The sound of the tambol (drums) greets participants as they enter the Talaandig Ancestral Domain in Sungku,, Lantapan, Bukidon, Mindanao. The long dirt road is lined with flags, each one indicating the names of the participating tribes, in honor of the guests who have come for the historic Reaffirmation of Kinship Ceremony between the Bangsamoro and Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao.
“This is an historic event that no historian should miss. We are writing a new chapter in the history of Mindanao.” As a historian and a former Chair of the Government Peace Negotiating Panel with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Professor Rudy Rodil knows, intimately, the significance of this historic event.
For the first time in 492 years, 13 Bangsamoro tribes have come together with 18 indigenous tribes to reaffirm their shared ancestry and commit to the 5 pillars of Kinship established in the traditional peace pact of their ancestors: Co-operation, Mutual Sharing of Information, Mutual Protection of Life, Recognition and Respect, and Mutual Obligation to Help the Needy. Despite the animosities and conflicts in the past, these tribes have chosen to come together today to not only acknowledge their shared ancestry, but commit themselves to respect and protect one another.
As the introductions begin, the tribal leaders give impassioned speeches about why they have traveled today – some from the far islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi – to take part in this historical ceremony. “We must set aside our interests and re-emphasize our kinship. We must walk together towards peace in Mindanao. We are answerable to Allah, to one another, to our future generation.” Salic Ibrahim, a Maranao leader calls those present to live out the kinship pact – to pave the way towards peace. The hope for peace in Mindanao is palpable.
The Kinship Pact comes at a critical time for the Philippines. The Aquino administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) find themselves on the cusp of a signed peace agreement that recognizes a Bangsamoro Sub-State and autonomy within the region. Similar negotiations have failed in the past due, in part, to the animosity between the Indigenous and the Bangsamoro tribes. As the tribes join together to uphold their historical peace pact, they are preparing the way, not only for a signed agreement between the GPH and the MILF, but also for sustainable peace in Mindanao. “It is very important to reaffirm our kinship, which has not been nurtured in the past. We have seen the cracks in the past between our tribes,” explains Attorney Raissa Jajurie, a consultant to the MILF peace panel, “Today, we want to see equality and mutual respect. It is time to heal the wounds of our past.”
One by one, the leaders of each tribe come forward to retell their history. The descendants of the original peace pact holders call us the tribes to once again unite as kin, to protect one another, and to help build a new Mindanao based on the ancient practices of their ancestors. “I normally see myself as an educator,” LTC Ronald Alcudia , 4th Army Training Group Commander of the 4th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, says, “but today I am a student. I am learning of the history of Mindanao from the true tribal elders – a history I did not know until today.”
Datu (Chief) Victorino Migketay Saway along with leaders from the Bangsamoro tribes begin with the prayers of their people, calling on Allah, the ancestors and Magbabaya to be present in the ceremony. As the prayers come to an end, the tribal elders move forward and prepare to sacrifice a Carabao in honor of the ancestors. The blood of the Carabao is used to cleanse the land of the ancestors – to heal the wounds of the past so that all the tribes, together with their ancestors and their God – may move together towards a future of peace in Mindanao.
Datu Vic calls the descendants of the peace pact forward to sign their names, committing to the 5 pillars of kinship. All of the witnesses are also called to sign the sacred covenant. The Ceremony is not just about a ritual for those present, but about a renewed commitment to one another to uphold peace, protect life and respect one another as kin. The tribes, adorned in their traditional regalia, gather under a new monument that the Talaandig artists carved in honor of this historic event: It is an intricately carved Jar, the vessel that will hold the sacred oil and covenant of kinship. The monument reads, “This monument is a symbol of the historic kinship of the Indigenous Peoples and Moro in Mindanao who existed as First Nations inhabiting their respective ancestral territories duly covered by traditional peace pacts and treaties long before the colonial era.”
The Reaffirmation of Kinship Ceremony began a new chapter in Mindanao’s history as the Moro and the IP’s come together to uphold the ancient kinship of their ancestors and acknowledge the traditional peace pacts made long before the colonial era. The Ceremony marked a new way forward for sustainable peace in Mindanao – a peace built since time immemorial by a common ancestry – a relationship that today, the tribal leaders have embraced once more.
0 Comments
Oldest