NewsConsultative Forum on “The Role of the Religious Sector in Building Community Resiliency Against Violent Extremism”, LB Soriano Hall, SEAMEO INNOTECH, Quezon City, 2-3 December 2017
SYNTHESIS
The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) conducted a consultative forum entitled “The Role of the Religious in Building Community Resiliency Against Violent Extremism”, held from December 2 to 3, 2017 at the SEAMEO Innotech in Quezon City. It aimed to produce an output coming from the Muslim religious leaders on the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) in their communities, as well as capacitate them in community peacebuilding and peacekeeping. Forum discussions focus on defining violent extremism, updates on the rehabilitation of Marawi after the siege, recommended measures that the Muslim religious leaders provided in advancing the PVE initiative, and the crafting of a PVE action plan to address the emergence and recurrence of radicalization in their communities.
A set of breakout sessions were conducted to gather inputs, thoughts, and recommendations from the Muslim religious on the important initiatives to prevent and combat violent extremism in their communities. First, they have witnessed and confirmed that the government did not completely succeed in eradicating extremism in Marawi. According to them, a recurrence can happen if basic needs, human rights, and genuine autonomy is not completely granted to them. Second, they recommended measures that will deter radicalization in the long-term such as peace education, deradicalization initiatives, and capacity-building in information technology among others. Finally, they have devised a comprehensive action plan in dealing with such eventualities. They called on the government to cooperate with them in the following initiatives of the said action plan: strengthening linkages and networks; more dialogues and outreach; strengthen and capacitate Madarasah Education for Muslim teachers and the youth; re-integrating converts to Islam in traditional Muslim communities; developing articulation and maintenance of peace efforts and narratives; and continuous engagement with conventional and non-conventional media.