A Muslim family gives Christians who escaped the conflict in the southern Philippine city of Marawi a ride to an evacuation center in a nearby town. (Photo by Mark Saludes)
When the shooting war erupted between Philippine security forces and terrorist gunmen in Marawi City on May 23, a group of Christian students were trapped inside a university campus.
One was Riz Sunio, a 24-year old native of Palawan, an island province in the central Philippines.
"Poverty forced me to make Mindanao my home," she said. "Marawi accepted me and became my bastion of hope," the young woman added.
But the attack by terrorist gunmen two weeks ago clouded Sunio's hopes. "We wanted to get out of Marawi but we cannot move out because of fear," she said.
A family of Muslims who heard about the Christians trapped on the campus came to the rescue.
"We could not just sit and watch people die," said Maryam Manalundong, a Muslim teacher. "[The conflict] is not between Muslims and non-Muslims," she said.
"It is also our responsibility as Muslims to help non-Muslims get to safety," she said.
Manalundong was confident that the gunmen, who claimed to be Islamic militants, would not hurt Muslims. She stayed inside the conflict zone even after the Christian student fled to safety.
"I feel that there are still many things to do in the city," she said. For days, Manalundong searched for Christians in hiding to bring them to safety.
"We were saved by strangers," Sunio later said. "They risked their lives for us."
At a military checkpoint outside Manalundong, Sunio saw how soldiers held Muslims longer than Christians fleeing the conflict.
"Biases on religion and race is already prevailing," she noted.
It was time for her to pay back the help she received from Manalundong. The young Christian woman vouched for a Muslim family at the checkpoint and convinced the soldiers to allow the family to pass.
Humanity amid conflict
The "real face of humanity" comes out in the middle of a crisis, said Macrina Morados, head of the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines in Manila.
She said stories of Muslims risking their lives to protect non-Muslims in the midst of the conflict in Marawi "are acts of real Islam."
"They are emulating the example of the Prophet Mohammed when he protected Christians," said Morados, adding that the prophet made a promise to the monks of St. Catherine's Monastery to protect "until the end of days those who adopt Christianity."
Morados said unity between Muslims and Christians would "really hurt the extremists" who are trying to sow division in Mindanao.
"These gestures of Muslims helping non-Muslims are manifestations of us refusing to be divided," added the professor.
Maylanie Sani-Boloto, a sociology professor at Mindanao State University in Marawi, said that despite the "clannish culture" of the Maranaos, the natives of Marawi, many "have chosen humanity over religious or racial affiliation" during the conflict.
"It is something that humanity has to do in times of conflict, regardless of religion or race," she said. "Helping one another is the doctrine of all religions," added Sani-Boloto.
Sunio, meanwhile, was preparing to go back home to Palawan to overcome the trauma.
She said she would be back in Marawi soon, when the fighting is over.
"It is difficult to leave a place where you found real friends and people who are willing to die for you," she said. "I will not abandon them. I will help rebuild the city."
