DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 July 2026) – “The overarching motivation for my work has been the Common Word both found in the Qur’an and in the Christian Scriptures: Love God and love your neighbor,” Mindanao’s lone Cardinal, Orlando B. Quevedo, said in accepting the inaugural Harmony in Diversity Award in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.

The 87-year old Quevedo recalled that the story of his own work in “harmonizing diverse cultural and religious groups” began in the early 1970s, when he was appointed President of the Notre Dame University (NDU) in Cotabato City at the age of 31. 

NDU is a Catholic university in predominantly Muslim Cotabato City, the seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). 

“At Notre Dame University, I decided to start harmonizing cultural and religious diversities by establishing a program of attitudinal change for faculty and students. The purpose was to eliminate or at least significantly reduce mutual biases and prejudices among Christian, Muslim, and members of Indigenous Peoples,” he said. 

The university began conducting seminars and workshops for attitudinal change and its success paved the way for other Catholic educational institutions in Mindanao to set up their own, he said. It also led to his being named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines in 1973. 

Quevedo shared with the audience that many of the older commanders of the Moro revolutionary forces graduated from the NDU. 

The Chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front studied Engineering for four years at NDU, he said, referring to Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, who served as BARMM’s interim Chief Minister from February 2019 to March 2025. 

Some officials of the Bangsamoro Parliament were his students in NDU in the late 1960’s.

“Former Governor Bai Nariman Ambolodto, who is present here today, studied at Notre Dame University. So did her husband, Atty. Suharto Ambolodto. It was Atty. Ambolodto and his fellow members of the Bangsamoro Parliament who had nominated me for this award,” the Cardinal said. 

He expressed his gratitude to Temasek Foundation and the 5P Global Movement for the award. 

“Know that I consider my work for Harmony in Diversity as a continuing mission from the Almighty, Most Merciful and Most Beneficent God,” he said. 

“More than 70 nominations from across the region” 

The Harmony in Diversity Award was launched on August 1, 2025 as a regional initiative to promote understanding and awareness of harmony initiatives, amplify the impact of fostering harmony in the communities in Southeast Asia and build a network of Harmony champions. 

Temasek Foundation in collaboration with the 5P Global Movement established the award to honor individuals who have demonstrated “outstanding efforts to foster social cohesion and harmony between people of different cultures in Southeast Asia.”

According to its press release, the organizers  received “more than 70 nominations from across the region” for the inaugural award but Quevedo was selected “for his lifelong commitment to peacebuilding, interfaith understanding and reconciliation, particularly through his sustained engagement in Mindanao over several decades.”

The judges noted his leadership in bridging communities across religious and social divides as well as his enduring contribution to advancing recognition and dignity for affected communities.

Harmony across lines of faith

In her June 23 letter to Quevedo, Halimah Yacob, Patron of the Harmony in Diversity Award, said the judges were “moved by the nomination from the Bangsamoro Transition Authority which outlined your efforts to build harmony across lines of faith to achieve peace in Mindanao.”

Yacob served as Singapore’s first female Speaker of Parliament from 2013 to 2017 and first female President from 2017 to 2023.  She is now Chancellor of the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Yacob posted on her social media page late Wednesday night that she congratulated Quevedo  at the award rites for his “lifelong commitment to fostering dialogue and understanding between communities,” describing it is “an inspiration to many.”

“His journey reminds us that harmony begins when we choose to see our shared humanity over our differences,” she said. 

“At a time when many societies are becoming more divided, today’s conversations reinforced a simple but important truth: harmony is not achieved through words alone. It is nurtured through our everyday choices to reach out, listen and care for one another. May we continue to strengthen these bonds, so that future generations inherit societies that are more compassionate, inclusive and united,” Yacob said. 

The organizers noted that as the first Cardinal from Mindanao, Quevedo is  recognized as “a unifying figure that consistently champions a ‘dialogue of life’ — the everyday encounters between people of different communities — as a foundation for deepening understanding and fostering peace.”

Quevedo, the Award’s website said, has advocated for fairness and the promotion of reconciliation and shared progress as essential to peace and sustainable development, that in 1996, he helped establish the Bishops-Ulama Conference to bring together Catholic bishops, Protestant pastors, and Muslim ulama to create a platform for inter-religious cooperation. “In public spaces, he advocated for enabling peace legislation, including the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), ensuring it clearly recognized and protected the fundamental rights and freedom of worship of all groups,” it said. 

“Moral compass and bridge builder”

In introducing Quevedo at the awards rites, Bai Nariman Ambolodto, former OIC Maguindanao Governor and representative of the Office of Deputy Floor Leader Suharto Ambolodto who nominated the Cardinal, said Quevedo for more than 50 years, has been “a moral compass and bridge builder in Mindanao.

Quevedo, she added, has transcended his role as a Catholic prelate “to become a trusted mediator among Christians, Muslims, and Indigenous Peoples” and that through his Triple Dialogue framework — dialogue with cultures, dialogue with religions, and dialogue with the poor — Quevedo ensured that peace was not only negotiated at the highest levels but lived out in communities. 

She said Quevedo continues to champion inclusivity as a member of the Bangsamoro Council of Leaders, “reminding us that autonomy must be matched by reconciliation.”

His legacy is clear, she said, that peace is not simply the absence of war but “the presence of friendship, trust, and solidarity.”

Judges

The nominations were reviewed by a distinguished panel of regional leaders consisting of  HRH Tunku Tun Aminah, Ms Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, Mayor Joy Belmonte, Mr. Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, and Mr. Ng Boon Heong. 

Aminah is a member of the royal family of Johor in Malaysia, and is Non-Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Berjaya Corporation Berhad; Marsudi is an Indonesian diplomat who formerly served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the first woman appointed to that post, Belmonte is Mayor of Quezon City, Sirivadhanabhakdi is a Thai businessman and Chief Executive Officer of  Frasers Property, a Singapore-based real estate development firm, and Heong is Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Foundation. 

On Thursday, Quevedo will speak at a forum on “Pathways to Peace-Building Bridges through Cross-Cultural Understanding” at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service Asia Pacific in Jakarta.  (Carolyn O. Arguillas /MindaNews)

READ: Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo’s acceptance speech