The political turmoil that hit the country worsen in the late 60’s and was greatly felt in war-torn Mindanao with the all-out war against the communist insurgents and the Muslim secessionists. More so, the Muslim-Christian conflict deepens as military personnel composed mostly of Christians are pitted against the Muslims rebels.
Hence in 1971, with the efforts of the Mindanao Catholic Bishops, the Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC) was established to help in the unification efforts of its people. Being extensively immersed with Mindanao realities, MSPC basically passed through a dynamic growth and development. MSPC evolved its programs vis-à-vis its expanding concerns and network.
It was in June of 1983, at its 5th Conference in Davao City that representatives of various sectors and faiths from all over Mindanao answered to the demands of the three faiths in the context of Mindanao realities and turned this activity into a momentous birth of the Mindanao Interfaith Peoples Conference (MIPC).
Today, MIPC continues to assume a key place in facilitating the formation of groups and organizations to pursue and strengthen the dream that is a just and peaceful Mindanao of different faiths living together in harmony and respect.
The Mindanao Interfaith People’s Conference (MIPC) has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI) with SEC registration # 00270.
MISFI is the MIPC secretariat since 1983. It acts out the mandate of the General Assembly that approves the over-all thrust of MIPC.
VISION
MIPC envisions a society free from social inequities, poverty and foreign aggression and a society working towards total human liberation where people are able to live out their full potentials and aspiration, exercise their faith freely and work as responsible builders of wealth and progress.
MISSION
MIPC is an aggrupation of non-government nationalist development organizations and peoples organizations in Mindanao that acts as a service institution committed to the Mindanao tri-people poor of Lumads, Moro and lowland Christian communities through various capacity, conscious of the interfaith dimension of social development work.
GOALS
1. To realize liberating ethno-linguistic heritage and aspirations of Mindanao’s tri-people poor Moro, Lumad and majority Filipino.
2. To develop homegrown solidarity groups of grassroots sectors such as farmers, semi-skilled seasonal workers, urban poor and lowly professionals.
3. To strengthen international relations that facilitate the creation of mechanisms of support for the tri-people poor’s needs, responses and rights assertion.
STRATEGIES
advocacy and campaign
- understanding liberating thrusts of living faiths in Mindanao
- articulation of ethno-linguistic heritage and aspirations of the tri-people poor Lumad, Moro and majority Filipino.
direct action
- provision of direct services for the grassroots, creating alternative programs with them in response to particular needs of the most vulnerable sectors.
international partnership and exchange
- Maintaining conduit for international and cultural tour packages with the grassroots peoples that project and inspire self-determination.
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Project Development
MIPC responds to the needs of the people especially in the hinterland communities by way of capability building and developing their capacity to overcome vulnerabilities in times of disasters. Part of such component is the ongoing ACTION REPAIR project
Literacy/Numeracy Program
MIPC also responds to the educational needs in the hinterlands by preparing the children and adult with basic educational tools right in their own communities where they are at ease and cost saving for them. The program utilizes indigenous materials and methods to suit the students. So far, 10 Moro and indigenous communities are privileged of such unique education module, which is highly appreciated by the affected local government.
Interfaith Trialogue, Partnership and Cooperation
MIPC holds interfaith trialogue to promote solidarity, cooperation and mutual support for the tri-peoples aspiration. Through fora, symposia, interfaith celebration and prayer, and workshops, MIPC hopes to promote active awareness on generations-old animosities in Mindanao and a clear understanding on the Lumads and Moro rights to self-determination.
Solidarity Exposure and Education in Mindanao
MIPC invites and accommodates friends abroad who are interested to experience the lives of Mindanao’s tri-people poor. The program seeks to project Mindanao issues and concerns by immersion in the area. The program also organizes itinerary of Mindanao social landscape and offer a better understanding of prevailing issues that affect Mindanao like the Moro conflict, the backward, feudalistic Mindanao agriculture, and the human genome project affecting the Lumads.
Information Technology Services for the People
MIPC promotes access and strengthens the cooperative relations especially with the global media by gathering data, studies, researches and other pressing issues on local situation and events and disseminating it for international projection, while publishing other educational and campaign materials for wider dissemination and support. MIPC also maintains an extensive PHOTOBANK that stores pictures from way back the notorious Martial Law Era.
CONTACT US
Purok 8, San Miguel, Brgy. Indangan, Buhangin District, Davao City 8000, Philippines
P.O. Box 81308
Telefax: (6382) 225-0743
Mobile: +63 915 908 4813 / +63 929 722 8808
E-mail: mipc_phils@yahoo.com
Url: www.misfi-phil.org
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