Religious Leaders and Building Peace the Philippine Experience

Religious Leaders & Building Peace: The Philippine Experience

Prof. Eliseo “Jun” Mercado, OMI (Graduate School Faculty, Notre Dame University)

Fulbright 2002 New Century Scholar (Georgetown University)

I believe, a very important attempt to weave the experiences and lessons of religious leaders’ participation in building peace.  There are many and varied lived experiences of peace building that involve religious leaders of all faiths. It is interesting to note that both violent and peaceful people continue to use religious images and passages from the Scriptures or Holy Books to “justify” their acts and actuations that either promote conflicts and violence or building peace.

The peoples of Mindanao are witnesses to and participants in these two strands. They have seen both the violence and bloodshed in war and rehabilitation and reconstruction in peace building. In fact, war, piracy and kidnappings have always marred, from the very beginning, the encounters between Islam and Christianity in Southern Philippines.  It is often said that the Southern Philippines has really not known peace. What we, sometimes, experience are fleeting truces that allow peoples to build anew their homes and livelihoods until war erupts again and send them back to evacuation centers. 

A multi-awarded movie of the late Marilou Abaya Diaz produced a movie entitled “Bagong Buwan” (New Moon) that became the top grosser during the Manila Film Festival in 2002. The movie was a masterpiece that captured the continuing cycle of war and peace in Mindanao. Peoples live in a continuing “evacuation”.

 I will borrow Shakespeare’s words to describe the relations between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao.

" . . . Creeping murmur and the pouring dark

Fill the wide vessel of the universe:

From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night

The hum of either army stilly sounds

That the fixed sentinels almost receive

The secret whispers of each other's watch. . .

Each battle sees the other's umber'd face."

So Shakespeare's chorus described the eve of Agincourt. The words might well have been written also of Mindanao, more particularly of Muslim-Christian relations. When faiths and religious traditions confront each other, it is, for the most part, with "fixed sentinels" and even with the "whispers of each other's watch".

         

It is said that Christianity and Islam are, indeed, physically adjacent.  Yet, for all their nearness, the relations between these two faiths and their respective followers are largely shrouded in mutual suspicion and darkness. There are few exceptions on either side to rise above the general ignorance and suspicion. But these are rare … When faiths and religious traditions confront each other, it is for the most part, with "fixed sentinels." It is in the context of that “fixed sentinels” in Mindanao realities that I will share with you the few exceptions in building peace.

In the Philippines, particularly in the South, Christianity and Islam have always been presented as two competing faiths for the same geographical area. Wittingly or unwittingly, the recent spate of lawlessness like kidnappings, terrorism and plain and simple banditry is read along the understood "separateness" between Christianity and Islam.

         

This tragic and sad reality is further exacerbated by the contemporary surge of the so-called fundamentalist movements both in Islam and Christianity. The likes of the Abu Sayyaf and Pentagon Group/s that are often associated with fanaticism send jitters to the people in the area.

All these are familiar enough and part of our present problem. Often, they exercise tyranny over our spirits. They have produced a culture and a habit of suspicion and confrontation that make inter-religious collaboration and dialogue, truly, a very difficult task. It requires a commitment and determination to steadily school ourselves to resist and reject our habit of preferring suspicion to trust; our instinct to prefer the familiar confrontation to a new relationship of partnership in the world that is in difficult transition.

In the past as well as today, there is an ever-growing awareness of common territory and affinity between Islam and Christianity. The Qur’an in Chapter 5 verse 82 unequivocally encourages Muslims to cooperate with Christians. “Thou wilt surely find the nearest of them in love to the believers are the ones who say, ‘We are Christians’; that because some of them are priests and monks, and they wax not proud” (S.5:82).     

The Second Vatican Council document, Nostra Aetate, clearly articulates the common territory and affinity between Christianity and Islam.

 “The Church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan, to whose faith Muslims eagerly link their own.  Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, his Virgin Mother they also honor, and even times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer alms-deeds and fasting.”

“Over the centuries many quarrels and dissensions have arisen between Christians and Muslims. The Sacred Council now pleads with all to forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual understanding; for the benefit of all men, let them together preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values.”  (NA3).

