By Dean Tony La Viña
March 24, 2015; 12:01AM
This Thursday, March 26, 2015, Xavier University (XU) will be honoring Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos-Deles, Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, and Mr Mohagher Iqbal during its annual commencement exercises. Under the circumstances, however, it is this Jesuit university in Cagayan de Oro, of which I am an alumnus and a member of its Board of Trustees, which is honored by their acceptance of their respective awards – the Masterson Award for Coronel-Ferrer and Iqbal, a doctorate honoris causa for Deles.
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is the first woman appointed as chairperson of the government negotiating panel for the peace talks in Mindanao. She is known for her exemplary contributions to peace and conflict studies, international humanitarian law, and comparative politics. As early as the 1990s, she has been writing intensively on the government’s peace thrusts, including the 1996 peace agreement and advanced academic work comparing the movements in the Cordillera to the Mindanao movements for autonomy. Prof Coronel-Ferrer has been recognized for her competent and harmonious management of the peace process.
I have known Iye Coronel-Ferrer for decades. I actually taught her briefly, in the early 1990s, as a freshman law student at UP College of Law. That was before she decided that political science and peace advocacy were her calling. As a colleague at the University of the Philippines when I was teaching there and as a fellow peace advocate, I can attest to her brilliance, patriotism, and commitment. The attacks against her, for incompetence and treason, are ridiculous and eminently unfair.
According to the citation of Xavier University: “With her passion and heart for human rights, women empowerment, and peacebuilding, she is a worthy inspiration to the present and future generations as we look forward to a more peaceful and progressive Philippines. For her exemplary contributions to peace-building and conflict management in our country and as a champion of human rights, Xavier University is pleased and honored to confer the Fr William F Masterson SJ Award to Miriam Coronel-Ferrer.”
The Masterson Award is named after one of the most influential Jesuits in the history of the Philippine Province. Fr Masterson was famous for buying the Loyola property of the Jesuits and for moving the Ateneo de Manila to Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City from Padre Faura, Manila. He was supposedly “exiled” to Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro where he founded its famous College of Agriculture and the influential Southeast Asia Rural Social Leadership Institute (SEARSOLIN). It is XU’s principal award for those who have contributed most to sustainable development and social justice.
Prof Coronel-Ferrer will share the Masterson Award with Mr Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Mr Iqbal is as Mindanawon as I am, or even more. He is certainly a Filipino citizen and definitely not a Malaysian as some has maliciously accused him of. He is a native of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao and obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Political Science at Manuel Quezon University. He became a revolutionary in 1972 when he joined the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Subsequently, in 1977, he decided to join the MILF which he now serves as member of its Central Committee.
I know Mr Iqbal professionally because of my assignment during the last year of the Arroyo administration as a government peace negotiator. From the many meetings I engaged with, I was able to observe the man, I can say that here is a leader of immense courage, with the highest integrity, and practical wisdom. A devoted Muslim and a warrior who transformed to being a peace champion, Iqbal is a statesman we can definitely trust and work with. His dignified behavior in the congressional and senate hearings speaks loudly and shames many of us.
According to the citation of Xavier University: “For his conscientious and patient efforts to engage in democratic dialogues and negotiations for peace in Mindanao, for his untiring work towards a negotiated political solution that eschews the ways of extremism and terrorism, and for his unflinching and heartfelt service to bring peace and progress to our country, Xavier University is pleased and honored to confer the Fr William F Masterson SJ Award to Mohagher Iqbal.”
Finally, XU will be recognizing Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos-Deles for her lifetime work. A personal friend for 33 years (she was my wife’s first boss in Manila and was one of two principal sponsors for our wedding), Secretary Deles has always been prominent in peace advocacy. A builder of citizen organizations, she founded Social Development Index, co-founded PILIPINA and the Coalition for Peace, and was the first executive director of the Gaston Z Ortigas Peace Institute. In 2011, we recognized her at the Ateneo School of Government by awarding her the Metrobank Foundation Professorial Chair for Public Service and Governance Award.
Our citation points out that Secretary Deles, who leads an exceptionally competent and dedicated team, with both veteran and young peace workers, at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), “is an emblem of commitment and dedication for others, a woman who fights for equality and leads the country to secure peace towards development and sustainable social change.”
The XU citation concludes: “In recognition of her exceptional and remarkable contributions as a trustworthy public servant and strong-willed pioneer in the development sector of the Philippines, her sincere heart for the welfare of women, the poor, and the marginalized, but most of all, for her work in peacebuilding in the country and especially in Mindanao, it is Xavier University’s high honor and gratitude to bestow the Doctor in Humanities, honoris causa to Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos-Deles.”
These university awards were decided in a meeting of the XU Board of Trustees on November 29, 2014. I was absent in that meeting because of the climate change negotiations in Lima, Peru, but I wholeheartedly supported the decision. And after Mamasapano, and even as the attacks against these peace workers escalated, I joined the members of the XU board in voting unanimously to stay the course. I acknowledged that some in our community, including a few alumni, are upset about this but there can be no wavering in our commitment for peace and support for those who work hard and sacrifice a lot to make it happen.
I echo the words of XU President Fr Roberto Yap SJ: “Xavier University (XU) wished to honor these three leaders who have courageously walked the arduous way of peace and to salute them for their conscientious and patient efforts to engage in democratic dialogue and negotiations for peace in Mindanao ... Xavier wanted to walk with these three leaders in the long journey to a just and lasting peace. By conferring these awards during the 2015 Commencement Exercises, Xavier hoped to inspire her graduates to be brave and bold and not be afraid to walk the demanding but necessary path of peace in our troubled island of Mindanao.”
I will definitely not be afraid this Thursday to walk with these champions of peace who will honor by their presence the university I love.
Facebook: Dean Tony La Vina | Twitter: @tonylav