Dubbed “Peace Efforts in the World and the Bangsamoro Peace Agreement in Mindanao,” the forum sought to discuss and share ideas about attaining lasting peace in Mindanao.
Professor Quattrucci, who comes from Rome, shared his many experiences in having dialogues among separatist groups and governments in other countries.
“In Mozambique, for example, we asked both parties to talk about what they have in common – that they are all citizens of the country. If we begin to realize the common things we have and our aspirations, this will be the first step in the walk to peace,” shared Professor Quattrucci.
In his discussions, he enumerated three important points: prayer, friendship and dialogue.
“Building peace is continuous work. Affixing signatures on a peace agreement does not immediately fully attain peace, it simply ends violence,” he said.
Prof. Quattrucci added that “we want to listen, and we want to know how we can help”.
During the discussions, interfaith leader Ismael Abubakar Jr. shared that there has never been a divide between and among the different religions, particularly in Zamboanga City.
“In spite of the differences in beliefs, the people here have been living in harmony. The September 9 event was an ‘irritant’, but there has never been a conflict among religions,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement here said that there is much uneasiness in the city and a lot of concerns especially for the internally-displaced persons after the events of September 9. “But we want to show the world that something good will come out of Zamboanga even after what had happened here,” he said.
Professor Quattrucci is the secretary-general of International Meetings, Peoples and Religions, an association that aims to promote mutual knowledge and dialogue among different religions.