Dansalan College to rise from the rubble

On May 23, 2017,  a security guard saw men in black identified as belonging to the Maute group of terrorists, throw bottles filled with gasoline and burned the buildings of Dansalan College Foundation Inc. in Marawi City. 

Starting that day, and for five months, the once peaceful  atmosphere was all hell and fire as government military forces tried to quell the terrorists, bombings shattered buildings into smithereens, snipers  killed hundreds  of human lives, and exchanges of bullets chased the living out of the city. The source of destruction has been driven out, but much of the city has been laid pitifully desolate, and surviving humans live in makeshift quarters angry, hungry, and sad, not knowing what the future will bring them. 

The Marawi siege physically destroyed the Dansalan College Foundation Inc., an institution that has been a historical, educational, and social landmark in the city. 

DCFI  history began with the arrival in 1915 of Dr. Frank Laubach and his wife Effa Seely in Dansalan (former name of Marawi) to start a literacy program known worldwide as “Each One Teach One.”  In June 1941 the Madrasah High School was started with 23 students but it was closed in December 1941 because of World War II. 

In 1950  Dansalan Junior College was launched by concerned Christians and Maranao Muslims. The property was donated by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission. The school was built on Carmelite Hill, with a breathtaking view of Lake Lanao.

The school offered secondary and tertiary education. In 1968 Dansalan Junior College earned a full college status. In 1967, Rev. Lloyd Van Vactor and his wife Maisie served as teachers. The missionary and college became national news  in 1979, with the kidnapping and holding captive  for 20 days of  Rev. Van Vactor.  

On June 1, 1981, Dansalan Junior College became incorporated as Dansalan College Foundation Inc. (DCFI) with Rev. Van Vactor as the first president followed by Dr. Eulalio Maturan from 1981-1989. Dr. Fedelina Tawagon became the first woman president in 1989 and holds the position until the present time. 

 Dr. Tawagon and Edna Orteza wrote in The DCFI Story, A Continuing Faith Journey that women contributed to the body of knowledge taught in the  college. Maisie Van Vactor collected documents, materials and resources on Islam and Filipino Muslims, which contributed to the setting up of the Dansalan Research Center. She also encouraged the promotion of Muslim weaving.” The late highly regarded sociologist Dr. Peter Gowing, then director of the Dansalan Research Center, enriched the collections of Christian-Muslim literature and Maranao culture in Mindanao.

The DCFI Story notes that over the years members of the faculty and staff who were Christians and Muslims became “partners in development striving to provide quality education to the youth. They seek to unite Muslims and Christians in friendly relations, exemplify in their lives the best of their culture, commit themselves to ease the tension, and promote peace and development.”

Christ’s mission is shown in the college’s mission statement: “To develop and nurture, a people of principle, virtue, faith, hope and health in a trans-cultural academic atmosphere of excellence and service.”

During the period of the siege, the campus residents fled for safety with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. More than 20 faculty and staff were held hostage  for five months,  released or escaped at different period.

Dr. Tawagon said the Maute group led by their former student, Omar Maute, set up DCFI as their stronghold and because of their presence, the buildings became a target for military air strikes that further destroyed the entire campus. The mahogany trees were burned, the people inside the campus were filled with horror. On May 24, 2017, while the Maute group was having breakfast, people went out of hiding and women brought hijab, a head covering worn in public by Muslim women to put them on the teachers for safety. The Maranao women led them to their homes and gave them breakfast.

After over a month, DCFI was liberated by the military forces. The forces are now occupying the campus with the approval of the board of trustees and the president of the college.

During the five-month long siege, and with all the 18 Marawi campus buildings destroyed, classes continued to be held in the DCFI annex campus in Lambaguhon, San Roque, Iligan, for academic year 2017-2018, with the approval of the Autonomous Region in  Muslim Mindanao. An estimated 550 students will be attending this campus this school year. DCFI also celebrated its 67th Foundation Day on the theme, “Rising from the Rubble.”  

According to Dr. Tawagon, 99 percent of students enrolled in DCFI, a Christian educational institution, are Muslims. The graduates now occupy high positions in government and non-government organizations. Among them are lawyer Majul Gandamra, current mayor of Marawi City; Assemblyman Fiat Macarambon and Zia Adiong of the first District of Lanao del Sur; Assemblyman Farouk Macarambon of the second district of Lanao del Sur,  Mayor Nashiba Gandamra of Taraka, Lanao el Sur, and Director Zorahaya Tanggol Taha, Region 12, Department of Social Welfare and Development.

On May 17-20, 2018 – a year after the Marawi siege took place – two teams were sent by the CREATE-UCCP (Church-Related Educational Action Towards Empowerment-United Church  of Christ in the Philippines) to visit three member schools. One school visited was DCFI. The team visit was headed by DCFI president Dr. Tawagon, Dr. Helen Tejero and Editha Andam  who negotiated with the military for the UCCP visitors to enter ground zero in Marawi City.

The team visitors were the UCCP General Assembly chair and president of Pilgrim Christian College in Cagayan de Oro City, Dr. Pio Baconga, and Bishops Melzar Labuntog, Jaime Moriles and Joel Tendero. Rev. Rannieh Mercado represented UCCP General Secretary Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza.

The main organizers of the team visit were Dr. Edwin Balaki, president of Southern Christian College, and Edna Javate Orteza, president and executive  director of CREATE-UCCP, respectively. Other member schools represented were Besben Maquiso, president of Gingoog Christian College, and  Dobert Moriles, CREATE-UCCP treasurer.

Dr. Erlinda Nable Senturias, who sent me her report on the team visits, gave the keynote address on “Doing Christ’s Mission in these Changing Times: Implications for Church Educational Institutions.” Part of her team were  Pastor Alvaro Senturias Jr., executive director of The Wednesday Forum, and Pastor Corazon Tabing Reyes, chair of the Commission of Church Union and Unity of the UCCP.

Some members of the visiting team stayed at the new four-story DCFI annex building in Lambaguhon which was established by Dr. Tawagon from savings on the main campus. The  Iligan  campus houses the Peter Gowing Memorial Center, an impressive amphitheater, a chapel and various rooms initially intended for visitors’ rooms now serve as school rooms.              

The rebuilding of the Marawi campus is a gargantuan dream. Prayers, though they work wonders, will have to be supplemented with mountains of donations. But with the UCCP leadership, says  Dr. Tawagon,  “We will enable DCFI to do Christ’s  mission in these changing times in a relevant and appropriate way.”

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