NewsForum on “The Role of Women in Peacebuilding and the Prevention of Violent Extremism”, January 30, 2018, Mindanao State University-Marawi
BACKGROUND
Defeating violent extremism requires the joint efforts of the various sectors. This echoes the consensus during the Conference on Peace and the Prevention of Violent Extremism (CPPVE) last September 22-23, 2017 that “a multi-stakeholder approach that recognizes the role of civil society, women, youth, academia, the religious, business, and government is essential in building a tolerant, peaceful and progressive ASEAN community.” In line with pursuing the inclusive approach to PVE, PCID in collaboration with other civil society organizations, the academe, and government agencies, seek to organize several forums and focused group discussions, engaging the key sectors of the society and intended to surface the thoughts, perspectives, and recommendations from them, in a platform where such sectors can interact and collaborate with the government and the private sectors. Particularly for the women sector, PCID has planned to hold 2 consultative forums for women participation in PVE, the first of which was held in Marawi City.
The objectives of the forum were, as follows:
1. Primarily, it is to formulate recommendations in relation to the role of Women for the national action plan in preventing violent extremism;
2. To engage the Women sector in dialogue to better understand their thoughts and perspectives on the current situation in Marawi and the actions being taken by the National Government as regards conflict resolution, recovery and rehabilitation of the City and the affected population; and
3. To create a space for the women to share their concerns and perspectives as regards violent extremism in order to promote better understanding of the the current trend in violent extremism, and to develop interventions or strategies for women on how they can react to it, as well as, evaluate existing strategies in relation to them.
SYNTHESIS
More than 100 women representatives from Mindanao gathered at the CHARM Pavilion of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi for the consultative forum with the theme: “The Role of Women in Peacebuilding and the Prevention of Violent Extremism” organized by the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) in partnership with the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) and Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (MSU-IPDM).
Welcome messages were delivered by PCID’s event partners: Dr. Dipunudun Maruhom on behalf of MSU-IPDM, Pres. Habib W. Macaayong on behalf of the MSU System, and Prof. Aurora Javate De Dios on behalf of the WAGI. This was followed by a briefing on the Marawi siege and the current rehabilitation efforts being undertaken.
The morning session of the forum were a series of presentations regarding updates on the post-conflict Marawi situation particularly on security, protection and promotion of human rights, and rehabilitation. Regional Director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos – National Capital Region, Dir. Camad Edres discussed the current initiatives by his office, NCMF, in relation to Marawi recovery and the promotion of welfare of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) situated in the National Capital Region after having been forced to flee far from their homes due to the violent confrontation in their home city. On the other hand, PCID Convenor Ms. Samira Gutoc Tomawis, a former member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the spokesperson of the Ranao Rescue Team, gave an in-depth situationer on the security and safety situation in the Mindanao region, before, during, and after the Marawi Siege, emphasizing the lack of monitoring for human rights violations in the area.
Finally, Ms Amina Rasul-Bernardo was the last to speak during the morning session. She discussed the role of women in preventing violent extremism, the current initiatives being undertaken by women-led and women’s organizations, networks and institutions, and the role of PCID to initiate and advocate for strengthening women’s roles in the society particularly in PVE with the help of WAGI, Chemonics and its various partners.
In the afternoon session, inputs, thoughts, and recommendations from Muslim women leaders were gathered in focus group discussions on how they can contribute to existing and future PVE efforts. The participants were divided into four groups based on province of origin. The FGD groups called for more visible engagement of women in drafting plans of action on the prevention of violent extremism. Women’s representatives from Lanao Del Sur sought the empowerment of women through peace education and livelihood training, while those from Lanao Del Norte stressed the importance of strengthening families and the role and influence of mothers. Other concerns raised were transparency in the provision of subsidized livelihood to women to ensure that the intended recipients actually benefit from the programs, and the intensification of values formation among the youth.
REPORT ON THE PROCEEDINGS
MORNING SESSION
Dir. Camad Edres is the current Regional Director of the NCMF-NCR. In the consultative forum for the Muslim religious entitled, “The Role of the Religious Sector in Building Community Resiliency Against Violent Extremism” which was organized also by PCID, he expressed his frustration at the government for not including NCMF, despite being a government agency created for the welfare of Muslim Filipinos, as one of the core government agencies involved in the Task Force Bangon Marawi operations. Despite this, he announced, the agency has been consolidating efforts to be able to reach out to Marawi, in particular, to the refugees which were forced to flee outside their region.
In this forum, he was again tasked to give an update on the Marawi situation. As a representative from the NCMF, his presentation focused on the condition of Muslim communities which were displaced specifically in Metro Manila due to the siege (so called, “Internally Displaced Persons” or IPDs), and what NCMF has been doing to provide assistance to these IDPs. At a recently held meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council where he was invited to speak, he was tasked to discuss the mechanisms for the integration of the such communities in the region with the end of preventing the spread of radicalization and extremism in Metro Manila He presented the integration mechanism from three major perspectives, namely, political, socioeconomic and sociocultural perspectives, and emphasized that addressing the integration from these perspectives will be useless if the psychosocial aspect is ignored, that is, promoting a climate of tolerance, trust, and belongingness among the IDPs and the communities where they are presently situated.
Dir. Edres explained that feelings of exclusion and discrimination are significant factors which greatly contribute to the susceptibility of Muslim Filipinos to radicalization, and thereafter, to acts of violent extremism. He also highlighted that finding This climate of discontent with the government’s way of handling Marawi alongside the feelings of exclusion among IDPs, if continuously left unaddressed, will have grave effects not only on Metro Manila or on Mindanao, but on the whole country.
