STUDENTS AND faculty of the Ateneo gathered at Gate 2.5 on March 17 as part of the Busina Para sa Kapayapaan: Salubong Sa Ateneo, a rally for all-out peace in the Bangsamoro region.
The event was in response to Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s call for all-out war in the region on January 27.
Estrada voiced support for the escalation of combat operations against the Moro rebels in light of the recent killing of 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Efforts at lasting peace have been delayed given that the implementation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law was stalled due to the said incident.The BBL is a framework for the creation of a new Bangsamoro state that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and give the Moro people increased sovereignty in the region.
The attendees urged passing cars to honk their horns in favor of peace, while shouting slogans such as, “Sigaw ng Kabataan, Kapayapaan!”
The Atenean delegation also welcomed representatives from Mindanao, including ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman, who stopped by via a motorcade.
Associate Dean for Student Affairs (ADSA) Rene San Andres presented the representatives with a token of support, a framed shirt from the Ateneo bearing the school symbols.
He also received a manifesto of peace from Executive Director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman.
According to San Andres, the ARMM Manila Liaison Office contacted the Office of Student Activities (OSA) to organize the event.
The ARMM Manila Liaison Office serves as the official representative of the autonomous government in the nation’s capital.
In turn, incoming Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) Analysis and Discourse Head Lyka Aguilar said that the OSA tasked COA, the Ateneo Resident Student Association and the Sanggunian to organize the event.
The said groups were assisted and informed by civil society organizations Caucus of Development Non-Governmental Organization Networks, Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute and Generation Peace Youth Network.
All-out peace
According to Aguilar, the most important course of action that the government should take is to ensure peace in the region.
“The first priority of any government should be the people and the [promotion of] peace, and the peace in Mindanao is being disturbed by the all-out war that [officials in government] are calling for,” she said.
She also said that Ateneans have a responsibility to ensure peace in the region. “It is our duty as students to represent the bigger portion of the country that calls for all-out peace.”
In an interview with the GUIDON, San Andres said that it is the Ateneo’s position to support all possible peaceful options in securing stability in Mindanao.
“[The Ateneo stands] for peace. We do not believe in the option of violence to solve the problem of Mindanao,” he said.
San Andres cited “Manila Imperialism,” wherein the central government makes uninformed decisions about peripheral areas of the country, as the cause of tension currently gripping the Mindanao region.
He also said that for the country to achieve peace, it must “bridge the gap between north and south [Philippines].”
“A lot of people in the north, Luzon especially, have a lot of assumptions, especially about Mindanao, that need to be revisited. It’s those assumptions that are causing a rift [within the country],” he added.
San Andres also criticized officials, such as Estrada, in advocating the use of violence in solving the region’s problems.
“We are not in the movies. In real life, the costs are real; people die, [and] lives are destroyed. Bravado, machismo are not the right strategy and the right approach to solving the problems of Mindanao,” he said.
Edited on April 10, 2015 at 11:45 PM
