KALINAW MINDANAO-Ateneo (Kalinaw) raised a total of P226,728.90 in cash donations and shipped over five tons of relief goods for the victims of the Zamboanga City siege.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) launched attacks on Zamboanga last September 9.

The attacks occurred on the day the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a breakaway group of the MNLF, were to resume their peace talks.

In the peace talks initiated by the Aquino government with the MILF, the agreement drafted by the two parties was called the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

When implemented, FAB would create a new autonomous political entity, the Bangsamoro, which would replace the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.

Kalinaw is a student action group organized in response to the conflict in Zamboanga.

The group was assembled on the evening of September 9 through the efforts of the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement, Ateneo Resident Student Association (ARSA), Ateneo Residence Hall Advisers (RAs) and some Loyola Schools (LS) students from Zamboanga.

With the help of online campaigns, Kalinaw began accepting donations from the Ateneo community starting September 10. Booths were stationed in the Gonzaga Hall cafeteria, John Gokongwei School of Management Student Enterprise Center and the Cervini Residence Hall driveway.

University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ also released a memorandum last September 13 that urged the LS community to help the victims in Mindanao by donating cash and goods.

The relief operations were done in partnership with the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) and El Consejo Atenista, the student government of Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU).

SLB made the shipping arrangements with the Armed Forces of the Philippines while El Consejo Atenista managed the distribution of relief goods.

The two batches of relief goods were shipped last August 20 and August 24.

According to ARSA President Von Cruz, El Consejo Atenista is now also helping the indigenous people affected by the MNLF attacks.

As of press time, Kalinaw is no longer accepting relief goods. Cash donations, however, are still being accepted.

Kalinaw convened

Assistant to the Director for Formation of the Residence Halls Ralph Quiblat, together with former ADZU President Fr. Bill Kreutz, SJ, called for the assemblage of Kalinaw.

The meeting was originally meant to check on the families of Ateneans from Zamboanga.

But according to Quiblat, it was made clear during the meeting that the discussion should not end with just a status check.

In response to this, Kalinaw members opted to initiate relief efforts, start an information dissemination campaign and arrange a forum about the Zamboanga crisis.

Zamboanga before the MNLF

Kalinaw organized a talk entitled “The Zamboanga Crisis: A Forum,” followed by a prayer vigil, held last September 18 in CTC 201.

The forum speakers were Zamboangueño Fr. Edwin Castillo, SJ and Malacañang Undersecretary for Political Affairs Tomasito Villarin.

Vice President (VP) for Social Development Atty. Jaime Hofileña gave the opening remarks.

During the forum, Castillo talked about the state of Zamboanga before the MNLF.

According to him, it is common for people today to be afraid of the conditions in Zamboanga, but the region was not always viewed this way.

He said solons from nearby places, such as Sulu, Basilan and the rest of the Zamboanga peninsula, would frequent Zamboanga City because they found staying in the area “peaceful” and “easy to like.”

Castillo further described the pre-MNLF period for Zamboanga City as a time when there was no conflict felt between the Christian and the Muslim population.

The demography started to change in the mid-80s, however.

“In 1979, there was a heightened focus on the identity of Muslims as Muslims, the identity of people from Mindanao,” he said.

Castillo identified the proponent of this movement to be Nur Misuari, a professor from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the founder of the MNLF.

“He decided to go back home to start and really work on this movement called the Moro National Liberation Front,” Castillo said.

Castillo explained that the MNLF felt that the government was trying to help the settlers “ease out” the natives when the government started to give out lands to the settlers after 1935.

The MNLF thus declared an independent Bangsamoro state comprised of the Sulu archipelago, Palawan, Mindanao and Sabah, claiming these areas as ancestral domains of the Moros.

Castillo added that the current attacks in Zamboanga City can be traced to Misuari.

Castillo added that Misuari was thinking “that the MILF has hijacked his revolution because now the government is talking to them (the MILF) and not to the MNLF anymore.”

“These people (the MNLF) feel that they have been left out in the negotiations [between] the government [and the] MILF,” Castillo said.

Atenean discourse

During his introduction for the forum, VP for Social Development Hofileña explained how the Ateneo community should view the current crisis in Zamboanga and the efforts being made by Kalinaw to help the victims.

“The hope is that this serves also to deeply enhance the level of formation in mission identity of all of us members of the Ateneo de Manila community,” he said.

Hofileña further explained how continued discourse is necessary in this crisis by reading a quote from a position paper recently issued by a group of Mindanao civil society organizations.

The position paper read, “Let us continue to support dialogue as a primary tool for peace building. Let us not allow the guns to drop out the voices we need to hear, the ones who call for peace.”

Quiblat also talked about the importance of creating a better discourse in a wider national context.

He explained how the existing prejudices against Muslims in Zamboanga and in Zamboanga City itself are “merely [caused by a] lack of information, merely not understanding the entire situation.”

Moving forward

Kalinaw is now shifting from relief operations to rehabilitation efforts for the Zamboanga victims.

“We are now looking for ways on how to help Zamboanga stand up again,” said Quibliat.

Kalinaw does not have any concrete rehabilitation projects yet.

They are, however, helping in the rehabilitation projects of other organizations by collecting toys and school supplies for the children of the displaced families.

RA Dudj Amor also explained that Kalinaw is planning to gather better information to properly assess what is needed in the proposed rehabilitation efforts.

According to Amor, they plan to collect information through Ateneans who come from Zamboanga once they come home from the semestral break.

Quiblat added that their long-term plan is to make Kalinaw a more “stable” group.

“Right now we (Kalinaw) have enough people who are willing to take it to the next level of making it a social development effort that is targeted towards Mindanao, a first of its kind,” he said.