NGO: Mindanao tri-people live along well with each other

CONTRARY to usual perceptions that conflict in Mindanao is fueled by religious conflict, Christians, Muslims and Lumads in reality live well with one another, according to a non-government organization.

The issue of religious discord to justify the war in Mindanao is only created by some sectors to push their own agenda, said Radzini Oledan, an officer of the Initiatives for International Dialogue, a Regional Initiator of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).

GPPAC is a global civil society-led network which seeks to build an international consensus on peace-building and the prevention of armed conflict.

Oledan was one of the GPPAC presenters on the issue of media’s role in peace-building and promotion of children’s rights, in one of the workshops during the World Signis Congress that is currently held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

She said the tri-people have their own systems to address conflict, adding that problems only arise when outsiders with vested interests come in and use the resources of local people for their own benefit.

“Sometimes these elite would use the religious dimension to somehow justify the conflict in Mindanao but what we are doing as a civil society group is to really sit down, make spaces available for each one to really dialogue with one another,” said Oledan.

Oledan’s group links with the Church and other civil society groups in pushing for the protection of women and children in Mindanao. The civil society groups have drafted along with the Mindanao Peoples’ caucus the women and civilian protection.

“I think it is a significant contribution to the peace process. It outlines the situation of women displaced by war and also the protection issues that have to be responded both by the government and MILF. It actually calls for both panels to heed the responsibility to really protect the civilians,” she said.

There are currently 700,000 internally- displaced people in Southern Mindanao.

Oledan said they are tapping the indigenous people, women, children and youth in their peace-building efforts, making sure that their voices are heard in the peace process.

“There’s [a] need for the civilian population to really assert their right to live humanely considering that the war has taken the toll on human dignity and their right to live with dignity,” said Oledan.

Aside from linking with civil society groups to advance their peace advocacy, the NGO also takes the initiative to go down and partner with organizations and communities to further their agenda.