F or peace I will accept other people for who they are, and treat them as my brothers and sisters.  These words echoed across cities in Visayas and Mindanao where the “Dear Peace” Exhibit Tour was held over a period of 20 days starting November 10, 2007.

The unique traveling exhibit consisted of the video documentary “Dear Peace” and the photographs, paintings and poems of the 29 Muslim and Christian high school students who participated in the May 2006 Peace Camp organized by the Communication Foundation for Asia in coordination with the Ramon Avanceña High School. At each exhibit venue, the CFA Training Department Head Ms Bob Lopez and video director Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC, with the help of technical aide Ronie Gallardo, also conducted a forum to discuss the positive reactions and questions sparked by the peace communication project.

Their first stop was Cebu, where the minority Muslim residents are mostly traders and businessmen.  The team toured several towns in Cebu, and was able to present the “Dear Peace” video to about 2,000 students, faculty, parishioners, as well as police officers and trainees in eight schools, one parish and one police training school.  The generally young audiences readily identified with the participants in the documentary.

After Cebu, the team proceeded to Davao City in southern Mindanao, which is predominantly Muslim. Assisted by the Archdiocesan Church Cultural Heritage Commission, the CFA team held a 2-day forum and exhibit at the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC), attended by almost 3,000 students of the school and nearby schools.  Dr. Iris Melliza, the HCDC President, graced the first video showing, and was so impressed that she encouraged all students to watch the video. “This exhibit will encourage my students to think that they can also do that,” she said.

Traveling four hours from Davao City, the CFA team went straight to the Peace Education Center of Notre Dame University of Cotabato. The integration of Muslims and Christians was quite evident on campus – even the quotations painted on the walkways were both from the Q'uran and the Bible.  A Muslim student said: “We are all brothers and sisters.  We do not mind the differences in our beliefs.”  Ms. Rowena Bacani, a faculty member, declared: “I am from Manila and when I transferred here I didn't see the conflict between Christians and Muslims as portrayed in media.  Here, we Christians and Muslims live in harmony and peace.”  

The next tour stop was Marawi, where the CFA team was met by Fr. Chito Suganob, one of only two priests in this city with 95% Muslim population. Around a thousand students of different levels viewed the video and exhibit at the Institute of Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM) of the Mindanao State University. Most of the audience were elementary children who were awed by the paintings and moved by the message of peace.  When asked to define “peace”, they shouted, “Love, cooperation, sharing!” Fr. Chito appreciated the whole event, saying, “People have been living in fear in the past years because of violence and it’s only now that people can stay out in the streets after sundown. In this Muslim city where Catholics are a negligible 1% of the population, these activities are opportunities to share the Gospel message of peace.”

The last stop was Cagayan de Oro City, where the team took part in the Walk for Peace, the launching activity of the Mindanao Week of Peace.  Christians, Muslims, tribal people and other peace advocates filled the main streets, chanting and singing messages of peace. The CFA team mounted the exhibit and forum at Xavier University and Capitol University. They also showed the video to the police training school, where 200 police officers and trainees agreed that violence is never the way to peace.  One officer declared, “I am a Muslim and I am a peace lover. I am grateful that this video was shown because we also desire peace like the Christians do.”

The CFA team returned to Manila on November 30th, with the words of tour audiences still echoing in their minds: “Peace is harmony, love, acceptance, unity.  Peace in our land is attainable if each of us would only commit to be peacemakers wherever we are.”
 
The “Dear Peace” Exhibit Tour will resume in February 2008, traveling across the island of Luzon.