Delivered Aug. 24 during the Devotion in celebration of Silliman University’s 116th Founders Day at the SUMCFI Rev. Dr. Edmundo Pantejo Garden Chapel.
Let me share with you a story of courage, heroism, and endurance, of pain and sadness, but also of hope in God’s abundant faithfulness and unceasing kindness.
Scripture says it is fresh every morning. Indeed, it is, every morning, every moment.
If there’s any story that affirms God’s faithfulness in our contemporary times, this is it for me. Something that has been constantly in my mind since I met some actors who live through harrowing days, weeks, and months, even to this day. And I’m sharing this in the hope that you, too, will keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
This story is made in the context of war that is still raging, three months to this day, after Martial Law was declared on May 23. I’ve been hoping and praying it would stop but sadly, it’s still there. The government can’t seem to find its end soon. We’ve heard for several weeks now that the terrorists have weakened and yet….
I’m lifting extensively from the story written by Edna Orteza, former member of the Silliman BOT, about Marawi City, officially known as the Islamic City of Marawi, which used to be called Dansalan or “a place where ships anchor” or pantalan. Marawi is situated along the shore of Lake Lanao. Long before the Spaniards came, Dansalan was the citadel of Malayan-Arabic culture.
One of the first victims of the war is Dansalan College, a UCCP-run school that, like Silliman University, was set up by American missionaries in 1950. It’s their 67th anniversary this year. Its forerunner, the Madrasah High School, was set up in 1941, attended by children of prominent religious and political leaders of Marawi. It was closed when World War II broke out.
Soon after the war ended, some concerned Christians and Maranaos approached the Christian leaders for the possibility of re-opening Madrasah. It was then that Dansalan Junior College opened in 1950, offering high school and college courses for teachers and would-be lawyers. Its course offerings expanded.
It is now considered as the premiere institution of Lanao del Sur, known for its high academic standards. It has produced some of the best leaders of Lanao.
Through the years, Dansalan College has been interlinked with Silliman, starting with Rev. David and Margaret Hamm who first came to Silliman before moving to Dansalan.
Then there was Dr. Peter Gowing who taught in the School of Divinity then transferred to Dansalan. There, he set up the Dansalan Research Center which aimed to promote understanding of Islam and Muslim Filipinos in the hope of eliminating fear, discrimination, prejudice, hatred and enmity between Muslims and Christians. The center became internationally known as the repository of valuable documents and resources on Muslim-Christian relations.
Later, there was Dr. Eulalio Maturan who became its president from 1981 to 1989.
Its president now is Dr. Fedelinda Tawagon, also a Sillimanian.
Some of its products pursued college and further studies here in Silliman.
Dansalan is the only Christian school in Marawi. It had a student population of around 2,000, 99 percent of whom are Muslim. Its existence inspired and reflected the importance and impact of inter-faith relations, not much different from Silliman where more than 90 percent of its student population and employees are Catholics.
The Dansalan campus sits on a beautiful part of Marawi overlooking Lanao Lake and the city.
Then May 23, 2017 happened. Government launched a military operation to arrest Isnilon Hapilon who was reportedly seen in Marawi. A fierce and violent firefight ensued, a government camp was occupied, buildings were burned, the chief of police was killed, several people including church workers were held hostage, forcing President Duterte to declare Martial Law in the entire island of Mindanao.
Within days, the once resplendent Islamic City of Marawi was turned to rubble. And Dansalan College was not spared.
That fateful day, the teachers were busy with enrollment. They just ignored the gunfire and helicopters flying overhead. Men in black were seen outside its gates. At around 6pm, the hooded men demanded that the gates be opened. The guard refused, and at the count of three, the locks were fired at, and the men entered the campus demanding that everyone come out.
Nadia Macarambon, a science teacher, recognized Omar Maute, a former student, who even nodded his head to her in acknowledgment.
Omar and his brother Abdullah studied in Dansalan in the 90s. Other members of the Maute clan also studied in Dansalan.
The ISIS flag was seen hoisted in one of the buildings. Again, they demanded that people come out of the buildings as they were going to burn them down. They threw bottles filled with gasoline into the buildings. Laubach Hall came first. This is the administration building with offices, library, science laboratory, chapel, and housing units for some faculty and staff.
