Diary Entry # 51

March 22, 2010

Dear Diary,

This is my diary entry # 51. Last March 11-14, I was blessed
to be one of the facilitators of the Youth and Students Advancement for Gender
Equality (YSAGE) Re-echo camp about Gender Issues, Sexuality and Prostitution
at Notre Dame University, a school established by the Congregation of the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) at Cotabato City. The YSAGE was the
youth arm of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women- Asia Pacific
(CATW-AP). The camp tackled not just deep issues concerning violence against
women but also the experiences of the youth because it is from those
experiences that we put meaning to the theories we had acquired... because it
is from those experiences that we get the true stories of injustices and
discrimination which statistics couldn't tell.

Hearing the concerns, the
sentiments, the doubts, and the dreams of my fellow youth is a very
life-changing experience for me. What is more interesting with our group was
that we were composed of Christians and Muslims, in-school of different courses
such as education, engineering, business courses and in seminary and community
learners who are not yet in formal schooling. Thus, we were able to cover wider
scopes in our discussions. We were able to unite despite of our differences.

One of our stands in the
coalition is that we should never allow prostitution to be legalized. This
will in no way empower the women in prostitution but will only
strengthen the sex industry to the great extent. This will abuse women more
while allowing the people who make business out of it to gain and profit more
because legalizing prostitution is just like making women as legalized
commodity and we should never allow this to happen. Legalizing prostitution
will only promote sex trafficking. This will lead to more violence against
women because the perpetrators and those who sell and exploit women will not be
penalized anymore.  

Cotabato City is the regional
center of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao  but the city is
actually part of the SOCCSKSARGEN
(South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani and General Santos City)region found within the boundaries of  Maguindanao province, but is independent from
it and does not belong to the ARMM.  I
remembered having a hard time deciding whether to go to the the camp or not.
Aside from the fact that it would be examination week a day after I would
return, I was also threatened by the reactions of the many people around me
when I told them that I would be going to Mindanao (My second visit because
last year, I went to Cagayan de Oro City). Well, I could not blame them because
what we always see in the television, hear from the radio and read from the
newspaper about the place lead us to conclude and generalize that going there
is exposing our lives into great risks. But there are also many good things
about Cotabato City and Mindanao as a whole. We should not distant ourselves to
the place and most especially to the people because Mindanao is part of one
Philippines and its people are also our brothers and sisters.

Yet, we cannot deny that on the
other side of Mindanao, remains the battles and unresolved conflicts. It is the
conflict that has been there even before I was born. It is the conflict that
has displaced so many families… that has made bombing an ordinary thing…that
has destroyed the future of so many children and youth..  What is it really that separates us? Whatever
it is, I’m sure that its more than just differences for our group has just
proven that differences do not hinder people to unite and stand for a good
cause… More than the differences that must be dealt with are selfless motives,
abuse of power, pride and wrong thinking. Peace and justice and most importantly,
the future of the youth are absolutely good causes. Therefore, we have all the
reason to unite…

Thanks to the YSAGE, CATW-AP, Cotabato City and above all, to God for the opportunity, the courage, the strength and the guidance... The lessons I learned from my fellow youth are lessons worthy to be shared with others so they can learn from it too...

Till next time...

Always,

Richelle