MindaNews » Lumad, Moro leaders reaffirm kinship, sign covenant.

By Walter I. Balane
March 10, 2012

SONGCO, Lantapan, Bukidnon (MindaNews/09 March) – Representatives of eight Moro tribes and most of the Lumad or non-Islamized tribes in Mindanao yesterday signed a five-point kinship covenant in a gathering here filled with festive remembrance of historical relationships and aspirations for peace and unity in the island.

Aside from signing the covenant, the participants also unveiled the monument marking the reaffirmation of their kinship, an event witnessed among others by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panel and the International Monitoring Team.

The covenant, printed on white paper and etched in a plaque installed on the monument, cited mutual recognition and respect (kilalaha), mutual sharing of information (sayuda), cooperation (buliga), mutual

protection and preservation of life (uyaga), and mutual obligation to help the needy (pagbatunbatuna).

“The indigenous peoples and the Moro of Mindanao hereby acknowledge the following principles and doctrines of kinship as basis of their cooperation, understanding, and unity as descendants of the early

inhabitants in the island of Mindanao,” the declaration stated.

Before signing the covenant Lumad and Moro leaders exchanged accounts of shared history passed on for generations, mostly recalling a past that belonged to “one blood.” Their accounts differed in some respects but all of them cited peace pacts.

Among the stories the Lumad speakers shared was that of the brothers Mamalu and Tabunaway. The latter converted to Islam upon the arrival of Shariff Kabungsuan.

Moro representatives recalled stories of their ancestors’ interaction with the Lumads, including datus who shared portions of their ancestral domain to Moro people in their areas.

For their part, the Talaandigs offered their own version of the peopling of Mindanao. They said Apu Agbibilin was the grand ancestor of the Talaandig, Manobo, Maranao, and the Maguindanao.

Dr. Akmad Alonto, a Maranao, cited the Salsila, which contains accounts of a tampuda or peace pact between Lumad and Moro in Bukidnon.

He said that one more proof of kinship is belief in a creator, God.

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