‘I feel safe here’

Asliha R. Alibsar (left), 23, and Salha M. Alanoden, 23, both Madrasah teachers, talk about their lives as Muslims in Cebu in a CDN interview inside the office of Minang Manggis (right), the Department of Education’s Madrasah Education Program coordinator in Cebu City, on Imus Road, Barangay Zapatera on June 22, 2017.

Being Muslim in Cebu

Asliha R. Alibsar was barely 20 when she moved to Cebu City from Masiu, Lanao del Sur, in 2014 to be with her father, Alibsar Mampao, who works as a Muslim missionary assigned in Cebu City.

It was also an opportunity for her to look for a job in Cebu City.

After three years, Alibsar feels that Muslims are now more accepted in Cebu, a place that has learned to be tolerant of other religious denominations even as it is dominated by Christians believers.

“Yung experience na sumakay ako (ng jeep). Magbibigay talaga sila ng lugar for you. Yung iba na makakakita sayo sasabihan ka ng ‘Hello ma’am,’” she told Cebu Daily News.

(My experience is that whenever I would take a ride on jeepneys, other passengers would always give a space for me. Others would even greet you and say hello.)

Wearing a violet hijab (headscarf), Asliha, now 23, granted Cebu Daily News an interview last week at the Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu City Division Office.

She is now one of the teachers in Cebu City for DepEd’s Madrasah Education Program that teaches Arabic language and Muslim values to Muslim learners in Cebu City. She is assigned at the Cebu City Central School.

For her, Cebuanos have started to learn and are now more open minded about Muslims and the religion Islam.

It was different when she first arrived here, she said.

“Noong first, pag nag-apply ka ng trabaho may mga nakatingin sayo. Tapos yung iba nagsasabi na mga terrorists daw kami,” Ashila said.

(At first, when we applied for jobs, some people would stare at us. Others would say that we were terrorists.)

When asked how they reacted to that kind of situation, she answered, “Hindi kami nakikipag-away. Pag may nagtanong sasabihin ko kung ano kami at ang religion namin (We don’t pick fights. If people would ask about us, we explain who we are and our religion).”

Haven

Aside from the sense of belonging, Asliha also feels that she is safer in Cebu.

“Safe talaga siya dito kahit minsan traffic talaga. Kailangan hindi pwede ma-late sa school,” Asliha said with a laugh. (It’s safe here even if sometimes there’s heavy traffic. You must not be late at school.)

She now lives in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.

“Sa isip ko walang nanakawan na Muslim dito. Mas safe kumpara doon sa amin. Kahit gabihin ako dito hindi ako natatakot. Maraming tao lalo na sa gabii,” she added.

(I believe no Muslim will be robbed here. It’s safer compared to our hometown. I am not afraid even if I go home late. There are many people especially at night.)

Marawi City has a special place in her heart. She took up elementary education at the Philippine Muslim Teachers College (PMTC) in Marawi City.

When she learned about the Marawi siege, Asliha was saddened especially that her mother and other siblings were then still in Masiu, which is just an hour away from Marawi.

Her mother, Cayamampong Rimbang, also a Madrasah teacher, and her siblings have evacuated to Cebu days after the fighting erupted in Marawi in May 23.

“I am praying that everything will be okay soon,” Asliha added.

Asliha is the second of the twelve children of Alibsar Mampao, 38, and Cayamampong Rimbang, 47, both natives of Masiu.

It was also in the town of Masiu where Omenta Romato Maute, the mother of brothers Omar and Abdullah who lead the Maute terrorist group, was arrested together with seven other women.

Asliha was surprised when she learned that the Maute Group was behind the terror attack in Marawi City.

She said that what she knows about the Mautes is that they are a rich family in Marawi City that owns a furniture shop in the city.

“Nabigla ako ng nalaman ko na sila ang dahilan sa nangyayari sa Marawi (I was surprised when I learned they were responsible for what happened in Marawi),” Asliha said.

The escape

Cayamampong Rimbang, who has been in Cebu for over two weeks now, would still shudder in terror whenever she recalled what she went through to flee from war-torn Marawi.

Rimbang, who attended the commemoration of the end of Ramadan at Plaza Independencia in Cebu City on Sunday, shared to CDN that she was actually in Marawi City during the time when the war broke out on May 23.

She said she was at the office of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF)–Lanao de Norte in Marawi City to process their documents as they had planned to visit Mecca, Saudi Arabia, soon for a pilgrimage.

Rimbang was in that office when heavy gunfire suddenly broke out. She then saw the person beside her hit by a bullet and bleeding.

Rimbang frantically started touching her shoulders, arms, face and body for any gunshot wound. Finding none, she dashed for the door and began running nonstop.

She ran for over a kilometer and counted herself lucky that even amid the heavy gunfire, she was not wounded nor did she encounter any of the Maute militants.

She took shelter in a nearby house and joined the fleeing family from that house who evacuated to Iligan City, about 38 kilometers from Marawi.

In Iligan City, she was joined by the other members of her family. But the next day, she and some of her children decided to return to Masiu.

However, in May 28, her family decided to leave Masiu as well.

“Noong narining namin na may plano ang mga Maute na palubugin ang bayan ng Masiu yun na talaga umalis na yung pamilya namin,” she added.

(But when we heard that the Maute planned to destroy the town of Masiu, that was when our family decided to leave.)

Already traumatized by her experience in Marawi, Rimbang said they did not even have time to pack their clothes or even their shoes.

She and seven others in her family — her three young children, two grandchildren, her mother and a friend — just boarded their Kia sedan car and drove nonstop to Pagadian City, the capital city of Zambonga del Sur, for a distance of over 150 kilometers.

Christian generosity

They stayed in a lodging house in Pagadian City for a night on May 28.

“The owner of the lodging house was a Christian. Instead of paying P700, the owner told us to pay P500 when he learned that we are evacuees,” Rimbang recalled.

After spending a night in Pagadian City, the family of eight continued to travel towards Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte, looking for connecting trips going to Cebu. The family arrived in Dapitan City on June 1.

On the same day, Rimbang and her children boarded a boat to Dumaguete City. It was while on this boat when another Christian, whose name she did not even know, handed them P1,200 for them to use as additional fare in going to Cebu from Dumaguete.

“I was touched by those Christians who helped us. May unity talaga kahit galing tayo sa iba’t ibang relihiyon,” Rimbang said.

Rimbang and her family arrived in Cebu City on June 3. Her other children arrived in Cebu over the course of two weeks, she said.

In Cebu, she said, she hoped to start a new life together with her now complete family.
“It feels safe to be here,” she added.

Why Cebu?

There are more than 60,000 Muslims now residing in Cebu City and province, according to Malo Manonggiring, the director for NCMF-Visayas.

Ninety percent of this population are Maranaos, while the ten percent are Tausugs, Maguindanaoans and Yakans.

He agreed with Asliha’s statement that Muslims feel safe in Cebu City and the entire province.

“It’s true because we (Muslim community) have respect among us and that Cebuanos embraced and treated us like brothers. We also have a good relationship with the local governments here, such as Cebu City,” Manonggiring told CDN.

Most of the Muslims in Cebu are into small trading, said Manonggiring.