Written by Franz Manlutac, IDEALS
“Sigurado ka bang pupunta kang Sulu?” (Are you sure you’re going to Sulu?)
This was the question commonly received by our Voices for Peace youth fellows when they informed their friends and families about their fellowship community engagement in Sulu, a province previously plagued by conflict and danger.
With the theme, Youth for Peace and Social Justice, the 2025 Voices for Peace Fellowship was a series of capacity-development activities geared towards cultivating the Filipino youth’s understanding of and engagement in storytelling and initiatives on peacebuilding and human rights. Supported by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund and Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World) through the projects SPEAK Mindanao and SPARK Peace, youth from across the Philippines had the opportunity to participate in in-person bootcamps, online peer discussions, quick-impact grants, and the youth exchanges. This time, the youth fellows had an opportunity to participate in a youth exchange in Jolo and Hadji Panglima Tahil, Sulu.
Arriving at the Pantalan Port, they were met with a welcoming sunrise and were brought to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. There, they unknowingly met the 35th Sultan of Sulu, Sultan Hajji Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram, and casually conversed with him. Contrary to the common perception of the people of Sulu, the fellows were met with such warmth and enthusiasm.
The visit to Brgy. Bangas, Hadji Panglima Tahil, where they met the Sama Bajau peoples and saw the light blue waters of Sulu, drew further complex perceptions among the youth fellows. While they were deeply in awe of the sense of community among the Sama Bajaus, they were also conflicted by the extreme poverty they were facing. The Bajaus of Bangas did not have regular access to safe, clean and potable water; they would need to travel to Jolo by a 30-minute boat ride just to collect water. One resident shared with youth fellow Francis Xavier “Xavvy” Alcazar of NU Lipa – Community Extension Brigade, “Paswertehan na lang. Kapag umuulan, iniigib nila ang tubig ulan.” (It’s a matter of luck. When it rains, they collect the rainwater.)
Fellows & community partners riding a boat to the one of the Sama Bajau partners’ homes on stilts.
Xavvy interviewing Sama Bajau partners.
The majority of the Sama Bajaus sought sustenance and livelihood by fishing. However, the rainy weather has made it difficult for them to do so. While educational institutions such as the Notre Dame of Jolo College extend early education intervention services for the Sama Bajau children, a number of them still do not get to finish their studies due to financial and cultural restrictions. During a conversation with Nanay Ging, a Sama Bajau mother, officials of certain social services replace the names of the Sama Bajau with the names of Tausug community members instead — a harsh reiteration of the cultural imbalance between the two groups.
Despite the “absence of conflict”, the Sama Bajaus are still subject to corruption and discrimination which affect their access to basic goods and services — a different form of conflict.
At the end of the youth exchange, fellow Biel Jose Catipon of the Baliuag University Political Science Society recalled what he learned from the boot camp sessions — peace is not just the absence of conflict, but an ongoing commitment to justice, inclusivity and healing. He emphasized that,
“Even though there are no longer insurgencies and armed conflict, there are still inequalities. This begs the question on whether [Sulu] is actually peaceful? Moreover, who gets to decide when one is already peaceful?”
It has been almost two months after the exchange, but the youth fellows still warmly recall their experiences in Sulu. The recently declared exclusion of Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao further piqued their interest in learning about the province and its peoples. #
About the projects
SPEAK Mindanao or the “Support to People’s Empowerment through Amplifying community voices for Kalilintad in Mindanao” was a three-year (2023 to 2025) project supported by the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). SPEAK Mindanao aimed to increase the capacities and opportunities of Bangsamoro communities, especially the youth, to participate in shaping positive narratives and rights claiming.
SPARK Peace or “SPARK Peace: Strengthening People’s Actions for Human Rights and Kalilintad (Peace)” is an on-going three-year project supported by the Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World). SPARK Peace aims to increase the agency and representation of Bangsamoro communities in accessing socio-economic opportunities, particularly in increasing the engagement of young people inside and outside the BARMM in initiatives for human rights, peace and non-violence.