Muslim-Christian Partnership towards Peace & Development

Long before the historic document, Nostra Aetate, there were a few Religious Leaders in the Southern Philippines (the traditional Bangsamoro Homeland) who have understood the importance of Muslim and Christian understanding to attain a lasting peace and sustainable development. There were difficulties, frustrations and pains, yet, they were transcended as they continued to learn how to live as neighbors. The Missionaries of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) have pioneered the new relationship between Muslims and Christians right at the very heartland of the Bangsa (Nation) Moro.

These attempts now constitute the noted “few exceptions” that trail blaze Religious Leaders participation in building peace in Southern Philippines. I will outline five traditions of Muslim-Christian leaders’ involvements in peace building that are associated with the OMI.

The first tradition was the continuing attempts to bridge the education & development gap in the Southern Philippines due to long years of government neglect. In the then empire province of Cotabato and the Archipelago of Sulu, OMI’s began the Notre Dame School System that brought quality education to the Moro peoples long before the establishment of the Mindanao State University.  The Notre Dame School system has generated so much social capital that educated Moro people and the leadership both in the rebel front and in local government easily point to their experiences in the Notre Dame campuses all over the Southern Philippines as examples of harmony and unity between Muslims and Christians.  This was also true in the island province of Basilan with the Claret Schools under the Claretians.

Post Vatican II, Sulu, Basilan and Cotabato had embarked on development programs following the universal call from Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Populorum Progressio  that specifically articulated that “development is another name for peace.”  Resources were generated to bring potable water to the rural communities, clinics were established in remote areas, to build houses for the poor and the “evacuees” now called “internally displaced persons”. To bolster agricultural productivity, farming cooperatives and credit unions were established.  Five foreign Bishops epitomized this tradition. They were Bishops Gerard Mongeau, OMI in Cotabato, Francis McSorley, OMI in Sulu, Philip Smith, OMI both in Sulu and Cotabato and George Dion, OMI in Sulu and Jose Maria Querexeta, CMF in Basilan. 

The ‘original’ Mindanao Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC) and its Implementing Arm, the MSPC Secretariate, ventured farther in Muslim-Christian Relations. With some Protestant churches and Muslim leaders, they carried further the dialogue into meaningful activities such as “Duyog Ramadhan” (Accompaniment during the fasting month of Ramadhan) and conferences on the rights of the Moro people to “self-determination”.

In a similar vein, the Protestant Churches through their Mindanao institutions had also launched dialogue and development programs both in Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato. The Dansalan College in Marawi City and Southern Christian College in Midsayap with their pioneering extension programs served rural Muslim communities.  These two institutions became the leading local partners of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines’ programs of dialogue among peoples of living faiths and of educating Christians about Muslims or PACEM.

Fr. Eliseo Mercado, OMI and Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno were pioneers in the beginning of this Interreligious dialogue both at the national level and local levels that involved the Catholics, Protestants and Muslims.

The second Tradition was the struggle for justice and human rights, particularly during the dark years of Martial Law.  Arbitrary arrests and detentions, Military “zoning” (military encirclements of a community where all males were lined up in the public square and houses were searched and ransacked usually at nights), Cases of “salvagings” (killed or liquidated and later the bodies were dumped into the river) and ‘disappearances’ led to the formation of the first Christian-Muslim Leaders Association of the Philippines. Prominent personalities in this struggle were Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno, OMI, Episcopal Bishop Manguramas, and Sheik Omar Bajunaid. This group conducted capacity building for dialogue and monitoring human rights violations for priests, Imams and Pastors (Through Bishop Nepomuceno, I got involved in this work). 

They constituted the first “quick response” team to assist Muslim individuals and communities that were constantly harassed and repressed. The military wantonly violated their rights during military operations both in urban areas as well as in the remote areas.

It is a tradition that speaks of concern and sincere effort to achieve understanding between Muslims and Christians and to work together to preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice, and moral values.

The association was there to protect people’s civil rights against the constant assaults of the fascist army of the Dictator Marcos. In times of war and calamities, Bishops Nepomuceno, Manguramas and Sheik Bajunaid were in the forefront to give relief, assistance, release of prisoners and moral support as well. They were able to forge Muslim-Christian solidarity that witnessed to the common tradition of trust, friendship and hospitality amid the legacies of suspicion, anger and hatred.  The Social Action Center in Cotabato, during the Martial Law years, became the powerful symbol of Muslim and Christian solidarity for justice, freedom and brotherhood..

