“When one plants a tree, we do not expect it to immediately grow branches and bear fruits; It will have to grow in stages, be nurtured, and given time,” said Ustadh Akmad O. Dailane, referring to the year-long learning process by which he and his fellow learners acquired knowledge and skills in conflict transformation from forumZFD, an international non-government organization engaged in peacebuilding. The Ustadh (which means teacher/scholar in Islam), continued: “Slowly, like a tree growing, we realized the relevance of the training course in our lives and the fruits that members of our community can harvest from it. We are the tree and our fruit is peace.”
Ustadh Akmad teaches Islam and Arabic language in the Island Garden City of Samal, in Southeastern Mindanao, the Philippines. He is one of 38 community leaders who participated in the “Bugsay”, a four-phased learning series on grassroots peacebuilding conducted by forumZFD in partnership with the Samal Island Muslim Community Development Center (SIMCDC). The course is dubbed “Bugsay”, or “to row the boat” in Cebuano, as an analogy of peacebuilding as a collective journey of the community and a reflection of the realities of the coastal communities where most of the participants live.
Tranquil waters. Amidst the serene water, hardworking fisherfolk struggle with their daily catch in the Davao Gulf. Finding a balance between economic needs and sustainable fishing practices is essential to ensure the long-term health of the marine ecosystem.
Through this training, which ran from July 1, 2022 to October 4, 2023, the participants gained skills in nonviolent approaches to addressing community conflicts, including tools to analyze these conflicts and ways to strengthen their traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. The objective of the course was to advance conflict transformation and social justice in the participating communities by building on and strengthening existing capacities of their leaders and residents to peacefully address local conflicts.
“While our knowledge and skills were enriched, it would seem that the conflicts we have to face grew bigger, as well,” Ustadh Akmad reflected. He shared that, as his understanding of these conflicts deepened, he began to see that the issues they have been addressing were far more intricate than they initially understood. What initially seemed like small, isolated conflicts revealed themselves as part of interconnected challenges affecting their communities. This, according to him, meant bigger responsibilities for them as community leaders.
Loss of land and livelihood
The knowledge and skills in addressing conflicts that were introduced through the Bugsay Series, though formally presented for the first time as part of the training, were not entirely unfamiliar to the participants. These concepts resonated with practices already ingrained in their leadership roles within their respective communities called jama’ah (an Arabic term that denotes a group or a congregation) in Samal.
Samal is an island in Southern Philippines, just a few kilometers off the coast of Davao City. It is a multi-ethnic community with many groups having resettled here from other areas of the Philippines – as a result of government resettlement programs in the 1940s or as a result of displacement due to violent conflict in other parts of the Philippines. The Islamized indigenous communities on this island, comprising mainly of Sama, Tausug and Kagan, constitute an ethnic and religious minority in Samal. Similar to Muslim communities in other parts of the predominantly Catholic Philippines, “the Muslim communities may be marginalized politically and in terms of accessing basic social services and protection,” said Fatima Star Lamalan, forumZFD Project Officer in charge of the Bugsay series.
While the recent creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) – itself the result of decades-long peace negotiations between the Philippine government and Moro revolutionary groups – constitutes a commitment to addressing the marginalization of Muslim Filipinos and providing culturally-sensitive governance, the Muslim communities in Samal feel excluded from the services provided as they are based outside the autonomous region.
Such forms of marginalization, as well as land conflicts, threats of displacement, and harassment are among the challenges facing Ustadh Akmad and the other peace mediators trained under the Bugsay Series. Specifically, the proximity to Davao City has meant that Samal island has become a focal point for tourism-based, so-called development projects.
Passing down generations. Akmad showing his son Farhan the land his grandfather once farmed. A legacy of hard work and history.
No trespassing. A signage installed by the local community to delineate their property ownership.
Boundary markers. Community leaders conducting a thorough inspection of their land's boundary markers. Boundaries define ownership, delineating spaces for shared resources and development of the community.
As a result of these tourism projects, many indigenous communities in Samal island are facing encroachment of their ancestral lands, including Ustadh Akmad. “My grandfather, Moda Owayan, a Kagan, used to own roughly 200 hectares of vast agricultural land from the coastal area up to the interiors of the island. Then land prospectors from Davao City became interested in developing resorts in our place and claim the land as theirs,” he said. As in other parts of the Philippines, outside investors often have more resources to navigate the complicated land governance system and acquire titles, even for land that already belongs to indigenous communities. In some cases, indigenous communities have been physically harassed to sell off their land to resort developers. In others, tensions have escalated into violence. The influx of resorts also has implications on their livelihoods as access to fishing grounds is restricted and many community members see themselves forced to work for large-scale resorts, often owned by non-locals, including foreigners.
For Ustadh Akmad and his clan, the dispossession of their land became evident upon the death of Moda Owayan, their grandfather, who owned the land that is now being claimed by outside investors. They did not know how the outsider got a title for the land that is not theirs. “They came, occupied the area, and with guns and the land title, they asserted their ownership of our land”, Ustadh Akmad recounted. By 2023, of the total land inheritance, Ustadh Akmad’s clan only has four hectares left for themselves.
The loss of land and access to aquatic resources does not only have implications on their livelihood, but also on their cultural and religious practices and their indigenous identity. “Our grandfather entrusted this land to us as the clan’s burial ground is located here,” Ustadh Akmad said.
