Category Archives: Scott

Mayor Lani S. Candolada and us

We encountered a very impressive community leader within the central Mindanao town of Tulunan when we met Mayor Lani S. Candolada. Her honor graciously took time to meet with and brief us on the some of the action points she is championing, as well as some of the challenges that need to be overcome within the area. The Mayor spoke with such an optimistic and resilient outlook on the future of the municipality, it was refreshing and truly impressive. Lani Candolada is an inspiring individual; I left her office believing that she sincerely cares about her constituent’s well being, not as potential voters but in a more altruistic sense of helping because it is the right thing to do.

The Mayor spoke of education in the year 2015-2016 being of special importance to her. There are several changes that her Honor has helped to implement within the local educational system, some “Teach to fish” principles as the Mayor called it to build for the future. For instance, Kindergarten through grade 12 will now have “Climate Change Mitigation” as part of the upcoming curriculum. I thought this was a brilliant concept, adding classes that will benefit the students by teaching them better ways to plant, preserve the soil and sustain the ecosystem will certainly benefit the local farming community when those students take that gained knowledge to their home farms and put it into practice. In fact, the Mayor offers food incentives, from her own garden, to students and teachers for scholastic achievement because she has found over the years that money is divisive. Food, on the other hand has the opposite effect and tend to bring people together.

Mayor Lani was displaced from her home as a child due to conflict and as a result had her own grade school education interrupted several times. The Mayor empathetically places a “special focus” on the displaced students that now settle in her community. Forty years of conflict in Mindanao has put Mayor Candolada some physically dire situations in the past and yet she mentioned, “That harbors no ill will toward any side”. I got the feeling that this was not smoke and mirrors political talk, it is apparent when you look in her eyes. The concept that I took with me from meeting this unique public official was how often Mayor Lani referred to laughter as a key to her personal catharsis. Her Honor claimed that “If you fall and someone laughs, get up and dust yourself off and laugh with them”. With uniquely wonderful way to look at life, I thought to myself, and I now try to keep that perspective in mind as a centering mantra. Optimism as a rule!

Father Bert Layson

We had the honor of meeting Roberto C. Layson or Father Bert as we came to know him, at his parish, in the municipality of Pikit, which is located in western Cotabato. After greeting us at the front of the Catholic parish, Father Bert invited us into his office for an hour or so of one on one time and lunch before we embarked on the next journey to a Tri Peoples barangay which is in the picture below.  It was during the time of listening to Father Bert that my waining faith in humanity was rejuvenated.  Father Bert spoke of being a man of God in Mindanao and that he holds an inclusive vision, one that is acceptive of all, Christian, Muslim and Lumad.  He has spent the last thirty years in the conflict zone has been there in times of need for all peoples.  What struck me most was the point he made about the importance of forgiveness as a means of personal catharsis.  After listening to Father Bert speak of the war atrocities that he had witnessed, I was amazed that he did not carry some form of bitterness or grudge.  In most of those situations Father Bert had to play the leading role in salvaging any form humanity that was left in the scenario and had shoulder other peoples burdens in order to help them carry on.  I asked him, “How can you not carry some animosity toward those that have cause so much pain?” Father Bert said with eloquence: “because we are all from the same human family, the same world”.  That pretty much sums it up.  No matter what our skin color or what we call God, we are all human beings with commonalities.  We all have to live in the same world, there is no other choice but to forgive one another and move on.  The fact that he has been doing it under unimaginable circumstances for the last thirty years is awe inspiring.  Equally, I was impressed with Father Bert and his command of the room.  Though physically he is on the smaller side, he is standing an inch or two above 5 feet and might weigh a hundred pounds, Father Bert had aura and a presence of a person twice that size.  Furthermore, the Padre had a smile that was infectious and he carried himself with a calm that I had never seen before.  It was safe to say that I was inspired by Father Bert from the moment I saw him.   

