CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Minalang Barapantao Sr. vividly recalls a statement that struck him the most when he met with Higaonon tribal leaders from northern Mindanao last month in Iligan City.

“They said, ‘This is the first time in my whole life that I am being consulted on how to attain peace in Mindanao,’ and I can see they were really very appreciative. I could see their hopes coming alive,” said Barapantao, a member of Konsult Mindanaw’s regional management team.

Similar statements also came out in the 35 other focus group discussions (FGDs) that Barapantao and his colleagues were assigned to handle.

Organized by the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) in February, Konsult Mindanaw seeks to draw up concrete suggestions for broader participation in the Mindanao peace process.

Earlier, the BUC mobilized its network of ulama (Islamic scholars) and bishops in the eight regions of the island. Barapantao, a BUC member in Marawi City, was among those who readily accepted the challenge.

Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, project director of Konsult Mindanaw, said the project was the widest and most far-reaching insofar as the peace efforts were concerned—in terms of participation from different sections of society.

Online views

People outside of Mindanao or even abroad were also given the chance to present their views with the creation of a “web-based region” through www.konsultmindanaw.com.ph.

Barapantao said the FGDs with the Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and the “lumad” (indigenous peoples) revolved around four main questions:

• What is your vision of peace?

• What are your recommendations on the formal peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)?

• What can you recommend on the broader peace process?

• What can you personally contribute—or even sacrifice for the peace in Mindanao?

In the FGDs in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, Barapantao said the people waited all day long to be consulted. As one participant would put it, “Ngayon lang kami kinausap (It is only now that we are being asked),” he said.

Concepts of peace

The answers ranged from the most basic to the most scholarly.

“For the lumad, their vision of peace was very simple, to be able to eat three full meals a day and to be able to move freely in their own territory,” Barapantao recalled.

Internally displaced persons would also show gratefulness because they were taken into account. “This is the only time we had this opportunity to be heard, that’s what they say,” Barapantao said.

In the synthesis of the FGDs, the floated ideas include economic and political concepts, such as “food on the table,” “from guns to plowshares,” and “a change of leadership.”

A journalist by profession, Barapantao said he would use what he had learned to generate support for the peace efforts. But in the course of their work, several unseen challenges had almost discouraged him.

“Our lives were already being threatened. We knew that they were trying to intimidate us. There was a disinformation campaign that was circulated over the two-way radios that most people in Marawi listen to,” he said.

Threats

During the first assessment meeting of Konsult Mindanaw held at the Mindanao Training Resources Center in Davao City on June 15, Barapantao and his colleague, Prof. Intuas Abdullah, shared their experiences about the threats.

Among these were text messages from unknown senders that they could be harmed.

“We were not new to the threats, we knew that they, whoever they are, were not agreeable with Konsult Mindanaw, but we went ahead anyway,” Barapantao said.

Barapantao said there were some perceptions that Konsult Mindanaw was pro-government.

“We have been working for peace for decades already, the difference now is that we want the voices of the Mindanao people be counted, what is so wrong with that?” Abdullah asked.

“The work of Konsult Mindanaw is not just an offshoot of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s call for consultations done in the community level, which she made after the MOA-AD (memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” said Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, who chairs the BUC.

The proposed agreement called for the establishment of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to be governed by the MILF in Mindanao.

“We have actually been conducting the consultations for years now. Only now, the implementation is much clearer,” he said.

Scientific method

Capalla said Konsult Mindanaw was different from past peace-related efforts because now, they had adopted a scientific method in getting the insights and recommendations of FGD participants.

“This is qualified data acquired through scientific means. You are assured of reliable data, not just hearsay,” he said.

Konsult Mindanaw is more than 70 percent done with its consultations after conducting some 300 FGDs across the island.

Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez attributed the fast implementation of the consultations to the commitment of the people behind Konsult Mindanaw.

“Our people are organized. I am struck with the great interest they have shown to conduct the consultations. What is good about all of this is that people learn to talk to one another, which is the main aspect of the culture of peace,” he said.

Capalla said the group was not aiming to transform or substitute the government-MILF peace talks.

“This is all part of the process. What is clear is we want to have a better start beyond 2010 towards achieving lasting peace in Mindanao by consulting the people,” he said.