READ-ALONG WITH BINOE Actor and peace advocate Robin Padilla reads a story to about 30 Christian and Moro children of Broce Central Elementary School of Peace in Shariff Kabunsuan. ACT FOR PEACE
DATU ODIN SINSUAT, SHARIFF KABUNSUAN—He entered the classroom with the same swagger seen on TV and film, striding as the pupils-turned-fans outside wildly shrieked.
Actor Robin Padilla’s presence briefly halted the first storytelling session of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Read-Along program at Broce Central Elementary School of Peace in Barangay Tamontaka here on Tuesday morning, but it was forgivable.
Padilla, who flew from Manila to General Santos City and motored to Cotabato City on Monday, was the Inquirer’s celebrity reader to 30 Moro and Christian schoolchildren. His visit was in time for the observance of the Mindanao Week of Peace, which ends Wednesday.
As the shrill settled, broadcaster Grace Vergara-Tanghal of Notre Dame Broadcasting Network proceeded with the flair of a professional narrator, drawing the children’s attention away from Padilla, who sat nearby, for the award-winning story, “Ang Kaibigan Kong Muslim (My Muslim Friend).”
Written by Mary Ann Ordenario-Floiresta, the story is about two girls—an Ilocana and a Muslim—whose friendship withstood their differences in culture and faith.
The children readily understood the message. Peace education is integrated in their curriculum, and their teachers and administrators have been trained to instill a culture of peace.
‘School of peace’
Their school was the first in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to be declared a “School of Peace” by the Action for Conflict Transformation for Peace Program (Act for Peace) and the GOP-UN (Government of the Philippines-United Nations).
Padilla, a peace champion known for his deep concern for the people of Mindanao and the conflict that has embroiled the island, read “Ang Bagong Golis (The New Arena),” a story that also dwelled on the friendship of two Moro children and their Ilocano friend.
The author, Bea Sapal, of Dalengaoen, Pikit, North Cotabato, is among those displaced by the war between government and Moro rebel forces and stays temporarily in Batulawan, also in Pikit.
“Ang Bagong Golis” is a product of the big book project of the Kids of Peace Foundation. It is the story of Ilocano and Maguindanaon children who play tops of various types under different rules. In the end, the children joined in playing with a new rule: No need to break each other’s toy.
Helping out Padilla were Banda and Sapal, who came all the way from the Batulawan evacuation center.
Read and act
Excitement grew and the storytelling session became participative when Padilla asked three children to act out what was being read and even gave them acting tips.
Later, he quipped: “Hayaan nyo, babalik ako dito at tuturuan ko kayong umakting (When I return here, I will teach you how to act).
Padilla told his young listeners, whom he consistently called “mga anak (my children),” that the morale of the two stories was not new to them, but something that everybody must appreciate and live.
“We all know the differences between our religions and cultures, but these must not prevent us from realizing a peaceful life or a better relationship. These should not provoke us to fight each other,” he said in Filipino.
“Why? Because we are ---?” he asked the children, who replied in unison: “Brothers and sisters … we’re Filipinos.”
Peace and friendship
Azraf Pumbaya, 11, said the sessions helped him all the more to strengthen his ties with his non-Muslim friends.
“I certainly learned a lot more,” he said in Filipino. “Now, I and my friends understand one another. If and when we quarrel over small things, this does not last long.”
Rey Ven Aguilar, an Ilocano pupil, said he learned that peace must be promoted.
Padilla is a Balik Islam advocate who was given the Muslim name “Abdul Aziz” in the mid-1990s. He established the Liwanag sa Kapayapaan Foundation, a preparatory school that gives free education to mostly Moro children, in Quezon City.
Also present in the read-along were Renaud Meyer, UNDP country director, and Diosita Andot, Act for Peace program manager.
Copyright 2009 Mindanao Bureau. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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