Cotabato City, 31 August 2011– The epic Run for Peace and Solidarity for Mindanao ended in a poignant closing ceremony in Cotabato City today after a sometimes grueling, tense but hopeful 10-day historical journey through conflict areas between Zamboanga and Cotabato.

Some 50 runners, bikers, organizers and crew culminated their run at the Notre Dame University gym around 12 noon after embarking on the 26-kilometer last leg from the municipality of Parang early morning.

The Peace and Solidarity run started in Zamboanga City last 21 August and passed through the Maria Lobregat highway in Zamboanga Sibugay and del Sur and the Narciso Ramos highway in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Thousands of residents, students and local government officials welcomed the runners to their communities,
homes, schools and offices as they interacted and shared stories, insights and perspectives on peace in the land. Almost everyone the runners met expressed their desire and hope for peace in Mindanao and resonated with the run’s aim for citizen’s participation in the peace process and a negotiated political settlement. After each interaction, a chant of “Peace in Mindanao, Now Na” was taught to the local population by the runners and organizers.

The runners passed through the Lidasan National High School, Sultan Kudarat Municipal hall and the residence and office of the Vice Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) before their penultimate dash to the NDU gym.

Sending them off at the Parang municipal grounds was former Mayor Col. Vivencio Bataga who said that he felt “goosebumps” when he saw the runners arrive the day earlier while he was playing tennis at the Municipal grounds.

At the Lidasan National High School, Principal Myrna Lidasan led more than a thousand students and teachers outside the highway in greeting them and in an impromptu welcome program in the school grounds.

The school was unaware of the arrival of the runners but an advance party of the run organizers explained to them the aim of the run to which Lidasan immediately agreed to support.

Lead convenor of the Bisayang Dako Alang sa Kalinaw or BISDAK, Vic Veloso told the massed students that Visayans like him and most of the runners are also aware and concerned with the peace situation in Mindanao as they are also affected by anything that happens in the island.

MILF Vice Chair Ghadzali Jaafar also welcomed the runners in his office in Simuay, Maguindanao and reiterated his group’s desire for a lasting and just peace in Mindanao. “We are one and laud your objectives as we continue to negotiate with the government of the Philippines”, Jaafar told the runners while he addressed them under the searing heat in his compound. Jaafar earlier accepted in behalf of the MILF, the “Peace Torch” carried by the runners.

Asked by a runner why there was a “war” in Mindanao, Jaafar said that it was not their desire to wage one but the Moro people have been continually brutalized and oppressed in their own land by those who aim to colonize them. They have had no other recourse but to defend themselves. “Only if and when we are able and allowed to govern ourselves can there be real peace in Mindanao”, the MILF Vice Chair said. He said the problem is not about poverty but is “political”.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Shahida Mastura of Sultan Kudarat municipality waited for the runners till about noon before their final leg to the NDU gym. Upon their arrival, Mastura told the runners that she appreciated what they have done to contribute to achieving peace in Mindanao.

Escorted by the local branch of the KARANCHO and local runners and bikers from Parang, the 50 runners and their contingent finally arrived at the NDU gym covering the 452 kilometer Peace and Solidarity run.

NDU officials led by Fr. Eduardo Tanudtanud, OMI and Vice-President for Identity and Mission Prof. Sheila Algabre, welcomed the runners while hundreds of students from as far as Midsayap greeted them.

In her welcome remarks, NDU Vice-President Algabre lauded the both the runners and the organizers for their initiative.

The program ended with the arrival of government’s chief negotiator for the MILF, Prof. Marvic Leonen. Leonen accepted the Peace Torch earlier held by the MILF Vice Chair and also assured the runners that the government was committed to the run’s objective of achieving peace through a peaceful, negotiated political settlement.

(This piece is by Eric Lepp, a student from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He is currently having his internship with the Initiatives for International Dialogue.)

I wasn’t able to attend the entire Run for Peace and Solidarity in Mindanao and its grueling 452 kilometers from Zamboanga to Cotabato City. However, I did get a chance to attend the final day of the run from Parang to Notre Dame University. Looking back on the day, it was a little bit surreal, as if in one of those dreams where everything goes better than you had ever thought it would.

We met the runners at the LGU hall in Parang; they had formed a stretching circle around the flagpole. Having spent several hours in the back of the van from Davao City, we were happy to join in the stretches.

Once the torch had been ceremoniously lit and the runners were ready to go, I hopped in the lead van and headed for Amir Bara Lidasan National High School. The enthusiasm of the school staff and students was certainly infectious – not just for the runners, who they wildly cheered for and greeted as they arrived, but for anyone within earshot. Cars and jeepneys stopped and honked in approval, peace signs were being waved by young and old alike. It was truly inspirational.

After we left the energy of the school, as the runners continued on their way to the residence of Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs. The runners were greeted by Mr. Jafaar, who spoke to of his own personal hopes for peace and successful negotiations between the MILF and the Government of the Philippines.

From the residence of Mr. Jaafar, the caravan of runners, media and support moved on to their final stop before their run into Cotabato City at the Barangay Hall in Sultan Kudarat. The vice mayor met the runners and gave them a banner of support to take with them during their final leg to Cotabato City. The Vice Mayor shared a message of hope for a peaceful future in Mindanao.

As the runners reached Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, they were met with all the banners, much like the one I had seen presented in Sultan Kudarat, that they had been presented with on their 11-day run. It was an amazing sight – a visual that captured the true concept of solidarity in Western Mindanao, as the search for peace continues in the latest round of negotiations between the MILF and the GPH.

As the runners left for their homes in the Visayas, Negroes, and Bohol, Dean Marvic Leonen, Head of the Government’s Negotiating Panel, was presenting a forum on the current peace talks between the MILF and the GPH. Leonen used the imagery of two roads leading to the same place. They both arrive at the destination, but are taking different routes to get there. He asked that we take the third road together. I thought the imagery was fitting, because in my one day with the runners I recognized that this third road existed, and that I had been on it only a few short hours before.

Parang, Maguindanao (August 31)—Members of the Run for Peace and Solidarity for Mindanao took a day off from their 10-day epic run to join the community of Parang in celebrating the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan with the traditional “kanduli (thanksgiving feast)” last night.

Led by Municipal Administrator Atty. Suharto Ibay, local officials and residents welcomed the more than 45 runners and the run organizers at the Municipal Hall grounds with a boodle lunch.

The runners also spent part of the day  inter-acting with the community by sharing stories, playing games and seeking answers to lingering and new, curious questions on the Mindanao situation in general and the Moro issue in particular.  They also participated in the Alay Linis project of the municipality in the morning of August 30.

Joznathan Torre a runner from Bohol, said “From now on, I consider myself a peace runner”

Earlier, Municipal administrator Suharto Ibay in his welcome address to the runners declared that “This is the first time in history that Parang was graced by a noble activity such as the Peace Run”.  Ibay said that his municipality is located in between the camps of the rebels and the regional seat of government in Cotabato and have always wanted Parang to be a place of “peace and dialogue”.

The Run for Peace will ended in Cotabato City yesterday, August 31. The runners passed through Simuay and paid a courtesy call on Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Vice-Chairman Ghadzali Jaafar, passed the peace torch they have been carrying before proceeding to the Notre Dame gym for the culmination activity. Government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen  joined part of the culminating program and received the peace torch in behalf  of the government. He then graced a forum organized by both the Notre Dame University (NDU) and the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW) in the afternoon.