Bual in Isulan Muncipality is cradled by the imposing Daguma Mountain Range (photo courtesy of Willy Torres)
Official Title: Bual Peace Zone
Location and Geographic Coverage
Bual, in the Municipality of Isulan, Province of Sultan Kudarat. Bual proper lies at the foot of Daguma Mountain Range.
Community relations in Bual was an epitome of friendship and mutual understanding among the different ethnic groups living there in the early days. Maguindanaon Muslims families, who were the original inhabitants in the area, enjoyed harmonious relations with migrant Christians from Luzon and the Visayas whom they initially invited in the 1950s to help cultivate the lands. Even at the height of the secessionist war in the 1970s, local accounts attest to the good relations between Muslims and Christians living in Bual. The deep friendship between the pioneering families led a clan patriarch, Hadji Malunao, to entrust documents such as land titles to his friend Leon Perales, guaranteeing ownership of a total of 20 hectares. Unfortunately, Perales used the land titles as collateral payment for a bank loan without Malunao’s consent. Although Perales promised to pay Hadji Malunao, the debt was unpaid until both of them passed away. This unpaid debt became a source of dispute between their descendants which escalated into violence in December 1996. On December 16, more than 250 houses were razed which left four persons dead and hundreds homeless. This tragic event led a Cotabato-based NGO, Kadtuntaya Foundation Inc. together with Catholic Relief Services and the local government, to provide relief support to the IDPs. As time passed, several strategic interventions were implemented in the community which eventually led them to organize themselves into a peoples’ organization called Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Bual (SAMAKANA) in December 10, 1998. The organization subsequently formulated a manifesto to transform Bual into a Zone of Peace. (Source: Karl Gaspar, et.al. 2002 and Rudy Rodil 2003).
Comments/ Updates
In 2007, Bual and its neighboring communities were plagued by feuds (locally known as rido). While there were a number of initiatives that attempted to resolve these feuds, mediators had a difficult time because the perpetrators of violence often remain unknown. The anonymous nature of the killings has been a source of distrust among families who continue to suspect each other (The Asia Foundation 2007). Curiously, a police report in 1996, mentioned that the burning of the houses in Bual was allegedly instigated by some members of Moro liberation fronts to sensationalize the conflict between Muslim and Christians (Gaspar 2002).
SOURCES:
Gaspar, Karl M. Elpidio A. Lapad, and Ailynne J. Maravillas. Mapagpakamalinawon: A Reader for the Mindanawon Peace Advocate. Davao: AFRIM and CRS, 2002.
Rodil, B.R. A Story of Mindanao and Sulu in Question and Answer. Davao: MINCODE, 2003.
The Asia Foundation. A Semi-Annual Report From The Asia Foundation to The United States Agency for International Development. 01 July 2007 to 31 December 2007.
Further Reading:
Iyer, Pushpa. “Peace Zones of Mindanao, Philippines: Civil Society Efforts to End Violence.” CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. October 2004.