The third tradition is the path personified by Bishops Bienvenido Tudtud (Lanao del Sur) and Benjamin de Jesus, OMI (Sulu). Both Bishops were gentle, jovial and friends to all, but most especially to the poor and the vulnerable sectors of Philippine society. Their passionate commitment to the poor and dialogue of life led them to venture in a humble and non-threatening friendship with the Muslims in the Vicariate of Sulu and the Prelature of Marawi. They wanted to be the humble and compassionate servants of the peoples of Sulu and Lanao del Sur. This path is now enshrined in the universally accepted dialogue of life that translates into everyday life the desired friendship that should characterize the relationships between and among neighbors.  It is a path that continues, in daily living, to break down the walls (both visible and invisible) that separate Muslims and Christians.

To advocates of this path it is actually a dialogue of life that carries out the joyful and humble work of proclaiming God’s unconditional love and his inclusive kingdom that recognizes and respects the dignity and spiritual treasures of the Muslim neighbors.

The fourth tradition is the pioneering peace education and advocacy began by the OMI run Notre Dame University (NDU).  It is the first institution of higher learning that has integrated peace education in its curriculum where both Muslim and Christian students are required to take peace studies.  The University’s peace advocacy has led to mediation and conflict resolution efforts of the citizens (Muslims and Christians) in Southern Philippines.

Following the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front, Peace Education became one of the flagship programs of President Ramos. Funds were appropriated for NDU to train people and build capacity for all Mindanao Universities with the hope that these Universities would in turn establish their own training centers.  Today, the government Mindanao State University (MSU), the Jesuit run Ateneo de Davao University and Ateneo de Zamboanga University are few examples of Institutions of Higher Learning that grant degrees on Peace and Development Studies. These institutions also conduct a non degree peace education workshop to high school and elementary teachers both in the public and private schools. The aim of these institutions is to integrate in the formal school system, particularly in Mindanao, the culture of peace.

The fifth tradition is the actual involvement in peace making and peace building.  Beginning with the Peace Talks between the Philippine Government and the MNLF in 1992 until 2000, prominent religious leaders like Fr. Eliseo Mercado, OMI of Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, Sr. Amelia David, ICM of the Diocese of Pagadian and prominent lay leaders Josephine Leyson of the Diocese of Dipolog (in Zamboanga del Norte) and Atty. Alan Flores of the Diocese of Iligan in Lanao del Norte got involved not only in that historical peace process between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) but also in the transitional Consultative Assembly from 1996 to 2002 implementing the 1996 Final Peace Accord. 

It should be noted that a Protestant Pastor (Rev. Absalom Cerveza) became a prominent negotiator in the MNLF Peace Panel. He also served as the deputy Chair of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD) during the time of “transition” from 1996 to 2001.

In many ways this tradition is symbolized by the NDU Peace Center that also helps in the forging of the initial ceasefire agreement between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). NDU was also tasked to form the religious leaders both Muslims and Christians to monitor and supervise the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. From 1997 to the days immediately prior the “all out war” policy of President Estrada, the religious leaders under the leadership of NDU Peace Center monitored and supervised the ceasefire agreements.

It also facilitated the birthing of the still functioning Coordinated Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) that continues to monitor and supervise the existing ceasefire agreement between the Philippine Government and the MILF. 

Beginning the 2000 all out war policy of President Estrada, another OMI, Fr. Roberto Layson, OMI got involved in giving sanctuary to refugees. With the Church-led organization like Tabang Mindanaw (Mindanao Assistance), he is has been in the forefront of rebuilding people’s lives ravaged by a never ending war.

These traditions show concrete Muslim-Christian collaboration on the ground that indicates the heart of dialogue and peace building. Like politics, peace building is local. They are rooted in “being” with the people, especially the poor and the vulnerable sectors of society. It is a “rootedness” that is shaped and fashioned by a shared living, sympathy and solidarity. This becomes the well-spring of active participation in all human endeavors, economic, political and cultural, always in favor of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized.  Oftentimes, this kind of witnessing is clearer and more eloquent than any signing of agreement.