We had the opportunity to meet with several officials of the security sector and several things stood out as remarkable to me after that meeting. The first was the fact that we, a group a college students from a foreign country would be granted access to officials. However, we were greeted with friendly gestures and were made to feel welcomed  by officers and enlisted soldiers and marines of the headquarters element stationed on the base. This was a somewhat of a surprise to me as I anticipated a more distant and reserved atmosphere when university students and the armed forces mix for a question and answer session on military turf but this thankfully was not the case. The second point was the high level of official that stopped what he was doing at that moment and spent the next two and a half hours meeting with us and answering our questions. He was a career professional soldier that had served in conflict zones around the world and he was a fountain of knowledge. It was what he said during that meeting that struck me the most and that is he and his officers and men undergo peace building courses given by a third party NGO in order to mitigate the level and the amount of violence in future conflicts in the region. He stated that the conflict is essentially Filipino vs Filipino and in that context the violence must come to an end for the region to have a chance at sustainable peace. Instead of villianizing the enemy, he is advocating a more holistic approach by promoting that everyone in Mindanao must share the same land at the end of the day and that after forty years of war it is time for people engage with dialogue rather than with bullets.

Stepping out of Davao city airport and into conventional taxi, I soon realized that our visit to Mindanao was going to be a stimulating one. I became instantly convinced that all of the posted traffic laws were theoretical as we wove in and out of oncoming traffic and into a requisite jam. With my cab going nowhere fast, I watched the effortless skill of the motorcycle drivers with admiration as they passed mere centimeters from the front seat of the cab and each other. In Mindanao, there seemed to be the ratio of two or three motorcycles for every one car on the road, which was just fine for a motorcycle enthusiast like myself.   Remarkably, these two-wheeled motorbikes would be carrying any number of passengers, from one up to six at least, in the delicate balance of necessity and convenience.

Local artisans have taken a conventional motorcycle and combined an axel with a third wheel and enhanced the vehicles stability. Then added a bench seat with a roof and created vehicles perfectly suited for the quick stop commutes of urban Mindanao. Called the “Habal Habal”, these three-wheeled taxis are fuel efficient and relatively affordable for both driver and patron. Capable of transporting five or more people at a time, “Habal Habals” are increasingly becoming a ubiquitous site in Mindanao’s inner cities.  Having had the chance to ride on a couple of these, they are safer than they look and really are the vehicle of choice for the area.

If there is one thing that is a universal sign of joy, it is the good will that is established by exchanging the high five with another person.  There is little ambiguity with ones intention when you smile, slap hands with another individual and celebrate the joy of being alive.  This, I am pleased to say, was a constant throughout our travels.  Be it in the most affluent areas, to the poorest regions of the country, a smile and a high five are welcome and legal tender currency.  The most fantastic high five story of the trip would be when we were on our way home and in Guangzhou China.  I was  really hungry for some food I could recognize and we happened upon a 7/11.  It was in that store as I was purchasing some chips and a soda when this local guy came up to me an asked me where I was from.  I told him I was from California and his face lit up.  He started singing, ” On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair”, I immediately recognized the song and joined in with “Warm smell of colitas, rising up from the air” and we sang!  Here we were two knuckleheads, standing together in the middle of the night singing the Eagles Hotel California, and I will never forget it.  The smile and high five we exchanged after singing that impromptu rendition in the 7/11 is something I will carry with me forever. Joy has a contagious effect..   This picture is from the Bual School of Peace

Comfort Room

I would be remiss in my blogging duty, pun intended, if I did not speak about the personal adventures of traveling about Mindanao while dealing with diarrhea.  The first reality check came when I realized that rural areas of Mindanao are “non toilet paper” regions.  In fact, most are simply toilet commodes and a are usually lacking a seat, so squatting is not an option it is an absolute.  The floors are all wet and that is because dousing oneself with water from a plastic pail that is floating in a near by bucket is the common way one cleanses oneself after using the facilities.  But, this local cleansing remedy, I realized to my chagrin, was personally not going to be sufficient, due the volume and velocity of the diarrhea caused by my abrupt change in diet.  However, I learned very early to never go any where without a pack of handy wipes in my pocket.  This would serve to be a golden rule.  Second, never take your shoes off and go to the comfort room.  Trust me, did it once very early on, because the comfort room was inside a home, but regretted it with soggy socks the rest of the day which I had to toss in the trash.   Third piece of advice is to buy bottled water at every stop, hydration is a key component to happiness.

This was an informative trip. On January 9 we traveled to Magpet, Cotobato where we met with a NGO group named after a sacred ritual of conciliation called PAMAAS. This is the group that is representing the indigenous peoples in the area of Mindanao as they struggle for dwindling areas and resources. The briefing given by representatives from PAMAAS was very moving. They spoke of the IPRA, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act passed in 1997 that provided legal recognition for the ancestral land rights of the indigenous people.   However, as well the measure was intended, they further mentioned its marginal effectiveness to help down at the individual farmer level. Traditional customs and rituals of land ownership are being still being challenged by outsiders in courts.  Also, there are still conflicts over the land boundaries and especially about the resources that lay within it. Looking at the slides and doing the math in my head in appeared that rarely do sacred homelands and indigenous peoples rights win out over modernity and the opportunity for businesses to turn a profit.

