP-MILF peace negotiations and the ceasefire has also served as a model for similar initiatives on the Communist front including Mindanao. In particular, it inspired the independent citizen network called Sulong CARHRIHL to monitor and promote that human rights and IHL agreement in support of the broader GRP-NDF peace process. Sulong CARHRIHL is currently the only sustained civil society effort of promoting this peace process which has local partners nationwide, inc. in Mindanao. But it needs so much more partners for peace work on the Communist front where the peace constituency is still very weak.

For a pioneering study on the dignity and strategy of the internally displaced persons, see Jowel Canuday. 2007. Bakwit: Celebrating the Power of the Displaced. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

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Photo by Jowel Canuday

SPIRITUALITY
The Muslims and Christians and the Lumads can practice their religion without being disturbed by the other people with different religions. --- Urban Poor from Lanao

Acknowledging Peoples Faith and Symbols

Konsult Mindanaw participants foresee a peaceful Mindanao where Muslims, Lumads and Christians live harmoniously with each other. Each of them live freely, and able to practice their faith and way of life, without external interference. Generally, Mindanawons hope that peace can be achieved despite the pain that people experience in conflict areas. This is why people commit themselves for peace. The most prevalent personal commitment, both among Christians and Muslims, is the offering of prayers for peace. Four out

of ten respondents offer the personal commitments for peace e.g. offering of daily personal prayer; doing volunteer work for peace; sharing time and talent for peace; doing good deeds; being a law abiding citizen; respecting others culture and religion; willingness to sacrifice ones life for peace. Many even want to help and support the government, not to malign it but offer voluntary service. Peace can be categorized into internal and external peace. Inner peace (or peace of

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mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Peace is about ones belief and respect of ones self. It is peace within the self. It starts within ones self, a serenity with oneself, a unity of the mind and body centered on God. Peace then refers to inner peace. This had been espoused by the majority of the participants in most of the regions especially by the sectors of farmers, academe, youth, urban poor, professionals, business, and the religious. Peace is also viewed as a gift from God. This is the topmost answer cited by all groups of respondents across sectors. Christians, Muslims, Lumads experience peace or are at peace praying to God/ Allah/Magbabaya. God is the summit of all peace. If theres God theres peace, fear in God, good and stable personal relationship with God, being one with God/Allah, in dialogue with ones faith, adhere to Prophet Mohammads (PBUH) teachings (Hadith). Peace and prayer contribute to the fullness of life man/ woman in communion with God and Peace is surrendering all concerns to God and being able to help others. Some Muslim youths and Ulama stated, Peace is Islam, in Islam there is peace. Peace as spirituality flows into society. From the Muslim group, offering of life to achieve peace is significantly noted in the following phrases: supporting or even joining the Mujaheedin wholeheartedly, willing to become an MILF member and die for the cause of Islam, victory to the graveyard, fight for my right at the expense of my life, continue the struggle for independence and support the establishment of an Islamic government. Also, by living the Shariah Law, being at the forefront in protecting government establishments in Muslim areas, participating in advocating Bangsa Moros right to self-determination, supporting charter change, generate jobs for the Ulama. Peace as Religious Tolerance. The meaning of Islam is peace. Islam teaches tolerance

for other faiths, in its dictum of there is no compulsion in religion. No one is forced to adhere to Islam. This indicates that there is room for dialogue with Muslims. Participants in the consultations recognize that individuals talk about their religions on the basis of personal experience, which may not be the real essence of their institutional religion. This all the more requires us to dialogue and understand other religions to promote appreciation and tolerance of other faiths.

