Boholanos to run 452 km for peace in Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Twenty-eight Boholanos are running 452 kilometers from this city starting on Sunday to Cotabato City in support of the ongoing peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Augusto Miclat Jr., director of the International Initiatives for Dialogue (IID), said the marathon involving Boholanos shows that the peace process does not concern only Mindanaoans.

“These runners are not activists, they are ordinary people who share the sentiments of the Mindanao people longing for peace,” Miclat said.

The activity – called Duyog Mindanao 2011 – is part of civil society’s advocacy of sustainable peace in Mindanao, he said.

Judito Cabusao, IID program manager, said the Boholanos committed “to run for peace in Mindanao because they want to be part of the peace process, especially in policy advocacy, and they too share the sentiments of Mindanao people.”

The runners – aged 20 to the late 50s – are expected to complete the course in 11 days.

On August 30, they are expected to hand over to MILF and government representatives a symbolic torch of peace and will turn over cash they have collected for people displaced by violence in Mindanao.

They are also expected to engage government and MILF representatives in active discussions on how peace could be achieved.

One of the runners, retired MSgt. Ronilo Oson of Tagbilaran City, said he was previously assigned to Datu Piang, Maguindanao, and saw how people had suffered from war.

“War is not the answer to (achieve) real peace,” he said.