News

Weeklong Engagements for the Bangsamoro

Posted on November 5, 2014

By Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan. Published in Sun Star Davao, November 4, 2014.

LAST week was a tough one for me. I had series of speaking engagements and attended a congressional public hearing for the Bangsamoro Basic Law organized by Ad Hoc Committee of the lower house.

My week started with a dialogue with Campus Minister heads of the different Ateneo schools. I presented our proposed Muslim retreat or what we call I’tikaf.

One of the mandates of my office in Al Qalam is to provide opportunities to students intra and inter-faith learning and dialogue and help our Muslim students to become good Muslims by understanding their faith and the essence of Islam.

The Ateneo de Davao Muslim Retreat for college and high school students is called I'tikaf. This process follows the principle of Islamic tradition of of spiritual retreat.

The literal definition of the word I’tikaf is to stay in a particular place, however in the definition of the faith of Islam, this word means to stay in the Masjid for a particular time period in the worship of Allah(SWT) while maintaining certain conditions, which shall be covered later on in this article.

In the state of I’tikaf, a person can stand, sit, sleep, etc.;and there is not one particular ‘form’ that this retreat must be carried out in (unlike the Islamic prayer (salat) which has a specific form to it) Hopefully, we can institutionalize this within Ateneo schools and other Catholic schools to provide a space for spiritual retreat for their Muslim students.

Last October 29, 2014, I was invited in the Ad Hoc hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law. This event happened at the Peace Room, Annex Building. There were thirty (30) members from the civil society organizations, academe, and youth groups that participated. It was a healthy engagement. Our congressmen and congresswomen heard the voices of the peoples from Mindanao.

From Manila, I needed to travel to Cotabato City for an environmental summit regarding the Liguasan Marsh. Let me share more about this activity.

The summit was entitled Ligawasan Marsh Integrated Water Resource Management Summit 2014 with the theme “Creating Roadmap for Multi-Stakeholder’s Sustainable Development in Ligawasan Marsh”. Ateneo de Davao University through its Al Qalam Institute organized this for Islamic Identities and Dialogue in Southeast Asia. Supporting partners: DENR 12, DENR-ARMM, Province of Sultan of Maguindanao, Province of North Cotabato, Province of Sultan Kudarat, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Maguindanaon Development Foundation Inc., Mahintana Development Foundation Inc., University of Southern Mindanao – Kabacan, Ateneo Institute of Anthropology, Ateneo Tropical Institute for Climate Studies and Mindanao Development Authority. This activity is supported by the Foundation for the Philippine Environment.

Keynote speaker is Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III. The following ARMM Executive Secretary Atty. LaisaAlamia, DENR Secretary Ramon Jesus Paje represented by DENR-12 Regional Director through PAWD Chief Hadjinasser Ali, Province of Maguindanao, Province of North Cotabato, Province of Sultan Kudarat, OPAPP and GPH Peace Panel Personne and Mindanao Development Authority.

Topics in the Summit were the following:
1. PASA, IPAP, Ligawasan Marsh Management Plan and Public Hearing Updates by Dr. Abonawas M. Pendaliday, IEM Specialist and Dr. Ali M. Hadjinasser, Chief-Protected Area and Wildlife Division of DENR 12

2. Related Studies:

a. Watershed Study by Dr. Lourdes Simpol, Director of Tropical Institute for Climate Studies of Ateneo de Davao University
b. Anthropological Study by Atty. Augusto Gatmaytan of Ateneo Institute of Anthropology
c. Ligawasan Marsh as the last frontier for wetland organisms by Dr. CayetanoPomares, USM-VP for Research Development & Extension and the Ligawasan Project Team of USM-Kabacan
d. Mapping of Interventions by Dir. DausayDaulog of Maguindanaon Development Foundation Inc.

The Ligawasan Marsh area is the largest freshwater swamp and marsh area in the Philippines. It is a 288,000 ha.complexof channels, small lakes and ponds, marshes and arable land formed by three constituents and connecting marsh areas, the Ligawasan, Libungan and Ebpanan marshes. The marshland provides a home to a rich variety of flora and fauna, such that a significant portion thereof was set-aside as a game refuge and bird sanctuary in 1941.

The Ligawasan Marsh also provides a home for between 468,000 and 1.1 million residents. Most of these people are described as farmers and/or fishers, who rely on the local resources to provide them with a livelihood. Despite the natural wealth of the area, most residents are economically marginalized. The vast majority of these residents are also Maguindanao Muslims, many whom regard the marsh area as part of their ancestral territories. At present, the MILF is currently in the final phases of peace negotiations with the Philippine government. Initial indications are that the marsh area will form part of the projected territory of the Bangsamoro political entity, which will be established in the region as part of the peace agreement. At this critical juncture, issues of ownership and control of land and resources acquire crucial political significance, not only among the residents of the Ligawasan Marsh, but between the Maguindanao people and the national community , as well.
 
The marsh area is now threatened by a number of developments, including conversion of marsh areas into farms, the use of agricultural chemicals in farming, and the unsustainable exploitation of local resources. The area is thus classified as a Category II area; i.e., under extremely high critical conservation need. It is also currently among the 34 priority inland water bodies for research and conservation identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). In this connection, there are plans to conduct public hearings or consultations on the long-standing government proposal to establish a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) in the Ligawasan Marsh area.
 
At the end of the day, the entire Bangsamoro peace processes will focus on the environment and what the environment’s resources can offer. What role will the Liguasan Marsh will play in the Bangsamoro? How are we going to manage and utilize the resources of the marsh?

Insha Allah, the new generation of Bangsamoro youth will define this.