Youth-led peace effort in Sulu a beacon of hope

From Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Jun 15): Youth-led peace effort in Sulu a beacon of hope

ADVERSITY is said to beget adversity.

But in conflict-torn Sulu, hope shines from a youth-led peacebuilding initiative that has transformed an almost deserted village in Parang town into a vibrant community of some 300 families.

And with the Bangsamoro transition in the horizon, the experience of building and sustaining a “peace-centered community” in Parang’s Barangay Silangkan provides vital lessons on how to organize the work of maintaining law and order in the future autonomous region’s culturally diverse communities.

“The Silangkan experience is a story of community folks taking care of and nurturing the peace,” said Rosemain Abduraji of the nongovernment group Tumikang Sama-Sama (Together We Move Forward).

“While we practically need the police for law enforcement, there is no pillar stronger than the people taking responsibility for keeping the peace in their community,” she said.

The initiative of Silangkan folks to keep the peace is borne out of a recent history of strife that tore apart the community’s social fabric.

In 2001, government security forces bombed the coastal village in the process of pursuing Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari who had led a siege in Sulu and Zamboanga City after falling out of the political grace with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The massive military assault on Silangkan left a deep sense of insecurity among the villagers. Long after the hunt for Misuari ended, many villagers chose not to return except to tend to their farms during the day.

Soon, the village became a halfway route for Abu Sayyaf bandits who were escaping toward island hideaways or getting into the Sulu mainland, using the village’s wharf.

Abu Sayyaf bandits also choose the village to stage ballistic tests for newly bought firearms.

This situation has driven most households to arm themselves for protection.

Just when Silangkan folks have almost given up on their situation, fate intervened.

One weekend in 2012, the Jolo-based TSS staff went on a 45-minute drive to Silangkan to enjoy its pristine white sand beach.

There, they had a chance encounter with Ab’d Tazir, a former MNLF commander and among the few residents who remained in the village. What was supposed to be a weekend getaway turned out to be a deep and engaging conversation about an aging man’s dream for his family.

“Commander Tazir told us how much he wanted his children and grandchildren to acquire education so that they will have a bright future ahead of them,” related Khamar Alama.

“We didn’t expect to have a very emotionally touching exchange with him,” Alama added.

When they got back to Jolo, Alama and TSS colleagues, who are trained in conflict mediation, began planning how to help Tazir fulfill his simple but powerful dream.
“We started with a community dialogue. We have people express what they wanted to see happen in their community and how they can help achieve these goals,” said Abduraji.

“Mainly, the Silangkan villagers don’t want a repeat of the 2001 experience when they were bombed by the military. They also resolved to address a host of family feuds which result in the displacement of involved parties, hence lessen their opportunities for earning income, thereby perpetuating poverty,” Abduraji recalled. 

After a series of community-wide discussions, Silangkan villagers agreed on a set of seemingly simple rules that must be observed to keep the peace.

One, the village folks must monitor strangers who enter their community to guard against the intrusion of bandits.

Two, there should be no public display of firearms to prevent provocation.

Three, the households are organized into clusters of 10 and an elder is assigned as as a sort of “overseer.” Problems with one another should first be referred to the elder-in-charge. It is elevated to the higher leadership layers if issues are unresolved.

The last resort in conflict settlement is going to the authorities, whether the barangay officials or local police, although “most of the problems are solved at the neighborhood level,” noted Alama.

“These three basic rules are contained in a community covenant that the households signed,” Alama said.

Abduraji said the participation and involvement of elders are the bedrock of the peace-centered community approach that they developed for Silangkan.

“They are very effective leaders because they are the ones seen and heard by the people everyday,” she said.

As community peace began to take root in Silangkan, the displaced families who fled a decade ago began to stream back. Improved security also made the village a destination of basic service delivery of government agencies like medical and dental missions.

The village’s elementary and high schools were repaired.

The community’s peace infrastructure is maintained and kept alive every week.

After every congregational prayer, people hold a dialogue presided by the elders whereby issues and problems are openly discussed and resolved, said Alama.

“This makes the bond among villagers stronger,” he added.

Three years on, Silangkan folks are able to look forward to encouraging developments, like tapping the village’s eco-tourism potentials.

Silangkan also hosts schoolchildren from at least three neighboring villages torn by the presence of the Abu Sayyaf which have no schools.

“For its role in maintaining access to education, Silangkan is becoming a lighthouse for other areas,” Alama said.

Experiences like that of Silangkan are rich models for lessons on community policing “that hopefully can be mainstreamed and become the norm,” according to Kathline Tolosa of the Security Reform Initiative (SRI).

The future Bangsamoro government is envisioned to adopt community policing as a way of maintaining law and order in the communities under its administrative jurisdiction.

Pieter Cronje, consultant to the Bangsamoro Community Policing Project of the British Council, said that such approach fits post-conflict situations like in the Bangsamoro region where law enforcement has been an extension of military work.

“In the 21st century, you cannot conduct policing in a military manner,” Cronje said.

The concept of community policing was developed more fully by the United Kingdom after the so-called “Riots” that rocked south London in 1981. It sought to address racial discrimination in the conduct of law enforcement work.

Tolosa said that they are hopeful the emerging approach for community policing in the future Bangsamoro will be a mix of international and local experiences.

To ensure a high degree of success, the policing approach for the Bangsamoro should be “along the grain of local practices and culture,” said Nicholas Thomas, British Council country director for the Philippines.

Back in Sulu, Alama and Abduraji, who are in their early 30s, hope “that sooner, law and order issues in our province are resolved by Sulu folks who know more about solutions than anyone else.”

For the longstanding and seemingly intractable problem of community conflicts in Sulu, it bodes well for the entire Bangsamoro that the “innocence and fresh perspective of youth,” if harnessed, can make a difference. 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/feature/2015/06/15/youth-led-peace-effort-sulu-beacon-hope-413272