Muslim-Christian collaboration is not something abstract. It is a human activity which involves our total life experience. It takes place in the individual as well as communal lives as peoples of differing faiths live out their faiths and conviction according to the living traditions. No doubt, the partnership and collaboration depend upon a bridging leadership that enhances mutual trust and understanding. It demands respect for the identity as well as the integrity of the other. It rests on the conviction that God who is all merciful and compassionate desires to draw all peoples and the whole creation into a relationship of love and peace.

This type of partnership should enhance a new culture that enables and empowers peoples to draw from each other’s traditions and common resources to help face today’s threats to global survival and work together toward peace with justice and the integrity of creation. Religious leaders as exemplified in the five concrete traditions on the ground should spare no effort to live and work together towards reconciling conflicts, eradicating bigotry and prejudices, and empowering grassroots level communities to act upon their own choices in self-development towards a more just and participatory society.

There are no simple formulas for enhancing collaboration and partnership. Every situation demands a serious study and reflection of the many and varied factors at play. Some of these are historical, social or doctrinal. But whatever the factors and their magnitude, it is, in the final analysis, everyone’s duty to see a better community where peoples of differing faiths and traditions live in love, justice and peace. As religious leaders, we have the obligation to emphasize that which unites us and to make a determined effort to set aside that which would divide us. We can only do this if we have full understanding of what the other believes, and are committed to the principle of respect and recognition of the beliefs and feelings of every community and person.

In concrete terms, there is the urgent need to steadily school ourselves to prefer trust to suspicion; prefer friendship to familiar confrontation; and above all, prefer love and service to the usual hatred and bigotry.  This demands a shedding off the old as well as dying …. But is this not the meaning of the saying:  “the old gives way to the new and death leads to life?”

It is precisely in this reality of continuing search for peace that I would like to cite two people. The first is the former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali in his message to the 2^nd International Forum on the Culture of Peace, 26 November 1995: “Peace is the basis for the realization of all the finest aspiration of life itself.”  The second is Pope John Paul II, a man known to harness both the religious leaders and traditions to promote peace and dialogue among religions. During his visit to the Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, 6 May 2001, he said: “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as COMMUNITIES IN RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE, NEVER MORE AS COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT”. It is crucial for the young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote or justify hatred and violence.  Violence destroys the image of the Creator in his creatures, and should never be considered as the fruit of religious conviction.”

“Better mutual understanding will surely lead to a more objective and comprehensive knowledge of each other’s religious beliefs at the practical level, to a new way of presenting our two religions NOT IN OPPOSITION, as it happened too often in the past, BUT IN PARTNERSHIP FOR THE GOOD OF THE HUMAN FAMILY.”

Again in his departure address (8 May – Damascus), he appealed to all the peoples and to their political leaders “to recognize that confrontation has failed and will always fail.  Only a just peace can bring the conditions needed for the economic, cultural and social development to which the people of the region have a right."

In our commitment to peace building, we have to continue to believe and assert that PEACE is essential premise for human development, accomplishment and success.  This belief and assertion need always to be nurtured with care and protected from assaults and degradation by violent and evil men and women of our age.

There is no ready-made culture of peace for Mindanao or anywhere for that matter.  There are no easy quick-fixes to our difficulties and problems.  But together, we can weave a new “mat” where PEACE can take roots, grow and flourish.  But to be able to weave that new mat, we need to teach ourselves to speak the language of peace and reject the language of war!  

My dear friends, notwithstanding the difficulties and at times what appears hopelessness of our efforts… it is our collective responsibility to transform the language of war to language of peace – from force to reason, from imposition to dialogue, from exploitation to partnership, from enemies to friends.  It may sound as a new utopia…. But there is a the urgent need to plant, cultivate and nurture a new and refreshing attitude of openness in mind and heart, an essential disposition in understanding and living through the relations between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao.  The Arabic word for this is TADABBAR.  This is the new attitude that will pave the way for a new beginning for each one of us and for each of our faith communities – yes, a new PASSAGE from the culture of war to a culture of peace.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a ten-year old Negah’s understanding of Peace…

"I know what a mine, a tank or a gun is, but I don't know what Peace looks like, because I haven't seen it.  Some people say it is a bird.  Some people say it is luck.  But I know when there is peace everyone can go to his homeland and live in his home.  When it comes, I will see what peace is and I will forget the names of all the weapons that I know." (Read at the IA Consultation – London, October 5-6, 2004)