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Dec

Weaving Peace in Mindanao: Forum Highlights History’s Role in Conflict Transformation

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MSU Main Campus - Marawi City > 11-Sustainable Cities & Communities (SDG Goals) > Weaving Peace in Mindanao: Forum Highlights History’s Role in Conflict Transformation

By Aliah Pacalna Cali-Pascan, DPA, JD, SH.L

MARAWI CITY – Mindanao State University (MSU) – Marawi became a significant hub for peace dialogue on November 27, 2025, hosting the forum, “Mindanao-woven: Threading Our Histories, Weaving Our Peace.” This critical gathering, a joint effort by the Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM), the Mindanao Histories and Studies Advocacy Group (MHS-AG), and forumZFD Philippines – Civil Peace Service, brought together leading voices from the academe and civil society.

The central theme was the intricate and vital role of local histories and nonviolent conflict transformation in achieving lasting stability across the island. The day began with a series of insightful presentations that established a framework for peace and historical advocacy, following opening remarks by IPDM Peace Action Officer Aliah P. Cali-Pascan, JD, DPA, and forumZFD Project Manager Joseph Ajero. Project Officers from forumZFD—Lynnette Grace Tagalo, Rogelio Tabay Jr., and Fatima Star Usman Lamalan—shared critical updates and localized approaches to Nonviolent Conflict Transformation in diverse areas, including IP Communities in CARAGA, the ongoing Bangsamoro Peace Process in the BARMM, and among Islamized/Moro Indigenous Peoples in the Davao Region. Adding scholarly depth, Prof. Sharon Bulaclac introduced the crucial need for the Mindanao Histories and Studies (MHS) Advocacy, advocating for the mainstreaming of a Mindanao-centric historical narrative, while Lecturer Baelabi Sittie Jehanne Mutin presented a vision for Bridging Worlds: A Multi-Lens Journey in Peacebuilding. These discussions were further deepened in a stimulating Panel Discussion, moderated by MSU Marawi Executive Assistant Ayesha Merdeka M. Alonto, which explored the integration of historical context into peace praxis, followed by a dynamic Q&A with the diverse audience.

The formal proceedings concluded with a closing statement by Prof. Khayronesah Abbas and the launch of the “We Are Mindanao” content creation booth and MWOP booths, effectively transforming the intellectual discourse into tangible community engagement. The “Mindanao-woven” forum successfully reaffirmed the participants’ collective commitment to utilizing historical scholarship and nonviolent action as the indispensable fabric for sustainable peacebuilding in Mindanao.

About the author

The institute for peace and development in Mindanao (IPDM) was created by the MSU Board of Regents during its 182nd Meeting on December 7, 2001. The institute assumed the functions of two defunct units: the Muslim Christian Center for Peace Studies and the Muslim Mindanao Development Institute. It is now the central coordinating unit for all existing peace and development programs of the campuses of the University. MSU was established on September 1, 1961 as one of the government responses to the so-called “Mindanao problem.” The problem includes a violent struggle of segments of the Filipino Muslim population to redress long-standing grievances and assert Muslim selfhood and identity in the face of real and imagined threats of cultural and spiritual assimilation by the majority Filipino Christian population. The University was mandated to accelerate the “integration” of the cultural communities in Mindanao into the mainstream body politic and to accelerate the development of its service areas through instruction, research, and extension. In the pursuit of these objectives, the University also seeks to infuse spiritual and moral values, national consciousness and solidarity, and mutual understanding among Filipinos, which are necessary for peaceful coexistence and sustainable development. IPDM was therefore, created with the expectation that it would contribute to the easing of tensions and the promotion of justice and peace between Filipino Muslims and Christian by expanding knowledge, improving understanding and heightening sensitivity in relations between the peoples of Mindanao in particular, and the Philippines in general.

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