PAMAAS

PAMAAS

However, PAMAAS is giving a collective voice to the people at the municipal level. There is now mandatory representation by two indigenous people from the area at council levels of local governments and this is was not present in the years before.   Furthermore, the group promotes a uniquely relational approach to stopping the violence in the area. Respect is the key to dialogue as to a PAMAAS promotes a “3B” Binding, Bonding and Bridging approach to the combatants in the land conflict in the area. This was fascinating stuff

Earlier in the day we were in a southwestern region of Mindanao called the Sultan Kudarat province and it became a became very special learning experience.   We met with some of the elected officials and village elders and they gave us a pretty thorough briefing on the state of affairs within their barangay. They appeared especially proud when they spoke of some of the new ideas that are being implemented to with the goal of empowering the local farmers with additional market options for their produce. With 1330 households and a growing population of 6515 people to feed, the farmers have decided to take a more proactive role they have in the past, when it comes to influencing the supply chain. In order to maximize the profit potential of the individual, the barangay farms have taken the measures to control of the pricing of the goods by regulating the output and production of some of the supply. The main crops in the area that the local farms produce are palay, banana and corn. There was usually enough food to go around, the farmers came to realize that planting crops all at the same time and reaping a mass harvest may be easier for major corporations to process, the sheer volume of produce has a direct and lowering effect on the pricing of the goods. A change in the process was forthcoming if there was to be a more equitable transfer of goods and services. These crops are now being planted on a rotational basis so that selected portions of the farmland can be harvested weekly or essentially as needed. The barangay officials said this change in economic paradigm has had a positive effect on the local farmers lives in that because market saturation of goods is mitigated by the planned harvesting period, a minimum of wasted or excess product has increased the of selling power for the farmers. This has helped to provide an ancillary income stream for the locals by opening alternate selling venues for the producers, such as farmers markets on weekends.

These pictures are of a local farmer and the palay, or rice that he drying.  The process can last between 4 to 6 hours with as farmers contend with the occasional threat of brief but violent gusts of high wind.

I am impressed at the effectiveness of the personal transportation system that has developed on the island of Mindanao.   With a minimum of safety equipment but a maximum in collective balance and agility the preferred mode of transit here appears to be the motorcycle.  Also, at first glance the traffic patterns within the cities appear to follow no obvious traffic laws.  However, a very effective system of communication between drivers has evolved, by honking the car horn in different cadences between drivers to alert if passing or slowing.  I believe that direct nonverbal dialogue is part of the reason that during my entire stay in Mindanao. I have not seen one car accident.  Best of all, when it comes to personally owned vehicles there is an over riding sense of mentality that “if it was capable of moving, it is capable of carrying me and anyone else that needs a ride” and it is that ingenuity seems to serve the people well. I thought four people on a bike were pretty cool picture when I saw it for the first time but that proved to be the norm. To see a group of five on a motorcycle was to become somewhat common occurrence too. My personal day maker came a when I saw six dudes on one motorcycle, seated in perfect balance with one another and living in harmony with the world… and I was able to get a photograph of them.

Upon hearing of the chance to go to Mindanao to study challenges is peace-building, I realized that due to unique current events that this could be an an opportunity of a lifetime.  My knowledge of the conflict the region is very limited but my from the readings I was able to find it appeared to be a religious based conflict.  This appearance will be wrong on the ground because   reasons for armed conflict usually go deeper than one issue and I look forward to exploring the root causes of that led individuals to take up arms against each other.  I am aware of the some of the previous conflict in the area during World War II, especially about the collaboration of Filipino resistance fighters and US troops in fighting a common enemy.  However, the changing of enemy for local inhabitants from external in the Japanese Army to internal in the Central government has led to conflict becoming a way of life in the area and it has developed a culture of violence that has served to stagnate social and economic growth in the region. In the subsequent years the security situation in Mindanao has vacillated between peace and all out war between armed groups and the government and the people must be getting tired of the destruction.  i cant wait to hit the ground and find out for myself.