I wasn’t able to attend the entire Run for Peace and Solidarity in Mindanao and its grueling 452 kilometers from Zamboanga to Cotabato City. However, I did get a chance to attend the final day of the run from Parang to Notre Dame University. Looking back on the day, it was a little bit surreal, as if in one of those dreams where everything goes better than you had ever thought it would.

We met the runners at the LGU hall in Parang; they had formed a stretching circle around the flagpole. Having spent several hours in the back of the van from Davao City, we were happy to join in the stretches.

Once the torch had been ceremoniously lit and the runners were ready to go, I hopped in the lead van and headed for Amir Bara Lidasan National High School. The enthusiasm of the school staff and students was certainly infectious – not just for the runners, who they wildly cheered for and greeted as they arrived, but for anyone within earshot. Cars and jeepneys stopped and honked in approval, peace signs were being waved by young and old alike. It was truly inspirational.

After we left the energy of the school, as the runners continued on their way to the residence of Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs. The runners were greeted by Mr. Jafaar, who spoke to of his own personal hopes for peace and successful negotiations between the MILF and the Government of the Philippines.

From the residence of Mr. Jaafar, the caravan of runners, media and support moved on to their final stop before their run into Cotabato City at the Barangay Hall in Sultan Kudarat. The vice mayor met the runners and gave them a banner of support to take with them during their final leg to Cotabato City. The Vice Mayor shared a message of hope for a peaceful future in Mindanao.

As the runners reached Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, they were met with all the banners, much like the one I had seen presented in Sultan Kudarat, that they had been presented with on their 11-day run. It was an amazing sight – a visual that captured the true concept of solidarity in Western Mindanao, as the search for peace continues in the latest round of negotiations between the MILF and the GPH.

As the runners left for their homes in the Visayas, Negroes, and Bohol, Dean Marvic Leonen, Head of the Government’s Negotiating Panel, was presenting a forum on the current peace talks between the MILF and the GPH. Leonen used the imagery of two roads leading to the same place. They both arrive at the destination, but are taking different routes to get there. He asked that we take the third road together. I thought the imagery was fitting, because in my one day with the runners I recognized that this third road existed, and that I had been on it only a few short hours before.

Some 50 runners, bikers, organizers and crew culminated their run at the Notre Dame University gym around 12 noon after embarking on the 26-kilometer last leg from the municipality of Parang early morning.

The Peace and Solidarity run started in Zamboanga City last 21 August and passed through the Maria Lobregat highway in Zamboanga Sibugay and del Sur and the Narciso Ramos highway in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Thousands of residents, students and local government officials welcomed the runners to their communities, homes, schools and offices as they interacted and shared stories, insights and perspectives on peace in the land. Almost everyone the runners met expressed their desire and hope for peace in Mindanao and resonated with the run’s aim for citizen’s participation in the peace process and a negotiated political settlement. After each interaction, a chant of “Peace in Mindanao, Now Na” was taught to the local population by the runners and organizers.

The runners passed through the Lidasan National High School, Sultan Kudarat Municipal hall and the residence and office of the Vice Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) before their penultimate dash to the NDU gym.

Sending them off at the Parang municipal grounds was former Mayor Col. Vivencio Bataga who said that he felt “goosebumps” when he saw the runners arrive the day earlier while he was playing tennis at the Municipal grounds.

At the Lidasan National High School, Principal Myrna Lidasan led more than a thousand students and teachers outside the highway in greeting them and in an impromptu welcome program in the school grounds.

The school was unaware of the arrival of the runners but an advance party of the run organizers explained to them the aim of the run to which Lidasan immediately agreed to support.

Lead convenor of the Bisayang Dako Alang sa Kalinaw or BISDAK, Vic Veloso told the massed students that Visayans like him and most of the runners are also aware and concerned with the peace situation in Mindanao as they are also affected by anything that happens in the island.

MILF Vice Chair Ghadzali Jaafar also welcomed the runners in his office in Simuay, Maguindanao and reiterated his group’s desire for a lasting and just peace in Mindanao. “We are one and laud your objectives as we continue to negotiate with the government of the Philippines”, Jaafar told the runners while he addressed them under the searing heat in his compound. Jaafar earlier accepted in behalf of the MILF, the “Peace Torch” carried by the runners.

