Manila (AsiaNews) -  The 'Mother's Festival' held in at the Philippine International Convention Center brought Christian and Muslim women together  to advocate for peace and work together to build a culture of life. Mutual respect for Mary, the Mother of Christ, created a spiritual meeting point for women of the two religions.

"My own favorite prayer is the Hail Mary; in the Holy Koran it states: 'Oh Mary, God has chosen you above all women.' Indeed, for Muslims and Christians, Mary, mother of Jesus, is an enduring and everlasting model of peace," stated Marilou Diaz-Abaya on May 30th. Diaz – Abaya is a Catholic filmmaker who studied Islam under Oblate Father Eliseo Mercado and was responsible for a prize-winning television advertisement for the group "Mothers for Peace",  a collective group of mothers she founded along with Margie Moran-Floriendo, of the Mindanao Commission on Women, and other Filipino women last year with advocating for peace in the country.

"Are we living in a culture of violence?" Moran-Floriendo asked. There have been numerous wars in Central Mindanao, which have brought havoc, death and suffering to the region. But the most aggrieved persons of the man-made tragedy are the mothers who have lost their husbands, sons and daughters. One of the most tragic side-effects of this tragedy is watching little boys playing with toy guns, imitating the violence they see and preparing for when they will be old enough to use the real thing. 

"As women/mothers, we have a great role in creating a culture of peace!" Moran-Floriendo said.

Baicon Cayongcat-Macaraya is another  founder of the group. She volunteers for Tabang Mindanao, an organization which gives assistance to war refugee. "But merely giving food, clothing, shelter is not enough," she said during the festival. "We need to do something about the prejudices, the deep-sited biases towards Muslims among the Filipinos," she said. She cited an incident when she heard a mother reprimand her child: "If you do not behave, I will feed you to the Muslims." On another occasion in a shopping mall in Manila a Caucasian bad-mouthed a Muslim woman: "What are you doing here? Are you going to kill us? Go back home." The woman stated simply: "I am at home. I am a Filipino."
Marilou Diaz-Abaya, hopes that her new film, "Bagong Buwan" (New Moon), about the struggle of a Muslim family in the Philippines, will educate Filipinos on the need for overcoming prejudice and building peace. She  travelled from war-torn Mindanao to her family in Manila  in preparation for the film and said,  "As a peace worker, it is easier for me to get used to the sound of helicopters, of guns, grenades, moans and cries of  the wounded  than it is for me to come back to Manila and suffer a re-entry to a world of void, of apathy, of exclusivity, of prejudice, the very same emptiness which, I believe, brought about 9/11."

For the last three decades, armed Muslim guerrillas have fought against the Filipino army for greater autonomy or independence of the region.  Kidnappings-for-ransom and terrorist activities have created instability and fear in the Mindanao area, despite attempts for peace talks. (S.E.)