Last Sunday, 07 March 2021, I had the pleasure of meeting a tribal chieftain. As we traveled through the hilly landscapes of Northern Mindanao, Bai Jerlina Owok entertained us with stories from her journey as the Bagobo Tagabawa chieftain in Barangay Binaton, Digos City. She shared the story of how she reclaimed her identity as a Bagobo Tagabawa when she reached the summit of Mount Apo—the highest mountain in the Philippines.
Category: INTER-FAITH DIALOGUE
POWER, PEACE, AND KINSHIP: INDIGENOUS LEADERS SHARE THEIR DREAMS
- By Meara Pearlnille
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09.March.2021
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09.March.2021
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2021/03/power-peace-and-kinship-indigenous-leaders-share-their-dreams/
I SUPPORT MY PALESTINIAN SISTERS AND BROTHERS AS WE COMMEMORATE THE 72ND YEAR OF AL-NAKBA
- By Lakan Sumulong
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15.May.2020
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15.May.2020
This is my expression of support to the call of my Palestinian Christian brother and friend, The Rev. Dr. Jack Sara. “I have already written several articles on this subject, expressing how so many of those so-called ‘Evangelical leaders’ have not been helpful in achieving peace here,” he laments. “As we mark the seventy-second year of the nakba,” he adds, “I call upon Christians around the world to help us say enough of the injustice and to join us in prophetically speaking against systems that instill suffering and strife on a weak and almost helpless people.”
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/05/i-support-my-palestinian-sisters-and-brothers-as-we-commemorate-the-72nd-year-of-al-nakba/
PBCI-CFP TRIBE PARTICIPATES IN THE 9TH CELEBRATION OF IP-MORO KINSHIP AFFIRMATION
- By PBCI InfoComm Team
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09.March.2020
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09.March.2020
Our Ama, Lakan Sumulong, led the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) to celebrate with the Indigenous Peoples and the Bangsamoro in affirming their kinship at the Talaandig Ancestral Territory at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad. The Settlers have been actively participating in this celebration for the past 9 years.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/03/pbci-cfp-tribe-participates-in-the-9th-celebration-of-ip-moro-kinship-affirmation/
IP COMMUNITIES WELCOME CANADIAN INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
- By PBCI InfoComm Team
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20.January.2020
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20.January.2020
08-17 January 2020. Three Indigenous Communities in Mindanao welcomed the visit of 12 Canadians from Southern Ontario. This is part of PBCI-CFP Inclusive Development Team’s initiative to facilitate the connection between the coffee farming communities and prospective impact investors and market representatives. This relationship-building and social entrepreneurial partnership is based on justice, peace, and reconciliation.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/01/ip-communities-welcome-canadian-inclusive-development-partners/
UAE-BASED ‘FORUM FOR PROMOTING PEACE’ HONORS CHIEF MINISTER EBRAHIM AND BISHOP TENDERO
- By Lakan Sumulong
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14.December.2019
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14.December.2019
Abu Dhabi, 09-11 December 2019 — H.E. Dr. Mohammad Al Kaabi (Chairman of the Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, UAE), and H.E. Abdallah bin Mahfudh ibn Bayyah (President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies) honored Al Haj Ahod ‘Murad’ Ebrahim (Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and Bishop Efraim Tendero (Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance) for their inter-faith peacebuilding contributions in southern Philippines. The awards were presented before the 500+ political, religious, and civil society leaders from 80 countries during the 6th Assembly of the Forum for Promoting Peace, The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/12/uae-based-forum-for-promoting-peace-in-muslim-societies-honors-chief-minister-ebrahim-and-bishop-tendero/
‘PBCI-CFP TRIBE’ PARTICIPATES IN THE TALAANDIG INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION
- By Lakan Sumulong
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18.October.2019
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18.October.2019
12-13 October 2019, Talaandig Ancestral Territory — It was a blessing to be a participant in a series of Talaandig rituals, a gathering together as a people before the Creator for worship. It was a time to ask for the Creator’s mercy, grace, forgiveness, and blessings to the people and to the land. It was a time to affirm, as one people, the harmonious relationship between the Creator, the people, and the whole creation — wherein the spiritual and the physical realities interplay in the same realm.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/10/pbci-cfp-tribe-participates-in-the-talaandig-indigenous-celebration/
SIHAYA ANSIBOD SOLIDIFIES INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT NETWORK IN CENTRAL MINDANAO
- By Lakan Sumulong
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14.September.2019
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14.September.2019
10-13 September 2019. Sihaya Ansibod, our Director of Field Operations, invited me to travel with her team. First, we met with our partners among the Erumanen Ne Menuvu tribe on Mt. Agkir-Agkir. Then we visited the Iranun coffee farmers in Alamada who invited us to market their coffee. Afterwards, we responded to an invitation of a Maguindanao farming community who envisions to develop a Robusta coffee plantation near Ligawasan Marshlands. Finally, we sealed our partnership with the Obo Bagobo coffee farmers in Ilomavis at the foot of Mt. Apo.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/09/sihaya-solidifies-inclusive-development-network-in-central-mindanao-and-davao-region/
AS A NATIVE OF BANAO TRIBE, I WAS EMBRACED BY THE TAGABAWA BAGOBO TRIBE
- By Aiza Wanay Baluyan
