For Mamasapano students, an emotional graduation

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines  –  High school students in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, Maguindanao thought their graduation would never push through because of the security problems in the community.

So tears flowed when the graduation finally pushed through yesterday.

Hadji Salik Kalaing National High School class valedictorian Norombai Utto, 16, wept during her speech when she called for an end to the armed encounters between the military and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Mamasapano and neighboring towns since March 1.

Utto thanked the Army’s 6th Infantry Division for suspending all military operations against the BIFF to enable schools in affected towns to hold graduation rites for elementary and high school students.

“Even then, I would still wish for a total end to hostilities,” Utto said in between sobs.

Utto and nine honor students, all children of peasants, each received a college scholarship certificate from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

Hataman also gave Utto and her 48 classmates a P5,000 cash assistance each because their families are cramped in evacuation sites, displaced by the continuing face-off between the military and the BIFF.

There are now close to 130,000 evacuees in different relief sites in Mamasapano and nearby towns of Datu Piang, Salibo, Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi, Shariff Aguak and Shariff Saidona.

In separate messages, Hataman and ARMM’s education secretary Jamar Kulayan took turns in calling on the graduating students not to lose hope in the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Hataman said there are tacit indications that President Aquino and the MILF central committee will not disengage from the peace process despite the death of 44 operatives of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force in an encounter with the MILF and its breakaway faction BIFF in Mamasapano last Jan. 25.

“We all need to support the peace process. There can be no better solution to the Moro issue than a peaceful, negotiated solution,” he added.

Hataman also said he and the ARMM government’s rank-and-file personnel are all thankful to the President for having renewed his commitment to pursue the peace process, ignoring mounting criticisms and calls for an all-out war against the Moro rebels.

“That commitment of the President was explicitly reaffirmed in his speech during the commemoration of the first anniversary of the signing of the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro by the government panel and the MILF,” he said.

“The MILF had also said, in its official report last week on the Mamasapano incident, that it will not disengage from the peace process,” he noted.

Utto’s father Faisal said he is also optimistic that the security problems hounding Mamasapano would soon wane.

“We want to live normal lives,” he said. “We want our children to pursue their studies undisturbed by conflicts.”