Several other buildings including on-campus residences were burned.
After the carnage, seven of the 92 personnel were taken hostage. Twenty five who were at the farthest end of the campus were able to escape early morning the following day. They were aided by Maranao residents who provided hijab scarves for the women, and sent them away to Iligan after breakfast.
Forty-two were in another part of the campus. They were able to get out assisted by a Maranao neighbor who provided a ladder and hijabs for the women. There were 30 teachers, seven children, a baby, and four others.
They were led to the basement of a lawyer’s house where they found a sack of rice. Since they did not know how long they would be there, they ate only once a day, and ate rice only. They slept on the cold cement floor with no pillows, blankets, not even banig.
They had no water. To avoid dehydration, they would swab with their fingers the morning mist that formed on the cement walls to wet their lips. They also depended on rain.
By the seventh day, they found a chicken running around which they boiled whole in a big pot as there was no knife around. The whole chicken lasted the 42 people three days: the first two days with chicken broth and rice; and on the third day, since the chicken meat had crumbled in the broth, they finally had chicken meat with rice.
On their tenth day, one of them bravely went up the house and found bulad and dried shrimps and anchovies which they ate with their steamed rice.
They communicated with the outside world through cellphone. They agreed that they will only use one phone to save on battery since there was no electricity. Good thing, one of the m had a power bank.
The group was able to communicate with an uncle in the military. They connected with some alumni who updated them with what was happening outside.
On the 12th day, they all decided to escape, crawling out, single file along the hedges and bushes, amid snipers and fear of being found and shot at.
Throughout their ordeal, they never lost hope, they continued to remain steadfast. They had no water but the rains came and it provided respite from their thirst and hunger. Twice during the 12 days, the Maute came knocking on the doors, going room to room, floor by floor, but they never entered the basement. And wonder of wonders, no one got sick despite the horrible conditions.
Unfortunately, however, several hostages, including the seven teachers abducted on the first day, continue to be held in captivity, and their whereabouts, unknown. There are reports that the hostages are ordered to do some looting, and that some women may be pregnant by now.
For a time, the Maute used Dansalan College as a stronghold, its high structures as machine gun nests, and vantage points for snipers. The remaining structures have been vandalized. Because of their presence in the campus, the buildings became targets of military airstrikes. So far, 18 buildings have been bombed and razed to the ground.
The campus has since been liberated by government forces, and is now in the custody of the military.
Three years ago, Dansalan started construction of its Iligan campus. Seeing that it’s now virtually impossible to continue operation in Marawi, it has been decided that the Iligan campus will be opened in response to the plea of parents whose families have since evacuated from Marawi to Iligan.
Right now, some 250 students are enrolled. Teachers and staff who can be accommodated in the smaller campus have resumed regular classes.
In response to the humanitarian crisis in Marawi, particularly in Dansalan College, our own Silliman University through Silliman Church is making an appeal to the wider Silliman community of alumni and friends for help for Dansalan.
Initially, the displaced students were accommodated in Silliman. A psycho-social response team was sent to Marawi to provide assistance. The Presbyterian Church donation for calamity response intended for Leyte has been re-directed to Dansalan instead.
On Aug. 3, Silliman Trustee Bishop Labuntog, and myself, together with former Trustee Edna Orteza, visited Dansalan College-Iligan to personally hand over P1 million (which is still being raised by Silliman Church) as the University’s financial assistance to the displaced faculty and staff.
The plan is to rehabilitate Dansalan College, restore operation, and enable it to fulfill its ministry in formal education in a multi-faith, multi-cultural context.
More importantly, to continue serving an interfaith community in spite of historical conflicts.
With God’s enduring faithfulness, Dansalan College remains hopeful, and we are confident they will rise again, like it did 67 years ago.
And even as we get on with our lives, celebrating God’s faithfulness to us here in SUMC and the wider Silliman community, and as we join with Silliman in celebrating its 116th Founders Day, I urge you to also keep our brothers and sisters in Dansalan College in your prayers.