Transforming mediators, transforming conflict
The presence of local conflicts like the ones experienced by Ustadh Akmad as well as the marginalization experienced by Muslim communities in the island are the main reasons why forumZFD selected Samal as a project area for its Non-Violent Conflict Transformation initiatives (NVCT Project for brevity), which includes capacity strengthening sessions like the Bugsay series. The project builds on the traditional conflict resolution mechanisms already employed by the community. Community leaders like the imam, datu or panglima (chieftain) are often called upon to settle interpersonal conflicts or represent the community’s interests towards the local government or outsiders. The aim of the project is to strengthen these traditional mechanisms and complement them with additional tools and approaches where necessary.
While recognition of indigenous rights by local government actors is often limited to the portrayal of cultural practices such as costumes and dances during local celebrations, the training series is firmly rooted in indigenous structures and knowledge systems. The topics and sessions were collaboratively conceptualized with SIMCDC in an effort to design a training series that addresses the specific needs they had identified. While it introduced additional, new concepts, approaches, and tools used in the conflict transformation framework, they were presented in a way that was grounded in their existing practices based on their Islamic faith and cultural values.
Embracing the adventure with a joyful heart. Babu Lapid, a community leader of Brgy Sta Cruz, Talicud Island, IGACOS happily sketch her Bugsay journey.
Rough and tough but fulfilling. This is the Bugsay journey of Haladin Tawakalan one of the Board of Trustees of Samal Island Muslim Community & Development Center, Inc (SIMCDC). Drawing from the insights gained during a Bugsay session, he successfully reconciled the two factions within their community.
Peace is a journey. Ustadz Akmad explained and shared his experience that peace should emanate from within. It is a journey of self-discovery and it unfolds gradually overtime.
Internalization. A discussion of their roles to be portrayed in the role play or simulation exercise.
Role Play. This is one of the learning process we employ in Bugsay. We also witness in their role play how traditional mechanisms complements with the NVCT approaches.
Empowering Transformation. Fatima Star Lamalan, Project Officer of forumZFD leads a transformative workshop on non-violent conflict transformation with grace and wisdom emphasizing effective non-violent communication and empathy.
Kudos! A total of 38 community leaders of SIMCDC were trained in a series of non-violent conflict transformation training, dubbed as Bugsay. Of the 38 community leaders, 14 completed the 4 series of capacity building.
Having experienced marginalization and discrimination based on their identity, this contextualized approach is necessary to engage respectfully and not add to the harm experienced by the community. Ustadh Akmad, who holds a degree in Islamic Studies, shared that he was hesitant to participate at first. He was worried that the training was intended to convert Muslims. As the learning process progressed, his misconception was dispelled, saying, “My heart and mind slowly opened up and I started to welcome the new learning.”
With its focus on traditional leaders, the training series aims to facilitate personal reflection and a greater awareness of conflict not only as a source of violence but also a source of positive social transformation. “The participants discussed and learned the concept of conflict as an impetus for community growth and development when peacefully resolved,” Lamalan said, explaining the approach of the learning sessions.
Reflecting on his own personal transformation, Ustadh Akmad, said “I was a strict person before, so much so, that I seldom smiled,” the tall and broadly-shouldered Ustadh said. After the learning journey with his fellow community leaders, he now smiles freely.
And it was not only about his demeanor before. Ustadh Akmad said that he was harsh when dealing with the members of his jama’ah. “I could not tolerate acts of disobedience to the teachings of Islam and acted harshly against those who violate them,” the Ustadh said. “Now, I learned nonviolent communication and have learned the language of peaceful discourse,” Ustadh Akmad smilingly said. This, he added, enabled him to call the attention of erring members of his jama’ah without causing resentment from the members.
Peace is a journey
Ustadh Akmad shared how the learning he gained from the training sessions made him realize the nature of conflict and opened his awareness on the inequalities prevailing in society. “Perhaps that is part of the learning process,” he said. By learning the tools of conflict analysis, the learners were able to understand different intragroup conflicts they were experiencing. This broadened their perspective from focusing on what is just (and unjust) for the individual, to what is just for the community. Many of them are now motivated to work on conflicts affecting the whole community.
Ustadh Akmad, being also the imam of the community, was already able to apply what he has learned. To bridge previous divides among the residents of his village, he facilitated a dialogue between the two factions and was able to set aside their differences to reach a common understanding. “The lessons we learned from Bugsay is like a moral responsibility that has been entrusted to us from God,” the Ustadh said.
This sense of responsibility motivated Ustadh Akmad to also persevere in leading his people in their ongoing land dispute. Having gained a broader understanding of the conflict and his role in it, he now intends to engage the Philippine government’s National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and other concerned offices and individuals to help them recover their land. He is aware that this will be a longer process but understanding the conflict dynamics and root causes has helped him in identifying a potential path forward.
On 3-5 October 2023 the Bugsay learners finished the four-part series. During the graduation program, Ustadh Samil Adimat, one of Ustadh Akmad’s fellow learners reflected: “All things in this world have their own way of reaching their desired future. Ours is through paddling our way to peace.” He added, “Because like rowing a boat, peace is a process that we have to undertake.’
Personal growth. Ustadz Akmad radiates strength and vulnerability as he opens up about his personal transformation in a larger group. His courage to share his journey inspires us all to embrace growth and change.
For SIMCDC, taking the journey together with the indigenous people of the island towards the nonviolent resolution of conflicts is a commitment and part of the organization’s mission. “The Bugsay Series was an opportunity for SIMCDC to enhance our members’ knowledge and skills for them to become more effective in peace mediation and conflict resolution,” Rexall Kaalim, former chairperson of SIMCDC, said.
For Ustadh Akmad, while he is pleased with the fruits of his participation in Bugsay, he is also fully aware that there are bigger challenges ahead of them as land conflicts and marginalization remain: “what we have achieved is just one step in the journey towards peace.”
The article is based on an earlier version prepared by Jules Benitez.