(Delivered at the “National Solidarity Conference on Palestine and Call for Peace in the Middle East” by Prof. Elin Anisha Guro, CESE, Chancellor 1, Mindanao State University in Marawi City, on 10 April 2026 at the Acacia Hotel in Davao
1936. Heavy footsteps were running here and there in the royal house of the Sultan of Ramain. The five-year-old princess was dying. Her face was crimson red with escalating fever. Her eyes were half-open as if trying to take a
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 16 January) – I am not a plantita. Being a “plantita” or the more “sosyal” name “plaunty” is a new concept. It’s a trend brought about by the pandemic. This trend is aptly known as plantdemic
‘Tis music to my earsThis heavy October downpourAt ten o’clock in the evening.I can hear a tiny stream quickly formingAt the narrow water canalA few inches from my roomThreatening to overflow. How swiftly did the pitter-patter of raindropsBecome heavy rain!On
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 18 August) — Much has been written about the passing on of former Chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)-Reformist group and former Secretary of the then Office of Muslim Affairs, Dimas Pundato. He was
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 26 April) — It is Ramadhan. That should have been an exclamation point as exciting an announcement as when my daughters and their cousins were grade schoolers and would gleefully shout “Piyagbangaaaan!” every time they hear
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 07 October) — Enthronements in Lanao del Sur can be a mixture of celebration, jubilation, social cohesion, or controversy. However, most often, it is a genuinely joyous occasion where clans, relatives and their affines not only
Three young Meranaw females — all making their fathers extremely proud this Father’s Day. Meranaws are slow to adopt changes, considering almost anything new with suspicion and deem them contrary to their beliefs and religion. But there is no stopping
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 24 December) — Seeing the destruction of many parts of Lanao del Sur brought about by the tropical cyclone Vinta is heart-rending. We grew up never preparing for typhoons because it never happened to us in Lanao
August 22, 2017. A date to remember. It was the day that the students of Mindanao State University (MSU) Marawi City finally trooped to the still besieged city to reclaim their institution and asserted that war does not stop
To Whom It May Concern: Suggestions for the rehabilitation of Marawi. 1) Signages. At least three languages to be more inclusive. a) English for those learned in secular education and for general consumption. b) Arabic. For those in the madrasah.
(This poem written on 17 October 2017 is in Meranaw and English). Inged aken a Pilombayan Miyaka maradika ka kon. Anda ka miyaka maradika? Antawa-a bes i titho kiyatimpoan? Na antawa-a mambo i miyabaloy saya A mga timpo a dato?
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 19 Sept) — Sharing with you what I wrote about my Carmelite Mothers few years ago, in happy recognition of Father Chito’s “rescue, release, escape” and whatever it is called or will be called in the future.
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 14 Sept) — We are at war. We make our own choices. The small things we do can get amplified. If you are powerful, what seems to be a perfectly practical thing to do can have an
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 04 September) — My two daughters, Schaharazhed and Rojan, spent the best years of their lives as students of Werribee Secondary College here in Melbourne, Australia. But it was initially a struggle of belonging and acceptance in
One of the legends about Sarimanok has it that a heavenly being fell in love with Sari, the beautiful daughter of the Sultan. He turned into a beautiful rooster to attract the princess and then took her away with him,
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 22 August) — I am extremely thankful, relieved, and privileged to have been a significant part of a historic event where Mindanao State University (MSU) students put their lives on the line, not because MSU is their
MELBOURNE (MindaNews / 18 August) — Seeing students of Mindanao State University (MSU) sleeping on the floor and covering their windows with bed foams to protect them from stray bullets reminds me of my childhood in the now vanished and
ELIN ANISHA GURO’s note: I wrote the English part below in Melbourne, Australia while watching a video of Marawi City burning on June 5, 2017. The Meranaw translation is from a Meranaw scholar and professor of ethnomusicology who pioneered the