Law (CMPL) or Presidential Decree 1083 is implemented among Muslim communities in Mindanao. The Philippine Shariah Law or PD 1083 is not really the Shariah or Islamic Law; it only covers Family and Personal Law in Islam. Promote More Vigorously Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding. The Catholic, Protestant and Muslim groups see the importance of the integration of cultures (religion, and beliefs) of all tribes in Mindanao in the curriculum in both elementary and high school education. Readings on the culture of the tri-people of Mindanao should also be included in books for youth and children. According to Muslim respondents, teaching the Islamic religion and culture to Christians will help them appreciate the beauty of Islamic faith and Muslim culture. Similarly, the Protestant groups believe that religious instruction and Bible study should be required in schools. The many initiatives today dealing with interfaith and interreligious dialogues deserve further support. A number of pioneering institutions, like Silsilah Dialogue Movement, the Brahma Kumaris, and Focolare, add contemplative deepening into the apparently simply social transformation. Promote Intrafaith Dialogue Leading to Forgiveness. Religious leaders and institutions may take the lead in promoting social cohesion and the healing of memories. Mending the social fabric and rebuilding relationships often requires tapping spiritual energies from different religious traditions. There is need to develop an intense program for intrafaith dialogue, whereby Christians among Christians may reflect on their participation in the sources of conflict and find value in admitting their own culpability, while at the same time picking up the pieces and moving forward in renewal. Interactive sensitivity programs may also be organized where participants can reflect on their participation in the history and contemporary shape of Mindanao conflicts, and initiate a process where people can reach a point of offering or asking for forgiveness. This process can be pursued among different religious groups, churches, and congregations. The past

Harnessing Spiritual Resources and Leaders for Peace

Integrate Peace and Religious Instruction in Education. All groups strongly recommend the systematic implementation of Peace Education in the curriculum in all levels of education. Tribal groups, LGUs and grassroots communities should receive peace education as well. A Muslim professional suggested that culture of peace (COP) with emphasis on peace and justice must be included in the curriculum. Modules should be developed not only for formal education, but also for non-formal education. Government should support peace education by giving it priority in budget allocation.19 Apply Islamic Teachings in Muslim Society. A number of participants mentioned Islamic Law should be implemented in the future peaceful Mindanao. Another said, In the future peaceful Mindanao the Quran reigns in everybodys hearts. These statements came from participants in Muslim areas. Another Muslim participant said that Sharia is implemented in Muslim society. By this is meant that the Code of Muslim Personal
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For a good comparative regional material, see Cultivating Wisdom, Harvesting Peace: Education for a Culture of Peace through Values, Virtues, and Spirituality of Diverse Cultures, Faiths, and Civilizations. Edited by Toh Swee-Hin and Virginia F. Cawagas. 2006. Queensland, Australia: M ulti-Faith Centre, Griffith University.

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two decades have witnessed Christian congregations, such as the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Jesuits, the Order of the Friars Minor, and no less than the late Pope John Paul II, publicly acknowledging and apologizing for the various ways that they have hurt the indigenous peoples whom they encountered in their missionary work. While this apology is usually incumbent on the majority, a corresponding intra-faith process may also be conducted by Muslim and Lumad communities, and among other groups as well. 20 Calling for More Active Participation of Religious Leaders on Peace and Good Governance. Konsult Mindanaw participants recommend that ulama, priests, babaylan and other religious functionaries get actively involved in the work for peace. Spiritual and religious leaders must hold regular dialogues with government and nongovernment leaders on peaceful and just resolutions of conflicts. Religious leaders of unquestionable character and integrity must be invited to serve as advisers of the peace panels. The Bishop-Ulama Conference should take the lead in conducting intra-faith and inter-faith dialogues to discuss universal concepts related to peacebuilding, i.e. forgiveness, reconciliation, justice, accountability, integrity, etc. The National Government in cooperation with church/spiritual leaders should form Truth and Reconciliation Committee. The Committee should be tasked to organize workshops where participants can ventilate their sentiments or reflect on their contribution to the conflicts and eventually reach a joint reconciliation. Religious leaders can come up with a regular blog or column in daily newspapers. They can also circulate messages on ethical leadership, good citizenship and similar values to different audiences. They can also be tapped in the development of curricula on values education, Culture of Peace and other
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Peace is inner peace within every individual. Peaceful Mindanao happens only when we follow the teaching of Allah like leaders must be just, wealthy people are generous, ulama propagate Islam, and poor people cooperate and participate in activities for development. --- Urban Poor from Lanao
peace concerns. More importantly, religious leaders can get involved in the design of trainings on the use of nonviolent strategies for communication applicable to leaders and officials of both government and non-government institutions. Current efforts to empower and capacitate the ulama through the Ulama League of the Philippines and the National Council of Ulama in the Philippines can pave the way toward moral and spiritual enlightenment. This might be the linchpin toward a transformed and morally upright politics in the country. Let Religious Leaders Teach Good Governance. Religious leaders must regularly conduct retreats (and its Islamic equivalent) among persons in leadership/ managerial positions in government, non-governmental organizations, civil societies, party lists, and the like. Character audit be conducted regularly for all government employees. Religious leaders should establish schools for ethical and moral leadership in strategic areas in the community.21 Catholic NGO and Lumad Youth, Muslim Ulamas and Muslim Artists and other respondents in three regions (SOCSKSARGEN, Lanao, and Northern Mindanao) said that it all boils down to right leadership. There is no transparency in our government leaders. LGUs should perform their duties and functions honestly. The leaders should be role models.
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Ritual Healing. Spiritual leaders and communities may need to conduct ritual healings. Closure of conflict resolutions, including those of Rido, usually requires the tapping of local symbols, words, music, and gestures that bind the community. Burning confiscated firearms may be ritualized to produce more impact. Communities divided by development projects may have to return to their primordial sources of spiritual and cultural energies in order to regain their collective strength. A growing number of communities have experienced the unifying power of dyandi, buklog, pamaas, pakang, and other rituals that connect peoples with their ancestors, to the land, and to each other. Even the land itself needs ritual healing for all the wounds that have been inflicted upon it down the long history of conflict, having to absorb bombs, blood and the dead or bodies.

