Dialogue with Other Religions, the Philippine Experience

Sept. 2004

Building peace through DIALOGUE

An interreligious conference in Cotabato focused on practices and initiatives for peace building.

“What’s money? What’s it used for?” This was the intriguing question thrown at us by the respected woman leader of the Aromanen tribe in Carmen, North Cotabato during our visit to their community last September 28, 2004. “Development, what do you mean by that? We were given light and water, but at the end of the month, we have an utang (debt). We want to decide for ourselves whether we want koryente (electricity) or not.”
This and many other surprises lay in store for the 82 participants of the first tri-people meeting organized by the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace (ACRP) Forum in collaboration with the University of Santo Tomas (Manila) and the Southern Christian College of Midsayap, North Cotabato. It took a yearlong preparation interrupted by the Pikit war and the scarce resources available at hand. “Why do you still want to go to Mindanao?” somebody in fact asked us. “It is easier to hold it in Manila.” But the organizing committee wanted to understand the various groups of people, religions and cultures in the area; to share and learn practices and initiatives for peace building; and create networks to promote peace in the country.
As our Manila plane touched down at the Cotabato City airport, my eyes feasted on the lush, green rice fields around. Undoubtedly, Cotabato is a fertile land; in fact, we were told that it is the rice granary of Mindanao. Like the spokes of a wheel, diverse routes from Cotabato lead to many areas of Mindanao. On our way to the conference site, our tourist guide pointed out places usually tagged “hot spots” by the national news. But everything seemed calm even as small groups of men in uniform appeared at strategic checkpoints. Passing by the Sultan Kudarat Islamic Academy to fetch 19 young Muslim students joining the conference, we were awed to see hundreds of young Muslims welcoming us, waving their hands vigorously at us as if we had known each other for long. I felt a strong kinship with them.

The Southern Christian College celebrates its 55th Foundation Anniversary this year, “Serving together beyond boundaries.” In this context, the ACRP conference was set to take place, as well as the annual gathering of the pastors of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, of which the SCC is an expression. On the first evening, an evocative cultural presentation of the SCC Theater Guild depicted the history of Mandalawe, the land of peace that existed long before foreigners came to our land, a haven of abundance, freedom and peace.
The second day was dedicated to the presentation of the Christian, Tribal and Islamic religions as ways of life. Rev. Fr. Bert Layson, OMI, parish priest of Pikit, North Cotabato, conquered our hearts when he shared openly about his discovery of the “neighbor” through a painful experience of failure to recognize the Lord present in someone who had come to him for help. As he narrated his commitment to dialogue, the hall fell into a deep silence. Then he said forcefully: “A Christian cannot be a true Christian unless he loves a non-Christian… The worst enemy of Christianity is the dichotomy between faith and action.”
Fr. Layson is well-known for having taken into his parish Muslim evacuees at the height of the Pikit war. He has offered his room as a place of prayer for them. He also shared with us stories of simple people who had risked their lives to protect others of another religion. He and his collaborators are holding peace-building sessions, the first part of which is dedicated to four hours of the history of Mindanao before the settlers arrived, when people lived together in peace. “Peace,” he said, “is something that cannot be bought. It’s about relationships, the way we look at ourselves and at others. We must begin here.”
The tribal way of life was presented by Mr. Timuey Custudio Saliling, a tribal leader of Aromen, Cotabato City. He noticed that the topic assigned to him lacked the word Truth. How to reach the truth? He shared with us some common points of tribesmen. “The truth for a tribesman,” he affirmed, “lies in the system. To forget what ancestors have established is to reject the interrelatedness of things.” In conclusion, he shared his initial doubt: “Is the title of my topic really important to them? Or is it just to put ‘icing’ to the cake?” Very quickly he told us the story of how his wife had repaired a broken cake by splattering icing on the sides of the cake and then on the top to hide the cracks. “Thanks for splattering the icing if it can mend broken lives here,” he concluded.
The third speaker, Prof. Mustafa Salih of the Institute of Bangsa Moro Studies, introduced us briefly to Islam and presented the Islamic way of life based on the Tawhid, the Oneness of God, which is to be translated into the spiritual, economic, political and other aspects of life. He further spoke of man’s nature which is peace, where there is balance. “When man disturbs this balance, there is conflict, non-peace. So Allah sent the prophet to guide men who have created imbalance, or non-peace either with oneself, with nature, or with others. The role of religion is to bring man back to his Creator.” The open forum that followed provided intense moments of clarification on the bigger and lesser jihad; on why terrorism is linked to Islam in the world today; and if there is atonement for sin in Islam, etc. Answers came not only from the speaker, but also from the floor, from people who had first-hand experiences related to the matter.

