Cotabato archbishop warns against religious extremism amid peace deal

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Religious extremism is a serious concern that can possibly challenge the proposed Bangsamoro political entity, Orlando Cardinal Quevedo said Friday.

Quevedo, concurrent archbishop of Cotabato, revealed his observation during a press conference here that kicked off the two-day international peace dialogue at a local venue, themed “peace is living together,” which is sponsored by foreign and local benefactors.

The activity- dubbed as Religions and Cultures in Dialogue for Peace and Reconciliation in Mindanao- is jointly assisted by foreign entities that belong to the International Contact Group (ICG), which is helping push the now 17-year diplomatic overture between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front forward.

Quevedo said he earlier asked the MILF to integrate in the draft Basic Bangsamoro Law (BBL) a declaration that the Bangsamoro entity must be protected from “getting hijacked” by extremists.

“I don’t know if that can be possible. If it can be stated there as a preamble, then much better,” said Quevedo, who is involved in various projects propagating Muslim-Christian solidarity since the early 1960s.

Quevedo, who is known for his advocacy for “culture of peace,” is a staunch supporter of the bilateral government-MILF peace initiative, which started in early 1997.

Quevedo and foreign peace activists Sudibyo Markus, vice chairman of the Muhammadiyah Indonesia, and Alberto Quattrucci, secretary-general of the Sant’ Egidio, which is based in Italy, all agreed that religious extremism, among Christian and Muslim groups, is indeed a serious concern now confronting peace advocacy organizations helping propagate global peace in the context of interfaith solidarity.

The Sant' Egidio, a Catholic organization, is involved in various peace-building programs in many parts of the world since the 1950s.

Markus said extremists have unduly been misinterpreting the teachings of the Qur’an to suit their vested interests, creating a bad image of Islam.

“Islam means peace. They interpret religious teachings contextually, not in relation to all teachings in the Qur’an which all espouses peace and co-existence among Muslims and people of other faiths,” Markus told reporters.

Many Moro communities in Mindanao, particularly those in the ARMM provinces, are known hotbeds of Islamic militancy and religious extremism.

The ARMM’s island provinces of Basilan and Sulu are both lairs of the extremist Abu Sayyaf, which is fighting for a puritan Islamic state, and feared for its kidnapping activities and beheading of captives if ransom demands are not met. Abu Sayyaf gunmen had killed two priests, Italian missionary Salvatorre Cardeza, and Roel Gallardo, a  Filipino, in separate attacks in Zamboanga City in 1993, and in Basilan in the late 1990s, respectively.

Maguindanao, also a component province of ARMM, also has the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which is hostile to the MILF, and is led by foreign-trained clerics notorious for their enforcement of a Taliban-style justice system in areas whey they operate.

Even then, Quevedo and Markus are both optimistic there are solutions that can be exhausted to address the problem, one which is the on-going Mindanao peace process.

Markus, speaking from Muhammadiyah's peace-building experience, suggested five easy approaches to addressing religious extremism- education, strong enforcement of security laws, networking among Muslim and Christian peace advocacy groups, active engagement of stakeholders, and equitable livelihood for all.

He said Indonesians are more culturally and spiritually pluralistic, but are trying their best to get along with one another well via dialogues and political representations.

Markus, who is a Muslim, said he himself is a product of a mixed Muslim-Christian marriage.

“I have a Christian blood brother who had served in Jakarta as police chaplain. We did not have problems at all,” he said.

The non-government organization Markus is representing in the two-day international peace conference here, hosted by the Archdiocese of Cotabato and the Notre Dame University of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate,, has more than 40 million Indonesian members, and is involved in charitable works such as scholarship programs, schools, and medical care for Muslims and non-Muslims.

“There are Christian preachers handling classes in Muhammadiyah schools in Indonesia,” Markus said.

Quevedo, who belong to the OMI congregation, said Christian communities also have extremists, which religious leaders are also trying to address.

Quevedo said continuing interfaith dialogues will ease the tension extremists have stirred between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao.