Kristian Rivera
You are a Muslim, and I am a Christian, yet I haven’t fully discerned how much this friendship genuinely means until I learned the history and the story of the Moro people in Mindanao. This came full circle when I realized that your roots have been systematized with marginalization and prejudice throughout the years.
Of course, being part of the second generation, you and I haven’t really experienced the escalation or re-escalation of violence that the generation before us went through, and how the brotherhood between a Muslim and a Christian is being questioned due to the unending biased distinction, negative reframing of stories, and the struggles between the two religions.
In the course of our friendship, I have heard your countless “Muuli ko sa SND“, specifically on Fridays. It was nothing to me, not until I realized how much you gave importance to your space, to your home, and to your family. I wasn’t even sure what SND stands for, which somehow raised a question on my part on whether I really know you, or whether I took our friendship for granted.
Today, I have educated myself, and a part of that was the reemergence of the memories we had relished during our senior year of high school, which all persist in my vision. The years I spent being best friends with you felt like an invisible space that separated us, being unable to grasp the real story behind your name. But I think a part of this feeling is because I wasn’t really introduced to the concept of the Bangsamoro and the history of the Muslim people until I got into college.
I have heard that SND or Sultan Naga Dimaporo is a beautiful province in Lanao del Norte. I’m intrigued about the blue beaches, the carnival, and the night market! I hope I had the time to ask you about your hometown before, which may mean that I’d be closer to your home as a non-Moro. In fact, I would love to go there and simply experience the place with my own feet.
I look up to you because of how you value your family and how you truly care about their success in life. I can still remember one time you shared about the livelihood of your parents and how it helped you and your siblings’ education. Your perseverance has always been one of the traits that has kept you going. I hope you still have this today.
Four years ago, after Ramadhan, you brought a Meranaw food called “dodol“, a sweet toffee-like, sugar palm-based confection commonly found in Muslim-dominated areas in Southeast Asia but also common in Mindanao. I wasn’t asking you to get me some, but you gave me one. Please know that I won’t forget that day, as I shared it happily with my family. It even became my favorite!
Brother, although it has been years since our last in-person contact, I made sure that your history is clearer to me now. Our difference is not really a difference; for me, we have always been one; we have similar interests, hobbies, and perceptions, and sometimes we envision the same ideals.
Your bloodline has fought for centuries, and today, I am with you to keep and protect your honor.
I am proud that you are my best friend, and I hope more friendships like this will be born.