Asked by a runner why there was a “war” in Mindanao, Jaafar said that it was not their desire to wage one but the Moro people have been continually brutalized and oppressed in their own land by those who aim to colonize them. They have had no other recourse but to defend themselves. “Only if and when we are able and allowed to govern ourselves can there be real peace in Mindanao”, the MILF Vice Chair said. He said the problem is not about poverty but is “political”.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Shahida Mastura of Sultan Kudarat municipality waited for the runners till about noon before their final leg to the NDU gym. Upon their arrival, Mastura told the runners that she appreciated what they have done to contribute to achieving peace in Mindanao.

Escorted by the local branch of the KARANCHO and local runners and bikers from Parang, the 50 runners and their contingent finally arrived at the NDU gym covering the 452 kilometer Peace and Solidarity run.

NDU officials led by Fr. Eduardo Tanudtanud, OMI and Vice-President for Identity and Mission Prof. Sheila Algabre, welcomed the runners while hundreds of students from as far as Midsayap greeted them.

In her welcome remarks, NDU Vice-President Algabre lauded the both the runners and the organizers for their initiative.

The program ended with the arrival of government’s chief negotiator for the MILF, Prof. Marvic Leonen. Leonen accepted the Peace Torch earlier held by the MILF Vice Chair and also assured the runners that the government was committed to the run’s objective of achieving peace through a peaceful, negotiated political settlement.

More photos in the Duyog Mindanao Facebook page.

Led by Municipal Administrator Atty. Suharto Ibay, local officials and residents welcomed the more than 45 runners and the run organizers at the Municipal Hall grounds with a boodle lunch.

The runners also spent part of the day inter-acting with the community by sharing stories, playing games and seeking answers to lingering and new, curious questions on the Mindanao situation in general and the Moro issue in particular. They also participated in the Alay Linis project of the municipality in the morning of August 30.

Joznathan Torre a runner from Bohol, said “From now on, I consider myself a peace runner”

Earlier, Municipal administrator Suharto Ibay in his welcome address to the runners declared that “This is the first time in history that Parang was graced by a noble activity such as the Peace Run”. Ibay said that his municipality is located in between the camps of the rebels and the regional seat of government in Cotabato and have always wanted Parang to be a place of “peace and dialogue”.

The Run for Peace will ended in Cotabato City yesterday, August 31. The runners passed through Simuay and paid a courtesy call on Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Vice-Chairman Ghadzali Jaafar, passed the peace torch they have been carrying before proceeding to the Notre Dame gym for the culmination activity. Government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen joined part of the culminating program and received the peace torch in behalf of the government. He then graced a forum organized by both the Notre Dame University (NDU) and the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW) in the afternoon.

Members of the Balindong clan clashed with each other in an almost one kilometer stretch of the Narciso Ramos highway between Picong and Malabang municipalities in Lanao del Sur. The runners of the Peace Run were escorted through the stretch by elements of the 51st Infantry Brigade led by Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Marlon Ceasar Yadao. Carrying the “peace torch”, leaders of civil society organizations involved in the run walked the 300 or so meters where only two days ago was a virtual “no-man’s land”. They called on the warring family members to reconcile and “sort out their differences through continuing and patient dialogue”.

No casualties were however reported in the fighting that erupted between cousins of the powerful clan. The “rido” is reported to have been ongoing for years due to conflict in land ownership and local politics.

Local government officials intimated to the runners that the “rido” was a manifestation of a deeper problem of a combination of “proliferation of loose firearms; absence of the rule of law and the lingering effects of Martial Law”.

While the Run for Peace aims to call for a negotiated settlement to the broader political conflict in Mindanao, the “rido” in Malabang was both a stark reminder and a manifestation of a conflict where the rule of law is blatantly ignored, and the fate of a community is determined by others other than themselves.

The campaign has been adopted by the Kilos Kapayapaan at Katarungan, KILOS (Action for Peace and Justice), a newly formed national coalition of major peace networks in the country.

The OMVP is a multi-media campaign that calls on the Philippine government and the two major rebel groups in the country, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) to resolutely seek a peaceful, just and negotiated settlement in addressing the root causes of the nation’s armed conflicts. Among the features of the campaign in the collection of signatures on a one-paragraph petition that calls for the “silencing of guns, and resolutely confront the roots of the armed conflict on the negotiating table”

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat and Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM) Commander Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer led the first batch of signatories to the campaign in the send-off activities of the ongoing Duyog (Solidarity) Mindanao Run for Peace and Solidarity for Mindanao in Zamboanga City last August 21. They were joined by leaders of academe, religious and civil society organizations. Among them were Ms. Grace Rebollos, President of the Western Mindanao State University (WIMSU) who hosted the send-off forum.