At this point, we were introduced to a new type of workshop aimed at a dialogue of peace among the participants. The Workshop was divided into four parts. Parts I and II were literally an exercise of patient listening to one another without ever interrupting the one talking; the third part was a game of saying things frankly, objective acceptance of lights and shadows; in short, critical thinking without feeling hurt but rather experiencing true liberty, trusting in the “eye” of the brother who only wants our good; lastly, the thrilling experience of dreaming together with open eyes, daring to venture into the unknown side by side as companions in the journey towards the perfection of one’s total being. Personally, I felt our thinking was overturned 360 degrees! The general impression was “How wonderful it is when people work together in harmony!” As for the “action plan” so usual after conferences like these, a young tribal facilitator commented: “Isn’t it already an “action plan” when I listen to another’s way of life, learn from it, and then share it with my group so that it also becomes our way?”
The next day, at three in the morning, I was awakened by the perfume of coconut oil wafting up to the third floor where I slept. Later on, I learned that our Muslim friend had been preparing our packed lunch of “pastel”, a typical dish made of rice topped with minute pieces of fried chicken wrapped in a banana leaf. It was a fitting intro as we set out to visit different communities and learn from them precisely how to build peace.
At the Aromanen Manobo, to answer the question: “What is your concept of peace?” one leader pointed to a drawing on a wall showing their tribal structure of authority and answered, “Without oppression, as for every three families there is someone in charge; for every nine families, another; for every community still another person.” While sharing our packed lunch of “pastel”, we continued asking them questions. Here was a wealth of wisdom to be shared with the rest of the country!
Then we left in two jeepneys to visit the Aromanen community in Bentangan. Our guide made us squat on the floor, and then placed a one-peso coin on a white handkerchief at the center. Someone told us to write down our names on a piece of paper as the leader told us that the spirits needed to know us in order to protect us from harm on our trip home. I noticed at the end of the room there were two little houses, with white flags, a round table also covered with white cloth, some boxes, a white jar with water and two stones opened on top. This was the most holy part of the house. A few men were seated near it. Our guide then told us that these men were not married. When asked why, somebody replied: “There are priests or religious men and women in every religion. That’s why there are two benches here: one for men and one for women. They worship one night but they don’t worship together, they take turns.”

We reached Midsayap amid heavy rain. At suppertime the lights suddenly went off and someone said: “That’s good, so we can better understand our lumad brothers and sisters who don’t have electricity.” So with candlelight, in three groups we shared our learning and what we wanted to do afterwards. It was an intense moment of spiritual exchange so much so that we did not notice our backs had become wet with the rain. A young Muslim said: “Sharing is already dialogue. Here we are building unity.” At the joint session that capped the day, we were astonished at the common points we had reached in just a few days living side by side: Lumads, Muslims and Christians. Then we prayed together: “Give me, O Lord, the courage to live in dialogue amid divisions and conflicts, and to build peace with all people of sincere hearts who believe in your love and compassion. Amen.”
As our plane took off from Cotabato City, I felt a sudden surge of nostalgia for the people in whom I had encountered a new kind of learning, one that approaches the Spirit of God’s Wisdom which hovers over all.

Kres Gabijan

posted by focolare.men.northeastmanila @ 12:03 AM