For a quick reference on these apologies, see Jose de Mesas Inculturation: What Needs to be Done, a paper presented to the Catholic Bishops Conference Seminar on indigenous peoples, Manila, 19 January 2010. Other national leaders, like Kevin Rudd of Australia, have also made public apologies.

Amina Rasul. 2003. A Look at Corruption in the ARMM and the Role of Faith-Based Organization in Fighting Corruption. In Muslim Perspective on the Mindanao Conflict: The Road to Peace and Reconciliation. Makati: AIM Policy Center, Asian Institute of Management.

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SUSTAINABILITY
Sa akong pagtan-aw, mura ta ug bataHuyang kaayo ang Gobyerno. Sila ang nagahimu sa balaod, sila man gihapon ang nagaguba.
--- Anonymous
but unity. People are able to assert themselves about what they want of the National Government. At the moment, the government is perceived as favoring political interests of a few over those of the many. Furthermore, the participants see a peaceful Mindanao where there is no land grabbing, no race for power, wealth and prestige. The FGD participants see the sharing of power as instrumental to equity in the access to and use of resources. It When people dream of peace, they imagine government and social institutions really working for the people. There is honest governance, less corruption and sincere government service. Elections are characterized by honesty. They dream of a COMELEC that truly works independently and gives the true and honest results of elections. There is good governance when honest leaders are elected in an honest election. One group of participants dreamed of a peaceful Mindanao where there is no partisanship and politicking,

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provides everyone the poor, the young or elderly, religious, Muslims or indigenous peoples, disadvantaged groups with equitable access to nutrition, education, employment and livelihood, health care, shelter, safe drinking water & other basic services. Women and men, Muslim, Lumads and Christians, participate as equals in decision-making, priority-setting and resource-allocation processes. There is equal opportunity in governance relating to economy, and basic services are undertaken by the government without discrimination against Muslims, Christians, and Lumads. Good governance starts with good leaders who are working for peace and preventing war. There is good leadership that produces good followers in the society. One effective way to gain followers is to lead by example, doing what the followers are expected to do. The participants see the future leaders as having the political will in implementing decisions, are guided by Divine laws which make them avoid corruption, are serving the public without personal interest, are sincere and do not have false pride and are not greedy of power and wealth, and are helping one another.

