Surrendering to Change: How a village in Basilan is moving towards peace

Story by Denise Rafaeli Cadorniga

In a local village in the Philippines, named Lower Sinangkapan, it has been the norm for gunfire to break out unexpectedly. For many years, an illicit flow of guns has fueled fighting around the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Already at risk from the presence of Abu Sayyaf or clans and individuals who get their hands on weapons, these bursts of violence devastate the community members of Lower Sinangkapan. 

Local Chairman Inspires a Gun-Free Zone 

Incidents of violence have become all too familiar to the villagers: another rido (clan feud), another military-style weapon, another youth caught up in crime or dead, and another family torn apart by senseless violence.  

Barangay Chairman, Halim Saharin and Early Warning Early Response (EWER) monitors from the area decided to channel the community’s grief and outrage into action by leading an initiative to transform the village into a gun-free zone.  

Moving Towards Peace as a Community  

In February, more than 300 people packed into a complex center to mark the first day of the inauguration of the gun-free zone in Lower Sinangkapan, an event hosted by NP.  

All eyes and ears were on Chairman Halim as he recounted the tale of countless unlawful possessions and utilizations of small arms and light weapons (SALW), which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals throughout their village. His speech was an hour and half— community members remarked that that same amount of time had been all it took for an armed group to rampage the entire village just months earlier. 

 At the event, more than nine people participated in the government’s gun turnover initiative, with many civilians showing interest and appreciation. The local government offered participants financial compensation and a livelihood package in exchange for handing in illicit guns.  

It was here that the village of Lower Sinangkapan was formally recognized as the first gun-free zone and peace-centered community in Basilan—an impressive accomplishment for a region long troubled by gun violence.

Influential figures, such as Ping Kasim, a religious and traditional leader from Tuburan, Jessica Abing from the women’s group Rose Women, and Mayor Jhaber Kallahal, gave their blessings at the event. 

Disarmament can play a significant role in conflict resolution— sometimes, before you can get feuding parties to the table, the first step is to get them to put down their weapons. When parties feel safe and secure enough to talk without arms, they’re more likely to find peaceful solutions. 

A New Chapter Towards Peace 

The community has talked about the problem of arms trafficking for decades, Halim says, but lacked a clear approach until the support of NP. 

"I have the courage to take steps to explain and help understand all the right and wrong ways of doing things. The resolve to fight for what is right got even stronger when I met one of NP’s staff. They had helped orient all our youths in all sectors. There was even an EWER and an ordinance that were created to prohibit unauthorized persons from carrying firearms in our community."

“Nagkaroon [ako] ng lakas ng loob upang gumawa ng hakbang para ipaliwanag at ipaintindi sa lahat ng nasasakupan ang tama at hindi tamang gawin... Mas lalong lumakas ang laban nung nakilala ko ang isa sa mga staff ng NP. Sila ang tumulong na mag-orient sa lahat ng ating kabataan sa lahat ng sector. Nagkaroon ng Early Warning Early Response (EWER), at gumawa ng ordinansa upang pagbawalan ang mga taong hindi otorisadong magdala ng baril sa aming komunidad."

Lt. Col. Cyril Santander, Battalion Commander of the 18th IB, notes that further action is necessary, including background checks for gun owners, funding for research into gun crime, and a full ban on assault weapons frequently used in local conflicts. The Philippines ranks 25th in SALW possession, with 3,800,000 legal and illegal weapons contributing to violence and disrupting peace and development in communities across the nation. 

According to the UNODA, the country has one of the highest rates of illicit gun ownership in Asia, which destroys lives and property. Additionally, SALWs contribute to excessive and inefficient spending on policing and security services. Gun ownership also has gendered consequences. In fact, across all societies struggling with SALW, young males are the most common perpetrators and immediate victims of armed attacks, while gender-based violence against women and children is widespread and frequently unreported. 

If the global ambition is to reduce the number of weapons getting into the hands of armed groups, then the support of the community in the government’s SALW program should be the forefront. It's encouraging to witness the efforts and progress in Lower Sinangkapan.

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This is part of the initiatives under the EU-funded ATTAIN Project 2.0, or Accompanying the Transformation of Conflict, Transitional Justice, and Reconciliation, Actions Supporting Nonviolent Means of Political Participation, and Initiatives Sustaining the Gains of Normalization in BARMM currently being implemented in BARMM, Regions 9, 10, and 12, as a practical and relevant follow-up action to ensure Nonviolent Peaceforce’s continued support and complementation to the operations of JNC and other normalization bodies on the ground and overall contribution to the Bangsamoro peace process and peace dividends in wider Mindanao. Under this sequel action, the support is focused on sustaining and strengthening the preview efforts and expanding the interventions to other key aspects of normalization.