On the other hand, Dir. Edres expressed concerns about the delivery of aid to evacuees who did not leave Mindanao but were forced to stay in camps situated in towns nearby Marawi. He mentioned that there were also reports of mishandling and favoritism in the distribution of goods and services. He stressed that these should likewise be addressed.
Finally, he also emphasized how there should be more attention given to private madrasahs who cater to Muslim youth and as such, are critical in the formation of values and the development of thoughts and perceptions. He suggested that their curriculum be reviewed, and proposed the development of a unified curriculum.
The second speaker to give updates on the situation in Marawi was PCID Convenor Ms. Samira Gutoc Tomawis, former assemblywoman for the ARMM, and member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. She is now part of the Ranao Rescue Team which is an umbrella movement of various civil society and private organizations, and government Agencies joined together in response to the Marawi Crisis.
The first part of her discussion was a detailed description of the extent of the physical destruction in Marawi, emphasizing the loss of significant historic and cultural structures in the city, in particular, mosques. Madaris, and the biggest Islamic Center. She then gave an update on the security situation in Marawi and nearby towns highlighting the inadequacy of policemen.
The Marawi situation, according to Ms. Tomawis, in summary, is a case in point where the security forces weren’t able to battle it out with men with high powered firearms. She related to the audience that Marawi is part of a series of events which compromised security and safety in other areas such as the ambush on government forces in the town of Butig, and then in Piagapo, Lanao Del Sur, and thus, these events should not be understood piecemeal but as a whole to fully comprehend the magnitude of the problem.
As regards rehabilitation, Ms. Tomawis expressed her concerns regarding the monitoring of human rights violations in the area. In particular, she pointed out the presence of unburied unidentified bodies, including those whose cause of deaths are unknown and not investigated. There can be no true rehabilitation without honoring the dead whether they be Christians or Muslims, she said. Lastly, she stressed the crucial role of documentation of events and assessment of losses by the locals themselves.
The last speaker for the morning session was Ms Amina Rasul-Bernardo, the President of PCID. She is a member of the Board of Regents of the Mindanao State University (MSU) and the Steering Committee of the Southeast Asian Network of CSOs against violent extremism. To give the women participants an idea of what they will be doing for the afternoon session, she discussed the role of the women sector in PVE and CVE. She began with what had been done in the past to fuel the discussion on the formulation of a national strategy or action plan on PVE, highlighting in particular the forum held last September, the CPPVE.
The CPPVE was not meant to be a one-time forum. It was meant to initiate continuous engagement of the key sectors in the formulation of PVE strategies and the call for a national action plan on PVE, alongside the building of networks, strengthening of public-private partnerships, and the ensuring of spaces to allow sharing of best practices and lessons learned regionally, in regard to PVE in Southeast Asia. The forum is one such follow-through of the CPPVE. Ms. Bernardo discussed the post-conference plans of PCID, in collaboration with its supporters and partners, which included the implementation of conference recommendations particularly on networking and capacity building of civil society organizations, Muslim Religious Leaders, Women, and Youth in PVE, conduct of research on radicalization and violent extremism, launching of a campaign on PVE, continuing partnership with government, and the conversion of the Advisory Committee to support an ASEAN Network of civil society and other stakeholders for peace and PVE.
She then discussed the activities organized by PCID after the CPPVE which aim to maintain and further strengthen efforts to address the emergence of violent extremism and to promote awareness of the rising threat in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. First of these initiatives is the consultative forum with the Muslim Religious Leaders held from December 2 to 3, 2017 at the SEAMEO Innotech in Quezon City. The forum entitled, “The Role of the Religious in Building Community Resiliency Against Violent Extremism” successfully gathered recommendations from the Muslim religious leaders on PVE. Finally, Ms. Bernardo discussed the outputs of the two relevant conferences, delving specifically into the measures recommended by the women sector during the break out sessions at the CPPVE and of the Women Muslim Religious during the forum with Muslim Religious Leaders on peacebuilding and PVE.
AFTERNOON SESSION (FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS)
At the start of the session, the facilitator announced a few rules to guide the conduct of the focus group discussion. The participants were divided into four groups based on province of origin except for those from Marawi City, who were put together in one group. The other groups were those came from Lanao Del Norte, Lanao Del Sur and Maguindanao.
As discussed, a Focus Group Discussion is an in-depth discussion of an issue or issues among discussants who share similarities in demographic, psychographic, political, ethnic-religious-cultural or social backgrounds. The objective of an FGD is to gain deeper insights into the perceptions, attitudes and prescriptions of a group of discussants regarding an issue or set of issues. In relation to the forum’s FGD, the groups were set to meet in order to discuss their ideas, plans, and sentiments specifically regarding the discussions earlier on Marawi and violent extremism, and the role of the Women sector.
The groups were asked to choose an FGD Facilitator among themselves who will guide the conduct of the discussion, and a Presenter, who, after their respective group’s ideas are summarized, will present and share their results to the other groups.
Three guide questions were provided in the discussion. The questions were, as follows:
1. Do you think that the government succeeded in eradicating extremism by eliminating the leaders and followers of the “Marawi siege”?
2. Do you think the following initiatives of the government can effectively address or deter violent extremism in Mindanao? How so?
• Immediate passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law
• The shift to Federalism
• Establishing a Revolutionary Government
3. How can women or women-led organizations, networks, and institutions be instrumental in addressing radicalisation and the spread of extremist propaganda? In this age of instant connectivity, how can women counter extremist narratives more effectively, especially among the youth?