News

Opinion: The anti-discrimination bill

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Dec 10 11:41 PM

What would it mean for the Philippines to have a real anti-discrimination bill? It certainly sounds like a certain utopia: to have human rights, equality, and dignity restored that discrimination strips away. Read more »

OPINION: The breaking of dawn

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Oct 01 10:38 PM

It has been over two months since President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11054, the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). This law creates the region replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Read more »

OPINION: Eid'l Adha is the feast that binds us

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Aug 21 02:12 AM

We share a story where the greatest possible sacrifice is given back to us with mercy and love. Read more »

OPINION: On Eid'l Fitr

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Jun 14 04:29 AM

Ramadan is when Muslims practice sawm (fasting), zakat (charity), and salah (daily prayers). These are part of the five pillars of Islam that Muslims must perform as part of practicing their faith. Read more »

OPINION: Shared meals, shared prayer

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Jun 09 03:42 AM

Ramadan reminds us that life is a constant struggle, one where you can and should choose what is good over what is easy.    Read more »

OPINION: Ramadan

Amir Mawallil
Posted at May 15 11:40 PM

In a world where so much needs to be done, and in a region where so much is needed, time to focus on prayer and on a community in prayer is precious. This week is the start of Ramadan—our most sacred month.   Read more »

OPINION: The Jabidah Massacre, half a century later

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Mar 17 04:28 AM

It is always a question of how to look back with a clear vision on where to proceed. Read more »

OPINION: Burn into memory

Amir Mawallil
Updated as of Feb 06 10:11 AM

Whether told as part of an oral history or as a fictionalized tale, the story of the destruction of Jolo town is agonizing. Read more »

OPINION: Peace, 2018

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Dec 31 08:00 AM

As 2017 closes and 2018 opens, there is time to pause for reflection on the year now ending. 2017 was more than usually tough for the Moro people.    Read more »

OPINION: Commemorating 637 years of Islam in the Philippines

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Nov 16 11:06 PM

This important part of the Moro narrative must be woven into the nation’s narratives of history and awareness of it on a national level will go a long way toward greater understanding of the Moro in the context of our nation—and vice versa. Read more »

'Money, frustration, ideology attracting youth to violent extremism in PH'

Arlene Burgos, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Oct 20 06:37 PM

Philippine officials are looking at protecting the youth, seen as easy converts via indoctrination, and are vulnerable to the lure of quick money, from violent extremism where episodes such as the Marawi City siege draw inspiration from. Read more »

OPINION: Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman, a profile

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Oct 10 03:24 AM

As a Bangsamoro woman, she was at the forefront of asserting her people’s right to self-determination by being an avid but critical supporter of the peace process.  Read more »

OPINION: Let us continue to pray for Marawi, for peace

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Sep 23 03:03 AM

It is exhausting to watch a city decimated with savage violence because it is a Muslim city where terrorists roosted, cussed in their resistance.  Read more »

OPINION: Moros and the narrative of displacement

Amir Mawallil
Updated as of Jul 28 01:16 PM

There can be no peace when one has no place to call home. Read more »

OPINION: Narrating terrorism

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Jun 12 09:37 PM

The Maute group wants to separate us, hijack our discourse while it is shattered by divisions, and impose their terrorist agenda on our collective consciousness.   Read more »

OPINION: The holy month of Ramadan

Amir Mawallil
Posted at May 24 03:29 AM

In a few days, Muslims around the world will begin their observance of Ramadan. Read more »

OPINION: Condemning terrorism is easy; ending terrorism is not

Amir Mawallil
Posted at May 05 03:08 AM

Ask anyone about how to end terrorism and you will get answers almost instantly. Read more »

OPINION: Why fear the unfamiliar?

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Apr 18 04:37 AM

The “unusual activity?” Speaking in a “different language.” Read more »

OPINION: Hope requires action

Amir Mawallil
Posted at Apr 06 04:34 AM

So many of us have become accustomed to speaking about the youth as the hope of the nation, but what many of us fail to recognize is that fulfilling this hope requires action.  Read more »

OPINION: It is not your story — Jabidah Massacre after 49 years

Amir Mawallil
Updated as of Mar 18 08:21 PM

Only the Bangsamoro people can claim ownership of this narrative that served as the platform of the Moro’s struggle for self-determination more than half a century ago. Read more »