gone to iligan

Nov 24, '08 9:26 AM for everyone

we people of the cities do not feel the impact of the m.i.l.f atrocities even if we read about them in the newspapers or see them on t.v. but now that i'm here in lanao del norte, i saw the burnt houses, the coastline where townsfolk ran for transport to another city at the height of the burning, the seriousness of christians to arm themselves, the fear of christians in dealing with muslims, etc. everyday, we have to pass the highway where every kilometer or so, there is a checkpoint. i was told that in times of conflict, these are manned not by our own army or police, but the m.i.l.f itself! civilians have learned to differentiate only by the logo and flag posted on each stop. can you imagine a part of our country that is sometimes controlled by the muslim army?!

when i was told that i would facilitate a seminar with the objective of drafting a peace curriculum, my first reaction was: i'm not an educator! still, my friend (ging) was insistent to share our combined knowhow to her home province of....tararan..... lanao del norte. it seemed so far-off and only part of our social studies classes in school! it did not help that i met her in the cosmopolitan city of cebu, and i couldn't imagine her being a native of such an exotic-sounding place.  yet here we are, she and i, helped by another friend from the same province (arlene) who had the luck (and fortune) to be educated also in cebu.  

the three of us embarked on a tedious project with the iligan diocese (can you imagine me discussing with priests and the bishop? hahaha).  We’d travel early everyday from iligan to the heartland of lanao del norte. it was, to say the least, a very thrilling experience but for the tiring travel time.  i was regaled by stories about how the people of kauswagan ran to the seashore and asked fishermen to transport them to ozamis as muslim fighters burned their town. they could not use the national highway because 300 muslim soldiers were controlling it!

when we read about this in the papers, we do not feel - indeed, we cannot imagine - the degree of hardship our christian brothers experience each time the m.i.l.f attacks. i was also told of how the people of the capital city, iligan, literally armed themselves - each man and woman - to defend their homes from an announced muslim siege. all the guns of their fathers were cleaned and readied; the poor readied their bolos; and all civic groups went out to the streets at 9pm, ready to fight. it is no  exaggeration when we read in the papers that  christians in the city (who have the means) are willing to buy all the arms/guns they can to protect themselves. it gives you the creeps to think that my friends themselves, who are quite sheltered, are willing to fight in the event of a siege. it is like the book 'gone with the wind' where planters themselves were willing to fight during the american civil war. wow!  and to think this is the year 2008 - and will be 2009 soon!

i feel blessed to be part of this activity - to guide the catholic leadership on how to source funds for such activities; to lay the groundwork for a peace curriculum in high schools of lanao del norte. this is indeed very special particularly because  i am doing this for the catholics. (imagine an iglesia ni cristo teaching the bishops and priests! my life is strange, indeed.) since the major problem of the diocese here is where to source funds, you can imagine my pride when i went to the INC temple here and saw that the entire compound is being renovated. just goes to show we don’t have funds problems at all.  in any case, the patience of the priests and the bishop in convincing the christians to be forgiving, is to be commended. if your sister is raped, your house burned without reason, your father shot dead just because the government did not sign the bangsamoro contract - how can you forgive? if you are a fisherman, what do you know about the kuala lumpur signing?  the major issue here, really is: what happens to the christians who are the titleholders of these vast lands? do we drive them away for peace to reign? what happens to the rest of the country? will we give them away?

anyway, let me share with you the uniqueness of iligan.  here, there are two kinds of public cars: p.u and taxi. they look the same, but if there is aircon, it's called a taxi; when no aircon, it's called a p.u! have travelled far and wide to major cities and towns of the country and i can say this is the first time i encountered this distinction. on food, since there is a mixture of muslim and christians, you can see liempo restaurants (offering tender pork) side by side with halal establisments. :) it is also strange to be walking around and seeing women with covered heads - i swear, it makes you wonder if you are still in the philippines. the bishop told me that it is even more muslim in marawi, cotabato and sulu.  i wanted to have pictures taken with these women but ging warned they might get offended to be taken as a tourist attraction. Really?  How come in baguio, the igorots in g-strings even offer themselves for 50p per shot? oh, well.  by the way, there are  also many mosques - it can get unsettling seeing such structures all over. i imagine i'm in my dream destination of istanbul - this must be how it feels there.  i also wanted a picture taken with the mosque as background, but arlene said, wagna, oi!  sigh.  needless to say, while they grew up here, they are not comfortable with muslim stuff.

i decide to stay one more day so that i can see the famous maria cristina falls and have time to buy sukang pinakurat, for which iligan is known. (sorry to inform you all that the known chedeng peanuts of iligan is IMPORTED from indonesia!).   i buy an abaya, the better to feel the mindanao spirit!  but just when I wait for her to pick me up, two muslim guys get off their s.u.v and strike a conversation with me. (you can tell only from their dialect; otherwise they look very normal.) exchange of pleasantries - then one says: "i think you are my destiny". i laugh, but look around for comfort. to my alarm, the security guards disappear; the christians pretend they do not see us. i excuse myself and the man says: "wag ka matakot; i am a government officer". i use the best p.r  i could muster and text my friends. ging does not answer, while arlene replies (all caps): GET OUT OF THERE. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING. DON'T TALK TO THEM.

back with my friends, i found out ging had to call a general (kaya pala hindi sumasagot); arlene had to drag her relative to drive for her and fetch me very, very quickly. i say, OA naman kayo! but they were very serious: they would have kidnapped you! i laugh, but my friends are upset. they say, "ah...it doesn't matter if they went to oxford or mayors! they are still muslims; kidnapping to them is a business".

in the end, all i could say was: here we are conducting a seminar about christian-muslim peace, yet christians tell me not to talk to muslims!

so today we are off to the highway leading to marawi, at some point on which i will be able to see a destination i used to only read about: maria cristina falls! and arlene promised she'll show me lake lanao, too. truly, there is so very much to see, to learn about our beautiful country. after this trip, the only areas left for me to see in the country are batanes, bicol, zamboanga and sulu. and by God's grace, i will see them all before i hit europe. :)

inshallah! salamalaikum!