ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Reopening of the university affected by the attack in Marawi: prayer and memory of the victims

Marawi (Agenzia Fides) - The Mindanao State University (MSU) campus of Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi reopened today, after eight days of closure, following the bomb attack that killed four people during mass celebrated in the gymnasium, used as a chapel, on December 3. The resumption of teaching activities at the institute was preceded by a prayer vigil attended this morning at the MSU by academic authorities, university staff, students, Bishop Edwin De la Peña, at the head of the territorial Prelature of Marawi and Archbishop Antonio Ladesma. The University once again expressed its "deepest and sincere condolences to the families of the four people killed in the explosion", namely two Catholic students of the university, Junrey Barbante and Janine Arenas, the lecturer Evangeline Aromin and Riza Daniel, mother of another student. "We pray that the victims rest in peace and receive the justice they deserve. We join in the pain of the families and, to be honest, a part of us, of every student or teacher at MSU, dies and remains with them," said MSU President Basari D. Mapupuno. The resumption of activities on campus was organized in coordination with security forces and local authorities. The university, "while recognizing the discomfort and fear that the incident has caused, is providing the university community with comprehensive safety measures and an environment conducive to learning", also offering support services, psychosocial assistance, and guaranteeing special accommodation, transportation and academic exemptions to all those involved in or affected by the incident. The provincial government of Lanao del Sur provides transportation assistance to students from the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Pagadian and Malabang. Some students are still traumatized: according to MSU, about 2,000 students, out of 15,000 enrolled, returned to their home provinces outside Lanao del Sur following the attack and not all are ready to resume classes. The MSU administration announced increased security measures, with special checkpoints at the entrance to the university. The attack was claimed by local groups claiming to be part of the Islamic State network. In recent days, military operations have been launched against three local Islamist militant groups, "Dawlah Islamiyah", "Abu Sayyaf" and "Maute", in western Mindanao; according to the police, the attack could be a response to these operations. After initial investigations, Philippine police arrested Jafar Gamo Sultan, a man considered one of the "accomplices" in the deadly explosion. According to eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras, the suspect was with the man, still wanted, identified as the person who planted the explosive device, Murad Ebrahim, prime minister of the Muslim Autonomous Region - which includes the province of Lanao del Sur, with Marawi as its capital - said the region's government would cover the victims' medical expenses and provide special assistance to the victims' families and injured, around fifty people. The Catholic community of Marawi and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, on behalf of the Church of the entire nation, held a special day of mourning and prayer in memory of the victims on December 6. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, celebrated a suffrage mass, inviting the faithful across the country to offer holy masses, pray the rosary and perform special acts of charity during the period of Advent.
Bishop Edwin de la Peña said the sympathy and solidarity shown by Muslims in Lanao del Sur and other parts of the country was touching. The Mindanao State University, affected by the attack, said Edwin de la Peña, will remain "a symbolic place of coexistence, welcoming, side by side, young Muslim and Christian students from different provinces of the island of Mindanao.” Meanwhile, the funeral rites and burial of the four Catholic victims are taking place in their respective hometowns. Among them, Junrey Barbante, a 24-year-old student at the College of Business Administration and Accountancy, was a recent graduate from the island of Bohol. He had completed his civil engineering degree from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology last month. He was seriously injured in the explosion and died while being transported to hospital. His friends and colleagues described him as a kind, hard-working and cheerful young man with a bright future. Janine Arenas, 18, also resided at the same college. She was a student originally from Balabagan, in the province of Lanao del Norte, and assiduously frequented the university chaplaincy community, like Barbante. The community previously had its own chapel, which was destroyed by Islamic militants during the siege of Marawi in 2017. Since then, meetings and liturgical celebrations have been held in the university gymnasium. Among the teachers killed was Evangeline Aromin, 31, a teacher at the Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU). She was a native of Lanao del Sur, from a Catholic family with deep roots in the MSU community, and very engaged in Muslim-Christian dialogue in Marawi City. Many local Muslims from the Maranao ethnic group attended her funeral. The last of the 4 victims, Riza Ramos Daniel, 49, is the mother of a student. Originally from Tangub City in the western province of Misamis, she worked in Marawi and her son is a third-year computer science student at MSU. Both devout, they were present at the mass of December 3. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 11/12/2023)

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