Officials from the municipalities of Curuan, Tungawan likewise signed the simple but robust petition which will be formally launched on September 21 which is the International Day of Peace. The campaign will run till December 10, International Human Rights Day.

Key local leaders affirmed their support for the calls of the Peace Run for a more active citizen’s participation in the peace process as well as for a negotiated political settlement as a means to end the conflict in Mindanao and the rest of the country.

Prof. Mildred B. Masong, Director of the Mindanao State University in Buug called on local residents to start the peace journey with one’s self echoing the teachings of the Christian bible while local Muslim leader Moner Ampuan also said the same teachings appear in the Koran. Moner also challenged Buug residents to organize themselves for peace advocacy in response to the challenge of the Peace Run.

Earlier, local officials led the actual welcome of the runners when they arrived at the town border from Diplahan. They were joined by motorcycle enthusiasts, bikers, local police, two ambulances and even the town’s lone fire truck.

Officials from the Mayor’s office led the ceremonies with Moro, indigenous, academic and religious representatives in the municipality were at hand to greet the Peace Run. An elaborate formal welcome ceremony was held at the town’ bus terminal despite a series of cloudbursts that lasted till almost midnight. Students in their uniforms patiently sat down and performers of special and intermission numbers paid no heed to the heavy rain. Their grit and spunk mirrored the commitment of the BISDAK runners who have so far run 267 kms out of the 452 kms that they aim to cover up to Cotabato City.

Earlier at noon, the runners were also welcomed warmly by the Municipality of Siay and Imelda. Imelda Vice-Mayor Rodelyn Pabayos led municipal employees in receiving the runners at the municipal hall where a hearty lunch was prepared for them. In the afternoon, a short forum was held between the runners and the government employees.

Judito Cabusao, Program Manager of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) which spearheaded the run together with BISDAK and the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), challenged the employees and Imelda residents to share the “peace” the are enjoying to the rest of Mindanao. Vice Mayor Pabayos affirmed their Municipality’s support to the campaign.

Meanwhile, the One Million Voices for Peace in the Philippines campaign that is also being carried by the Peace Run has been gaining ground. Around two dozen schools along the national road traversed by the run have vowed to collect signatures from students, parents and their communities. The OMV was also adopted by all the municipal governments the runners paid courtesy calls to.

During the first 6 days, the runners passed through Christian-dominated areas in the Zamboanga Sibugay.

Even hundreds of elementary and high school students and their teachers lined up the national highway under the searing heat on a weekend waving flags, brandishing posters echoing the Peace Run’s call for a peaceful negotiated settlement to the conflict in Mindanao. Children also wrote letters and cards for the runners expressing their hopes and dreams of peace in Mindanao.

“Even when we experience war, we should still seek to achieve peace”, read one poster from the Sultan Ali Dimaporo Memorial Integrated School. The now familiar chant of “Peace in Mindanao, Now Na” and its variants, “Kalinaw Sa Mindanao, Karon Na”, “Kalilintad sa Mindanao, Imanto din!” rang among the ranks of the students as the runners passed by.

In Tukuran municipality where the runners made a brief stop Saturday and inter-acted with students of JH Cerilles State College. Addressing the runners and organizers of the run, Municipal Administrative Officer Isaias E. Amparado, told the impromptu forum: “In all of my 43 years in Mindanao, I have never internalized what peace means until today when you came.”

The runners stayed overnight at Sultan Naga Dimaporo municipality where another interaction with local councilors transpired in the evening after supper.

“Pipila lang mo, pero sa inyong gihimo, bisan ang akong apo na nagatulog ron maka tagamtam ug maka angkon sa inyong paghago (You are just a few, but with what you have done, even my grandchild who is now sound asleep will reap and own the fruits of your work)”, said Councilor Raminito Lumayaga.

Questions about the objectives of the run, who is funding the activity, and even whether or not the organizers are going to organize themselves into a party-list surfaced in the series of interactions. The run is spearheaded by the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW)- the broadest network of peace advocates for Mindanao and features runners mostly from the Visayas belonging to the Bisayang Dako Alang sa Kalinaw (Genuine Visayans for Peace) or BISDAK.

The run will end in Cotabato City on 31st August after covering a total of 452 kilometers. The runners have so far done 300 kilometers.