ZAMBOANGA CITY – A prolific writer and author Amir Mawallil has launched his new book entitled “A Constant Retelling – Exploring the Bangsamoro Narratives” in a well-attended event held at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University here.
The weekend launching of the book was graced by Filipino Jesuit priest Karel San Juan, who is the president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga; and human rights advocate and noted lawyer Laisa Alamia, who is the Executive Secretary and concurrent Social Welfare Secretary of the Muslim autonomous region.
The book about Bangsamoro, which literally means Muslim nation, contains the repositories of a community’s identities, histories, nations. And Mawallil said the narratives in the book speak with eloquence of the Bangsamoro aspirations as a people.
In his speech, Mawallil thanked all those who supported him, particularly the Ateneo de Zamboanga University for allowing him to bring the book and narratives of the Bangsamoro to the public consciousness.
He said the book is collection of concrete narratives of the Bangsamoro. It documents their language of resistance against the hegemony of the Filipino nationalist discourse. “It does this for its own survival, the Bangsa or nation, through language that binds the community together. This, too, is part of the many histories that make up the set of narratives that imbue the history of the Philippines as a nation. I am hopeful that this book will help build the kind of peace in Mindanao that our people need, that this contribution, small as it is, will be the seed of many good things,” he said.
The Bangsamoro narrative, according to the author, is built with the “blood and tears” of its people. “You can revise words, but you cannot revise lives, or the experiences that ran through those lives as surely as our blood flows in our veins and our tears flow as a people. This collection taken from the Bangsamoro narratives is a testament to the victories we have won together in the struggle for self-determination. It is my way of documenting each history that should never be forgotten, for they hold valuable learning – the kind only experience and remembrance can teach,” Mawallil, who is a Tausug or native of Sulu province, said.
“This book is not about me as the author. It is not even just about a certain ethno-linguistic group called the Tausug, Meranaw or Maguindanaoan. Rather it is about the blood, sweat, tears and struggle of those who came before all of us. It is about a nation coming into its own, a people coming up to the light after a very dark night, so that we may move forward and become the nation we all dream of,” he added.
Father San Juan praised Mawallil for the launching of the book which has already sold many copies since its official launching October 26 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. (Mindanao Examiner)