among LGUs in conflict-affected and conflict vulnerable areas through capacity building support and oversight. They must mainstream participatory conflict-sensitive and peace promoting local development planning among LGUs in conflict-affected and conflict-vulnerable areas. This can be done through capacity building. Conflict sensitivity can also be mainstreamed in local government operations, to ensure that implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these services will lead to positive impacts on the local peace and conflict situation. Winners of the Galing Pook Award may be used as benchmarks in this effort. Align Development Institutions with Peace Efforts and Internalize Cultural Sensitivity and Multiculturalism in Development Work. The Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), now the Mindanao Development Authority (MINDA) and other government agencies that have oversight over Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programs and projects in Mindanao should regularly monitor these programs and projects. This can be done with the collaboration of civil society groups. Regular monitoring will ensure that the projects and programs are aligned with Mindanaos peace and development priorities and with its peace outcomes. Monitoring will also enhance donor programs sensitivity to peace and conflict in the areas where they operate. The vision of human development and social cohesion also need to be integrated in the mandates of the MEDCo/MINDA, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), LGUs, and other ODA agencies, as well as in the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) and others. Wherever possible, the staff of these agencies must also reflect the cultural diversity of Mindanao. Professionalize and Institutionalize Peace Efforts. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has to be professionalized and institutionalized. This is to match the complexity of the historical and contemporary dimensions of conflict and the corresponding challenges in the

promotion of peace. OPAPP personnel and leadership must upscale their skills and continuously conduct formation program to ensure maximum service for the peace process. There are bills filed in Congress and the Senate on the creation of a Department of Peace. All this, however, requires a thorough organizational audit. OPAPP and MEDCo/MEDA have many opportunities for collaboration and these must be pursued. Strengthen the NCIP and the Indigenous Peoples Movement. The national government should fully implement the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA). At the same time, it should strengthen the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) so it will become effective in capacitating IP communities for their self-governance and development of their ancestral domain. Organizational strengthening of the NCIP should include the creation of field offices that are linked to OPAPP and the LGUs to facilitate the implementation of RA 8371. Lumad communities should be provided with technical and financial support to fast track the identification, delineation and titling of their ancestral domains. All organizations supportive of the Lumad, including the NCIP, may seriously consider the drafting of a bill that will create an Indigenous Peoples Development Agency. This agency will become the clearing house of all development concerns and issues of Lumad communities, like land, culture, economy, management of resources, and education. Correct Divisive, Discriminatory and Unjust Practices in the Justice System. Litigation practices as well as forms of punishment that are biased against women, girls, ethnic groups or other classes of people must be documented and exposed. This can be done through a stringent application of the law, and of an appropriate continuous education or value formation program among legal and judicial functionaries. Sessions on truth-telling, forgiveness, and healing may be explored on an institutional level to address the issue of patriarchy and impunity in the judiciary. Legal pluralism must be explored to

Strengthening initiatives through Institutionalization

Mainstream Peace Lens in Local Governance. OPAPP, DILG and the LGA must orient and constantly update the newly elected and re-elected local government officials in conflict-affected and conflict vulnerable areas on EO # 3 (Defining Policy and Administrative Structure for Governments Comprehensive Peace Efforts), on the peace processes in Mindanao, and the roles of LGUs. They must mainstream participatory, conflict-sensitive and peace promoting local development planning

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accommodate and integrate Islamic jurisprudence as well as indigenous or customary laws. Strong implementation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Lifestyle Check. The National Government must remove even the smallest insinuation of condoning corruption of local leaders. A stringent planning, organizing, and controlling strategy must be integrated in the implementation plan of any development project or program. This plan must put great weight on preventing corruption and not just in running after lost funds. This framework should underpin all discussions on promoting lasting and just peace in the conflict affected communities. Civil society organizations, together with faithbased groups must design programs that will support the campaign against corruption. The initiators will lead by example in promoting the principles of good governance, e.g. transparency, accountability and people participation. Solidarity partners, funding agencies, and nongovernment organizations should also help promote good governance among its implementing partners and among themselves by walking the talk. For CSOs and funding agencies, a CSO clearing house, with a mandate from appropriate government agencies, can also come up with guidelines to curb corrupt practices among CSOs and funding agencies. Both peace panels must address the issues of corruption and the integration of a good governance framework in the peace talks. Strengthen Peace Education. OPAPP has been ordered to undertake the program, with CHED and DepEd as implementing arm. E.O. 570 provides for the Institutionalization of peace education in basic education and teacher education. This should go beyond basic education. We must laud and support the current initiatives toward training school heads themselves as well as the highest administration officials on integrating peace into the whole educational program. Networking among schools for the sake of peace (like that of Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities, Mindanao Studies Consortium, Catholic Association of

