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Close to 3,000 students, representatives from civil society organizations, academe, church, business sector and grassroots communities attended the Paminaw Mindanaw (Listen Mindanao) Presidential Forum at the Holy Cross of Davao College Gym last April 16, 2010.

Its “an attempt to find out who among the candidates has a real, viable plan for Mindanao,” said Gus Miclat of the Initiatives for International Dialogue, one of the convenors and co-secretariat of the Mindanao Peaceweavers.

Only four presidential candidates made it to the forum: Former Sec. Gilberto Teodoro, Jr of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinaas, Councilor JC delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran and Nicanor Perlas of Partido ng Marangal na Sambayanan. Liberal Party standard bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III and Sen. Richard Gordon of Bagumbayan sent their regrets while the organizers did not hear from the other presidential aspirants. (Read Sen. Benigno Aquino III’s and Sen. Richard Gordon’s letters.)

Representatives from the Lumads (indigenous peoples), Muslims, business, academe and youth sector took turns in asking the presidential candidates present about their specific agenda.

A live video broadcast (click on the recording on the upper right side of this page) was done while the Davao Bloggers did live updates through blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Plurk. Almost 2,000 viewed the live video stream online.

The forum was organized by The Bishops- Ulama Conference (BUC); Initiatives for International Dialogue; Kusog Mindanaw; Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities Foundation (MASCUF); Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW); Mindanao Business Council (MinBC); Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW); National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), Holy Cross of Davao College and Mindanao News and Information Cooperative Center.  Event partners include the Davao Bloggers, DabaweGNU and 13th Witch Design Studio.

On April 16, 2010 at least five presidential candidates will bare their Mindanao agenda before an audience composed of more than 5,000 representatives of the religious, civil society, youth, and business organizations united by a vision to foster peace and development in Mindanao here in Davao City.

Presidential candidates will be given 15 minutes to present their plans for the region based on questions that will be taken from key sectoral representatives such as the Moro, indigenous peoples and women.

“The issues of Mindanao- equitable share of investments and development, peace, the Bangsamoro autonomy, ethnicity, conflict and the IDPs– have not been officially addressed by national candidates. As if to say we do not matter as an electoral bloc. The coming together of 9 Mindanao -wide networks to engage the presidential candidates on their mindanao agenda should make the parties rethink that assumption, stated Amina Rasul of the Philippine  Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID), a co-organizer of the event.

The upcoming election is a watershed for this country especially for the more than 10 million Mindanao voters whose unfulfilled hopes of peace have spanned for decades.

“This forum will attempt to find out who among the candidates has a real, viable plan for Mindanao,” stated Gus Miclat of the Initiatives for International Dialogue, a Davao-based  regional advocacy and solidarity institution promoting peace, conflict prevention, democratization and the right to self-determination in Southeast Asia which is anchoring the organizing of the forum.

“Mindanaons may have decided to set their lives and future primarily on themselves, but it will be foolhardy to also totally ignore the nexus of Mindanao’s realities and the key role this country’s future president will take. We need to assert Mindanao’s rightful place in this Republic with an encounter and conversation with all presidential candidates just a month before we decide to cast our vote,” Miclat said.

A covenant for peace and development will be the culminating ritual of the event where presidential candidates commit to the search for peace and development in Mindanao primarily through peaceful means.

The forum, dubbed “Paminaw sa Mindanao (Listen Mindanao)- A Conversation on Peace”  and development with Mindanao civil society and stakeholders is jointly organized by the Bishops- Ulama Conference (BUC); Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID); Kusog Mindanaw; Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities Foundation (MASCUF); Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW); Mindanao Business Council (MinBC); Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW); National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID).  (Initiatives for International Dialogue).

For the first time in this island’s history, at least nine major networks and organizations are coming together to organize a forum that will perhaps help determine the future of Mindanao.

A diverse group of inter-faith, peace advocates, business, academic, multi-sectoral and civil society organizations will be inviting all the presidential candidates to Davao on April 16, to listen to what their plans are for Mindanao.

Dubbed “Listen Mindanao: We Care for you”, the forum is meant to find out if the presidential candidates have actual plans and agenda for Mindanao, and if they do, to find out what they are. The forum also intends to gauge if the candidates indeed care for the island and its peoples. Representatives from key sectors and communities will engage and pose specific questions to the candidates.

The presidential candidates will be given at least 10 minutes each to present their plans and vision for the region. Afterwards, questions will be taken from the representatives such as the Moro, indigenous peoples and women.

The forum is organized by the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), Bishops – Ulama Conference (BUC), Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), Kusog Mindanaw!, Mindanao Business Council (MBC), Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW), Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities Foundation (MASCUF), National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) and the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID).

“We will not outrightly offer any of our respective agendas to the candidates, but we will instead primarily listen to them, and only engage them afterwards” explained Gus Miclat, Executive Director of IID, an advocacy and solidarity institution promoting conflict prevention and peace building, democratization and right to self determination in Southeast Asia including Mindanao.

“This is a historical milestone for Mindanao. We are gathered as one for what we have been working on for many years, to bring peace and development in Mindanao,” explained Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Co-Convenor of the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) and who sits as the head of the forum’s core group. The BUC is composed of 24 Catholic bishops who are also members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), 26 Ulama and Ustadz, members of the Ulama League of the Philippines (ULP), and 18 Protestant bishops and pastors who are members of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP).

A universal sentiment among Mindanao leaders and civil society organizations is the Manila-centric political culture in the country. Mindanao leaders have in numerous occasions presented, proposed, lobbied and even sometimes pleaded with Malacanang and the powers-that-be in Manila for its fair share in the governance and conduct of its own affairs but to no avail.

“We have been steeped in developing, drafting, crafting agendas, proposals, plans for the National Government to heed. It is high time that we reverse the practice of Mindanaoans going to Manila to meet with national officials to “sell” our ideas, “market” our dreams and pray for our deliverance,” stated IID’s Miclat whose advocacy is to start a culture of sustained dialogue with national government leaders.

To date, the presidential candidates have been provided two forums to meet Mindanao constituents and discuss certain issues in Davao City. One was organized by the Ateneo de Davao University and the other organized by the sect headed by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy called “Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name” where the top two contenders Villar and Aquino failed to show up.

The convenors of this new forum slated next month have invited representatives of the indigenous peoples and the Bangsamoro from as far as Cotabato and Lanao including the Zamboanga peninsula to attend the forum. It is expected to be covered and carried live by media, cable companies and by an organization of Mindanao bloggers. As of 2004, Mindanao votes represent approximately 25 percent of the country’s total votes. (Initiatives for International Dialogue)