Chief Justice: We all lose in Mindanao war
By MM Gillera | 09/15/2008 4:52 PM
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Cagayan de Oro-Chief Justice Reynato Puno told a recent inter-faith prayer rally here that the ongoing fighting between the government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are producing only losers.
"The losers are all of us," he said before some 1,000 Christians and Muslims who started a prayer and fasting campaign for peace at mall last Saturday.
The prayer leaders belonged to the Convergence for Mindanao Agenda (ACMA), the Balik Dios Tungo sa Kapayapaan Foundation, and the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship.
"Today, we are also confronted with numerous forces that threaten our unity, forces pushing us to the precipice of war, and we have reached the point where Filipinos are fighting Filipinos,” Puno said in his keynote speech.
“We see the gathering clouds of an all out war here in Mindanao, where bullets have already terminated the lives of hundreds, where bombs have dislocated thousands of families,” he continued.
Tito Monterde , president of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship in Cagayan de Oro , told Newsbreak that it was Justice Puno 's idea to hold this second prayer rally after the one held in Manila .
Puno told participants that he believed that the gathering of Christians and Muslims can put an end to the crisis in Mindanao because prayer and fasting are better than bullets and more powerful than bombs.
"We are assembled here today, to proclaim to all that we shall be victorious against all the evil forces that destroy our unity because we have a more powerful God, a God who cares for all of us, a God of love who will protect us in the hollow of His hands, a God of mercy who will never turn down His people who pray to Him, for our God assures us that more than the power of mighty is the might of meekness." he said.
Puno quoted Prof. Martin Hengel, a popular Christian evangelist, that “no,” Christians should not resort to violence.
In Lanao del Norte, the civil society groups are also holding a series of interfaith healing prayer in the towns of Kolambugan, Maigo, Kauswagan, Linamon, and Bacolod, which MILF forces raided at dawn on August 18.
In Kauswagan, Christians and Muslims also gathered in an interfaith healing prayer at the Kauswagan Municipal Hall on September 11.
Jhay Tolentino , information officer of Pakigdait Inc. that participated in the prayer rally in Kauswagan, said civil society groups in Lanao del Norte do not want to wait until the military stopped its pursuit of MILF rebels.
“We want to help bridge peace and unity again amid the uncertainties facing the communities affected in the recent fighting in Lanao areas,” he said.
Tolentino recalled that when participants in last week’s prayer gathering were asked to stand up and face people from different religions, people spontaneously approached and hugged one another.
“Most of the Christian and Muslim women embraced one another. The men did the same. There were gladness and tears [of joy]. It was a moving event. This was Kauswagan at its spiritual height, after days of disquiet and nights of rage,” said Tolentino.
Relief goods were distributed to displaced residents after the prayer. (Newsbreak)
