By Samira Gutoc
Racial discrimination should be fought against. This is the advocacy of Muslim communities who have suffered more intense profiling post 9-11. Now sadly it is the Chinese who are suffering the brunt with the NCov scare.
And even if belated, Chinese New Year’s community should be celebrated. The Chinese we remember in our community had made Marawi as a place of trade with several commercial establishments pre-martial law period. To this day, Chinese presence in the South such as in Cotabato and Jolo, has lived in its descendants seen in names of leaders now there such as the Tans. My family wonders if our family name GUTOC could have come from names we hear GOH and TOK.
We had talked with Teresita Ang See once on the possibility of a Chinese-Moro heritage conference so that academics can be brought together to study the friendships that existed way back centuries ago. We hope such would be convenned.
Unfortunately, heritage and traditions are not a major topic of prime-time discussion. So it was a gem to be in a forum with passionate sustainable development advocates.
At the Sustainability Summit in the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) convened by CEO of ACG Human Capital, Ma. Romina Gemini Brion Zabala, my colleague in UN SDGS advocacy program development and implementation were a great vibe of earth lovers including Miss Earth 2019. Janelle Lazo Tee, fellow Mindanaoan from Davao City. Four pillars were presented through global speakers. Romina or Gem reminded leadership, I am taking it now, saying she bought a scooter to go around abroad in Sweden. She was such a bundle of passion that it was inspiring at her age of 50s to be infected with energy. My part in the panel celebrated among the 4 Ps: Planet, People, Prosperity, the 4th which was Peace. I talked about culture and ancestral traditions as part of the development of humanity. Did you know that among 185 so-called languages in the country, almost a dozen come from the Bangsamoro cultural communities plus Arabic?
One problem is that diverse cultures are not taught in our books, A B C can actually be Alif Ba Ta of our Arabic-inspired past. To think we have more than a billion people of the world reading Arabic because of the Holy Qur’an. Filipino imams I know have been offered hefty 50,000 bucks to be imams in an American mosque whereas, in the Philippines, there are NO SALARIES for them.
Beyond language, bringing us back to non-materialistic values such as Bayanihan enables us to go back to less expensive ways of management. One example is conflict management, instead of using firearms visibility to sow fear, traditions encourage dialogue among elders and the community. Among us Meranaos, we would actually be able to listen to an hour monologue in weddings and other public functions about our genealogy. And if we understood our connection with each other, why fight? I have also tried to herbals on my body despite the urban short-cuts of medicine. And I can say, they lend me mental peace.
Racial and ethnic appreciation, not discrimination is the way to go. Interestingly, not just for our own peace but even for the benefit of our corrals and biodiversity. But that could be for another column.
