By John Tria
Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao Del Norte “• In this quaint, sun-kissed town on the shores of Illana Bay in Lanao del Norte, several communities show how working together can lead to cohesion and harmony among Muslim and Christian neighbors.
By working together to establish marine sanctuaries, the neighbors not only secured their fishing livelihoods, but also helped win the peace by achieving a high level of cohesion and harmony.
Around the year 2000, the idea of a marine sanctuary to protect their livelihoods from illegal fishing activities was proposed by a non-government organization called the Lanao Aquatic and Marine Fisheries Center for Community Development Inc.
Local fisherman Johnny Balindong recalled that when LAFCCOD first came in, they were not easily impressed and inspired because they were primarily Christians.
“When LAFCCOD started organizing us and giving us training on the Culture of Peace and Community Based Coastal Resource Management, our perspective changed,” Balindong related in the local language.
This, Balindong said, became stronger with the implementation of the marine sanctuaries, as they saw the value of working together to achieve the common goal of protecting and enhancing their common fishing grounds.
Local fisherfolk leader Zainoden Abdela of the Samahan ng mga Mangingisda at Magsasaka sa Sigayan confirmed this, saying there was a time when prejudice was strong between Muslim and Christian neighbors in the coastal villages.
Another fisherman, Abbas Maruhom, said the training eventually encouraged them to form the Muslim Christian Organization of Farmers and Fisherfolk, where fisher of both religions joined its ranks.
“The leadership was mixed, The Chairman would be Muslim while the Vice Chairman would be Christian,” Maruhom explained in Cebuano.
As time went by, the fishermen said the prejudice disappeared slowly as they started working together.
According to Fermin Flores, Executive Director of LAFCCOD, the initiative was a means to build peace by achieving better social cohesion between Muslim and Christians in neighborhoods.
“When we entered in 2000, potential for conflict was high and the possibility of unrest and violence was always present,” he said.
“Our entry point to get them together was the common aspiration to build sustainable livelihoods, from the fishing activities they both do,” Flores added.
Establishing the sanctuaries, he said, was a multi-pronged approach that achieved community harmony and peace while helping them improve livelihoods in common municipal fishing grounds and prevent illegal fishing activities that depleted their common supply of fish.
The three sanctuaries located in Barangays Sigayan, Tantawon and Banga are now co-managed between the local government and the peoples’ organizations, Flores said.
On a deeper, cultural level, the sanctuaries gave them something upon which to foster cooperation and eventually, mutual acceptance and respect between fisherfolk of different cultural backgrounds.
“The trainings and shared effort in establishing the sanctuary over the years helped them warm up to the idea of working together despite their being from different religions and past experiences,” Flores said.
To this day, Balindong fondly remembers a volunteer named Dave from a London-based organization called Voluntary Service Overseas Philippines, who helped them understand the benefit of having a sanctuary.
VSO provided technical volunteers to help define the bounds of the sanctuaries in 2000 and other technical needs of the communities.
Celebrating 60 years this year, VSO has been providing such assistance around the world since 1958.
As a result of this cooperation between LAFCCOD, VSO and the various people organizations, the sanctuaries are covered by a municipal ordinance and have applied for protected area status. This allowed better enforcement of regulations governing the use of the common fishing grounds.
The secure livelihoods and common efforts built partnerships between government and civil society. This, in turn, made the area more productive, as the local government reported a slight increase in agricultural production of important crops like rice and corn.
According to Flores, the cohesion and peace achieved between Muslim and Christian fisherfolk and farmers is an important outcome and legacy of the sanctuaries. (Resurgent News and Features)