the Philippines-Mindanao) should translate into structural and policy reforms. Schools as institutions of education play a crucial role in molding the young generation of Lumads, Muslims and Christians to be makers of peace. Schools can accomplish this by institutionalizing peace education; teaching the real Mindanao history; giving scholarship especially to Lumads; working for the upgrading of literacy in Muslim communities; teaching values and educating the youth of their role in society. Initiatives to produce and propagate a History of Mindanao that takes into account the issue of justice and peace must be supported by funding and policy reform. Values formation should be taught both in the Madaris and Christian schools. We should teach children the value of right relationship. The youth should be given political education. Activate the National Peace Forum. One of the three underlying principles of the comprehensive peace process is that it should be community-based, reflecting the sentiments, values and principles important to all Filipinos and shall be defined not by the government alone, nor by the different contending groups only, but by all Filipinos as one community. An essential component of the comprehensive peace process is consensus-building and empowerment for peace, which includes continuing consultations on both national and local levels to build consensus for a peace agenda and process, and the mobilization and facilitation of peoples participation in the peace process. E.O. No. 3 contemplates not just the conduct of a plebiscite but a continuing consultations process. Further, E.O. No. 3 enumerates the functions and responsibilities of the PAPP, one of which is to conduct regular dialogues with the National Peace Forum (NPF) and other peace partners to seek relevant information, comments, recommendations as well as to render appropriate and timely reports on the progress of the comprehensive peace process. E.O. No. 3 mandates the establishment of the NPF to be the principal forum for the PAPP to consult with and seek advice from the peace advocates, peace partners and concerned

sectors of society on both national and local levels, on the implementation of the comprehensive peace process, as well as for government[-]civil society dialogue and consensus-building on peace agenda and initiatives.(G.R. No. 183591, Province of North Cotabato, et.al vs.. GRP Peace Panel) Make Knowledge and Imagination Work for Human Development and Social Cohesion. Establish data base centers for measuring human needs and assets, including social, biological, cultural and environmental changes. Develop new tools of analysis that are sensitive to the complexities of contexts and are useful for policy intervention, budget allocation, development planning, decision making (e.g. peace analysis, measuring social cohesion, scales of discrimination, etc). Make these tools accessible to the local communities who have to make serious decisions about their land, culture, environment, and the future. Employ intellectual disciplines that help in understanding the dynamics of identity, ethnicity, law, personal history, clan conflict, globalization, and others. Develop a critical pool of experts on social relationships, cultural politics, and others. Develop dictionaries of different Mindanao languages, promote production, distribution, and celebration of identity marking through visual aids, MTV, documentaries, films. Acknowledge, support and strengthen the work of the academic institutions and research GOs and NGOs, as well as their collaborative efforts, such as the Mindanao Studies Consortium (MSCFI). Explore relevant research agenda, e.g. Description of Mindanao regions before the wars. How did the the people of Mindanao, with diverse cultures and religions live together? How do communities maintain peace? How do they restore peace after conflict? What are the peoples local and indigenous ways of transforming conflict and managing peace? Finally, give ample recognition to the peace work of artists, composers, writers, architects, poets, singers, dancers, and chanters, and support their out-of-the-box innovations in the search for meaningful and colorful peace in Mindanao.

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 Consult them in the affairs, then when you have taken a decision put your trust in Allah (Surah-Imran 3:159) and who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation. (Surah Ash-Shura 42:38) Consultation certainly implies transparency, open-mindedness which can only happen with respect, trust, empowerment, freedom of expression, readiness to be criticized, and acceptance of divergent views. This principle was applied to its fullest extent by the Holy prophet in his private and public life, and was fully acted upon by the early Caliphs of Islam.
--- Selected Khutba (2008)

Be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one anothers interests, not just your own. (Philippians 2:2-4) Democracy must be participative. This means that the different subjects of civil community at every level must be informed, listened to, and involved in the exercise of the carried-out functionsParticipation is a duty to be fulfilled consciously by all, with responsibility and with a view to the common good. --- Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004)

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