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ANGAY-ANGAY LANG: Personal Reflections on Kalinaw Mindanaw (Part 3 of 5)

mindaviews rodilSession with Experts
Part of the GPH-MILF Peace Negotiation
On the occasion of Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), Chair was Mrs. Mô Bleeker of Swiss Government
Marco Polo, Davao City
24-25 November 2014

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 15 October) – Moving forward. More good things emerged earlier. In 1996, the Kalinaw Mindanaw was born. This is what I wrote later in my website:

Kalinaw Mindanaw is literally translated into English as Peace Mindanaw. The use of w instead of o emphasizes its indigenous character, not the English.

Kalinaw is a Cebuano Bisayan word for peace. The word is used interchangeably with linaw with exactly the same meaning. But this is not the monopoly of Cebu in Central Philippines. The term seems to be used universally, with very slight variations, throughout the Philippine archipelago. The root word linaw also means silent, clear water among the Tagalogs of Luzon, as well as among the Tausug of the Sulu Archipelago. Among the Manobos, a large Lumad ethnolinguistic group with several sub-groups that inhabit many parts of Central and Eastern Mindanaw, the meaning is both clear water and lake. Also expressing essentially the same meaning, the Meranaws of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte use the word ranaw for lake. For their part, the Maguindanawons of Maguindanao, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani, use the word danaw to mean water overflowing the riverbanks at the Pulangi (Rio Grande) delta. Mindanaw is derived from this word.

Mindanaw’s association with water in the languages of its people is a faithful reflection of its natural situation. Water surrounds Mindanaw; water flows through Mindanaw. Mindanaw’s development is thus intimately linked to water. Lake Lanao feeds seven hydroelectric plants along the Agus River that produces 944 megawatts (MW), about 80 percent of the total power requirements of Mindanaw.

This web page has adopted the Peace Credo of Kalinaw Mindanaw, a loose movement of peace advocates from all over Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago who met in conference in Cagayan de Oro City on July 4-6, 1996. The assembly was aptly called Consultation-Workshop on Peace Education in Mindanao with the theme: Journey to Peace and Harmony held at the South East Asia Rural Leadership Institute (SEARSOLIN), Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City on 4-6 July 1996. Co-sponsored by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and SEARSOLIN. Convenor was Fr. Antonio Ledesma, S.J., then vice president of Xavier University. He has since become the Bishop of the Prelature of Ipil in Zamboanga del Sur and is a co-convenor of the Bishops Ulama Forum. [Now, he is the archbishop of Cagayan de Oro] The staff of MINCARRD (Mindanao Support Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development of Xavier University College of Agriculture), headed by Ms. Estrella Borja, has since served as the secretariat.

Kalinaw Mindanaw has broken through many barriers in the propagation of the culture of peace all over Mindanao and Sulu among the tri-people. It has conducted  more than 50 peace culture seminars. Many other organizations picked up the initiative. Now we hear of the Bishops Ulama Forum, several Catholic schools, and dioceses, and Conferences among the Protestant groups speaking of and carrying on the same undertaking. In 1998, it published Panagtagbo sa Kalinaw, its manual for peace education which was the product of several consultations. Financial support has been provided by OPAPP, UNICEF and CRS.  The official newsletter of the Kalinaw Mindanaw Network is also called Kalinaw Mindanaw.

The Peace Credo states the diversity among the people, the need to be one, the basis of unity which is one God, one land and one dream. The original version is in Tagalog. A Maguindanao participant has put a tune to the original; other tunes were added later. So far, four years after its birth, 18 translations have been made, as follows: Tagalog, English, Maguindanaw, Meranaw, Cebuano Bisaya, Sinama, Tausug, Higaunon, Ilonggo, Ilocano, Ubo Manuvu, Ata Manobo, Teduray, Bla-an, Mandaya, Dibabawon, Bicol.

Tagalog (Original):

(Rudy “Ompong” Rodil)

Kalinaw Mindanaw!

Lumad, Muslim, Kristiyano

Magkaiba, magkaisa

Isang Diyos

Isang lupain

Isang adhikain

Kalinaw Mindanaw!

English

(Rudy “Ompong” Rodil)

Peace Mindanaw!

Lumad, Muslim, Christian

They are different, they can be one

One God

One land

One dream

Peace Mindanaw!

[Si Prof. Rudy Buhay Rodil ay aktibong historyan ng Mindanao, tagapasulong ng kalinaw (Bisaya sa kapayapaan). Kilala siyang espesyalista sa paghusay ng mga gusot sa Mindanao-Sulu. Naging Komisyoner noon ng Regional Consultative Commision sa siyang nagbuo ng draft organic law ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao noong 1988. Dalawang beses siyang naging miyembro ng GRP Peace Negotiating Panel. 1993-1996, pakikipag-usap sa Moro National Liberation (MNLF), at noong 2004-2008 sa pakikipag-negosasyon sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Naging visiting propesor sa Hiroshima University, Oktubre-Disyembre 2011. Nagretiro noong Oktubre 2007.]

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