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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Marawi must be in our hearts

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I must have been nine or 10 years old when our parents brought us first to Marawi. This was in the 1960s and we were likely on our way to Ozamis to visit my paternal grandmother. The Marawi trip was likely just a side trip.

That first visit impressed me. Immediately, I noticed that this was a very different city. The mosques stood out, of course, and the ordinary houses had a slightly different look. The streets were not a grid like they were in my hometown Cagayan de Oro, and the people wore clothes with very bright colors. It would take decades, when I started visiting cities like Cairo, Amman, Tunis, and specially Marrakech, when I finally understood the ethos behind the city.

Marawi is an Islamic city. That is the first characteristic of the place and from that emanates much of its character. There are Catholics and Christians living in the city but it is a Muslim city and always has been. The cities of Cotabato, Isabela (in Basilan), Zamboanga, Iligan, and even Jolo before it was burned down in the 1970s, have Islamic characteristics as well and have many Muslims residing in them—but there were always big Christian populations in those cities.

But Marawi is not just an Islamic city. It is a Maranao city. One must always use these two adjectives together, Marawi is Islamic and Maranao.

The Maranaos, the “people of the lake,” are the indigenous peoples that have settled around Lake Lanao. Many of them being merchants and professionals, you find Maranaos everywhere in Philippines and the world: in Quiapo, Greenhills, Sagada, Rome, Dubai, Singapore.

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The Maranaos are handsome and beautiful, quite a joyful, funny people, with the ability to laugh at themselves, and a contradiction to the outsider because they can be very modern (as lawyers, accountants, and diplomats for example) but they can be quite feudal and old fashioned as well in practices like arranged marriages.

It was in the early 1970s that I began to visit Marawi again, particularly the beautiful lakeside campus of the Mindanao State University (MSU). MSU then was at its height as a premier academic institution for our island. Its students and graduates are as good as that of any Manila, Cebu, or Davao school. Both Christians and Muslims study and teach in MSU. Sining Kambayoka Ensemble, its cultural troupe founded in 1974 and continuing to perform today, was/is amazing with presentations that could rival the best in Philippine and global theatre.

Dance, music, colors, and faces will always be my memory of Marawi. These are the reasons why I have been going back and forth to this city for four decades now even when the frequency of kidnappings made it risky. These are what I want to see again after this incident with the Maute group is resolved. If Marawi is destroyed and burned down like Jolo was in 1974, we will lose these.

We will lose genuine Maranaos dancing the Singkil (Sayaw sa Kasingkil), a dance based on the Indian epic of Ramayana and always a sight to behold.

We will not be able to hear anymore the authentic kulintang and the gamelan.

The Indonesian roots of Maranao culture stands out in their dance and music. We will lose that connection if we lose Marawi.

The colors of the Maranaos, manifested most in their malongs, are a delight to the eyes. I have gotten myself dozens of these malongs through the years, wearing them myself especially when in the field in the mountain or at sea or now tailored as barongs, or giving them away as gifts to foreigners as the best product from my island.

We will lose those colors if we lose Marawi.

But above all, the people. We will lose the people of Marawi, and all Maranaos, if their city is destroyed. They would be so broken and angry. Already, it has been heartbreaking seeing thousands fleeing the city. It is so sad for this usually busy and noisy, disorganized and chaotic yes but definitely bustling with life city to be called a ghost town.

When I think of Marawi, I remember all my students there, those local officials whom I taught for an Ateneo School of Government Masters of Public Management course many years ago and those law students in Xavier University that I have been teaching in the last few years. They are the best not only of their city but of the country; they are so bright, so talented, and so committed. My heart goes out to them as they struggle to make sense and to find the best response to the events going on now. I will support them in the best way possible.

When I think of Marawi, I recall the many peace and development advocates I have worked with through the years, how patiently these colleagues have built bridges to solve conflicts and overcome development challenges. They must be encouraged to continue the essential work that they do.

When I think of Marawi, I see the faces of old and young revolutionaries, from both the MNLF and the MILF, casting their lot for peace and now seeing that the unthinkable might happen. I have worked with many of them and have always admired their courage and tenacity. We must reach out to them and explore ways for peace to survive in the days ahead.

When I think of Marawi, I am grateful for our brave soldiers and for the officers that command them. They are endangering themselves for our safety. I will not criticize them for that reason. I will make sure I thank them.

When I think of Marawi, I imagine our leaders, especially the President and his top commanders. I am in favor of course of implementing the full force of the law on these bandits and terrorists. In doing this, I hope that our leaders will remember that this is a combustible city. A missed air strike or a howitzer shot at the wrong target would cause immense damage.

If Marawi is destroyed, we will lose the change to cement peace in all of Mindanao for several generations. I would venture to say that this is in fact the strategy of the Maute group —to get government forces to burn and destroy Marawi. If that happens, even if they all die, the terrorists will in fact be the only winners. They become martyrs, would likely get the ISIS recognition they have been craving for, and would have created a recruitment pipeline that will last for generations.

If Marawi is burned down, the devastating effect will be throughout Mindanao and the country, and even the Asean region, as jihadists from all over the world make their way to us.

When I think of Marawi, I think of its brave citizens, the ordinary families who now have nothing but what they carry with them in their backs. What are they thinking now? What will they do now?

All Filipinos must help the people of Marawi. It is our duty. Marawi must be in our hearts.

Facebook: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylavss

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