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09.September.2019
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09.September.2019
I am humbled by this embrace by Bae Jerlina Owok who adopted me as her daughter. This gift of relationship with the Tagabawa Bagobo people became possible only by the Creator’s grace. I pray that this connection would help bridge the Indigenous Peoples of the North and of the South towards a solidarity of all the aboriginal peoples in this whole archipelago. May my life be one of the funnels of this blessing that would unify our multicultural peoples in this rich and beautiful land.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/09/as-a-native-of-banao-tribe-i-was-embraced-by-the-tagabawa-bagobo-tribe/
PBCI-CFP INCLUDEV CONSULTANT PARTICIPATES IN FOSTERING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN BARMM
- By PBCI InfoComm Team
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28.August.2019
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28.August.2019
Last 15-17 August 2019, our Ina, Joji ‘Lakambini’ Pantoja, represented the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) at a social enterprise policy forum held at the Office of the Chief Minister, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Cotabato City. Ina made a presentation before key members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), other social enterprise practitioners, and academicians.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/08/pbci-cfp-includev-consultant-participates-in-fostering-social-enterprise-in-barmm/
PLEASE RESPECT THIRD WAY BRIDGE-BUILDERS IN OUR DIVIDED SOCIETIES
- By Lakan Sumulong
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24.July.2019
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24.July.2019
Third Way communities are usually called to be mediators and must be faithful to provide a safe space and a neutral team of facilitators for both sides of the parties-in-conflict to engage in authentic dialogue. Please do not shoot the bridge-builders! Please respect the calling of the bridge-building Third Way communities.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/07/please-respect-third-way-bridge-builders-in-our-divided-societies/
THE CANADIAN SCHOOL OF PEACEBUILDING INVITES LAKAN TO SHARE PBCI-CFP STORIES
- By PBCI InfoComm Team
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25.June.2019
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25.June.2019
At the 2019 Canadian School of Peacebuilding (CSOP), Dr. Gordon Zerbe and Lakan Sumulong teamed up in teaching “Justice, Peacebuilding, and a Theology of Struggle.” Dr. Zerbe provided the theological and theoretical frameworks and analyses. Lakan shared his peacebuilding field stories. Their 12 students, who came from 8 countries, gathered in Winnipeg last 17-21 June.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/06/the-canadian-school-of-peacebuilding-invites-lakan-to-share-pbci-cfp-stories/
I PARTICIPATED IN THE ‘GLOBAL CONFERENCE OF HUMAN FRATERNITY’ IN ABU DHABI
- By Lakan Sumulong
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08.February.2019
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08.February.2019
Last 03-05 February 2019, I attended the Global Conference of Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi by the invitation of Dr. Sultan Al Rumaithi, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Elders. A historic document, Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, was signed by both His Holiness Pope Francis (Pope of the Catholic Church) and His Eminence Dr. Ahmer El-Tayeb (Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif) during this conference.
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2019/02/i-participated-in-the-global-conference-of-human-fraternity-in-abu-dhabi/
WE’RE SET TO PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF PAR LEADERS

MORE PAR STORIES
- SCALING CHANGE FROM THE HEART: MY REFLECTIONS ON THE NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONFERENCE 2025 05.May.2025
- RESURRECTION SUNDAY CONTEMPLATIVE WALK: A REVOLUTIONARY CALL TO THE PEACE OF CHRIST 20.April.2025
- THE SEED THAT REGENERATES AND TRANSFORMS: A LENTEN REFLECTION ON JUSTICE, LEADERSHIP, AND NATIONAL RENEWAL 31.March.2025
- FORMER PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE IS ARRESTED AND TRANSFERRED TO ICC 12.March.2025
- BUILDING PEACE THROUGH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT: THE ROLE OF BANGSAMORO WOMEN 20.February.2025
- PBCI CELEBRATES PASSAGE OF BANGSAMORO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ACT; REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVE PEACEBUILDING 10.February.2025
- BAGOBO TAGABAWA FARMERS AND PBCI-CFP TEAM LAUNCH TOGETHER AN AGRO-FORESTRY PROJECT IN MT. APO 31.January.2025
- MY JOURNEY IN USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FRAMED IN SOCIAL ETHICS AND PEACEBUILDING 21.January.2025
- EMIL JONATHAN SORIANO IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE PBCI BOARD OF TRUSTEES 07.January.2025
- TEAM BONDING AND REFLECTION HIGHLIGHT PEACE HUB FAMILY’S HOLIDAY CELEBRATION 23.December.2024
- A CALL ON THE GPH AND THE MILF TO MOVE WITH GREATER URGENCY IN COMPLETING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAB 15.December.2024
- FIRST PBCI ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING GENERATES TRANSITIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN 29.November.2024
- WE STAND TOGETHER WITH THE ‘VOICES OF PEACE’ IN THE CALL TO RESUME PEACE TALKS AND TO TRANSFORM THE CONFLICT NONVIOLENTLY 27.November.2024
- PBCI-CFP FIELD OPS TEAM ACCOMPANY CANADIAN MENNONITES TO APPRECIATE AND STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS 22.November.2024
- CELEBRATING A SACRED HONOR: THE BAGOBO TAGABAWA BESTOW US WITH THE ‘LUMABAT AWARD’ 31.October.2024
- WE, THE PBCI-CFP TEAM, REAFFIRMED OUR SOLIDARITY WITH THE TALAANDIG INDIGENOUS PEOPLE 15.October.2024
- TRANSFORMING FROM ARMED REVOLUTION TO A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: MILF EMBRACES A NEW PATH IN DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE 25.September.2024
- REGION 11 FARMERS EMPOWERED, COFFEE STANDARDS ELEVATED AT THE DAVAO REGIONAL COFFEE EXPO 2024 23.September.2024