My heart bleeds for Marawi and for Mindanao

Marawi is a beautiful city which is located beside the beautiful Lake Lanao. It is just 30 kilometers from Iligan City where I was bishop for 17 years (1977-1994). St. John Paul II also appointed me Apostolic Administrator of Marawi after Bishop Bienvenido S. Tudtud died in a plane crash in 1987. I was then handling two Church jurisdictions. Monsignor Desmond Hartford, a Columban missionary and one of the only 10 priests we had, succeeded me as administrator in 1991.

Marawi is the center of the region being a component city of Lanao del Sur in Central Mindanao. Kilometer Number One begins here. Partly because of the presence of the huge King Faisal mosque and several mosques around the lake as well the training center for ulama or Muslim scholars, it has come to be known as the Islamic City of Mindanao. The lake opens up into the Agus River which winds down to the majestic Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City. Along the river are 7 hydro electric power stations that are the source of electric power for most of Mindanao.

During my almost 4 years (June 1987-January 1991) as bishop-administrator of Marawi I was privileged to be a friend of many beautiful people who are followers of Islam and to learn also of the beauty of the Maranao culture enriched and preserved by the Islamic faith.

Friendship for me is the bottom line of interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. It was perhaps due to this personal conviction that I was able to befriend people like Matingca, a young typical Maranao girl who asked me to be her “Ama datu” (proxy father) at her wedding (her father had died). The entire Brgy. Sugod 100% Muslim welcomed me as a friend and family member.

I also befriended then Gov. Ali Dimaporo and City Mayor Mahid Mutilan and several professors at the Mindanao State University. When the entire community of 10 Carmelite Nuns were kidnapped Dimaporo helped me to negotiate for their release. His friends also helped me in the release of Fr. Michel de Gigord of the Foreign Mission of Paris who was then chaplain of the Catholic community in the Mindanao State University. Dr. Mutilan, the only Filipino Muslim with a doctorate in Islamic theology, a moderate in political issues, was my co-founder of the 21-year-old Bishops-Ulama Conference. He was the founder and president of the Ulama League of the Philippines. It was our conference that minimized militant Islamic fundamentalism in Mindanao and helped promote mutual understanding and collaboration among Muslims and Christians through interfaith dialogue.

I say, my heart bleeds, so to say, for Marawi because of the poor and decent people like Matingca whose barangays and residences were destroyed by the present fighting in the city. Most of all, for Fr. Chito Suganob parish priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral parish and his companions who are held hostage by the terrorists. It also bleeds for Mindanao because of the destruction of some power lines affecting the power generation in the entire region. And my heart bleeds for the enmity and animosity among Muslims themselves and between Christians and Muslims.

The social wounds are deeper and wider now. And sadly the reason for the conflict is again religious because of ISIS influence. Social healing will become ever more difficult. But Christian hope reminds me that evil will be conquered by good. I wrote this on Pentecost Sunday June 4. I pray that the Good Holy Spirit will respond to the cry of our bleeding hearts.