BATANG MINDANAW: What I saw inside the MILF camp

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 December) — If they desire to keep you, they could hold you captive for years, forcing you to live by their rules or you’ll never find your way out alive. 

These were the thoughts running wild in my head when it was announced that part of the “Inside BARMM” journey of the Media Impact Project was a visit to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao del Norte. 

I had never been to war nor experienced its weight firsthand. I had never stood in the chaos of riots or even crossed paths with gangs. My imagination grew restless, and fear took hold. To set foot on MILF territory — a place long associated with violence — was an idea almost too difficult to grasp. Yet it became my reality.

At noon on Thursday, November 20, 2024, I, along with media colleagues from across the Visayas region, crossed the gates of the MILF camp. We sat inside the vans moving in convoy, four vehicles in all. An eerie silence lingered, broken only by the radio chatter echoing inside the van, asking if we were able to follow through the entrance.

As we passed the gates, Froilan Gallardo — a veteran journalist who has covered the major wars here in Mindanao — spoke again through the radio. He described that the uniformed men we saw at the checkpoint, holding armalites, were members of the MILF. Upon hearing those words, my knees weakened. My eyes felt like they were about to pop. Inside me, my heart and mind raged in their own war. I tried to compose myself, showing no trace of fear—yet deep inside, I was screaming.

We continued toward our destination. From my window seat, what unfolded before me was the complete opposite of what I had imagined. I caught glimpses of life inside: children running at the corners, playing with one another; women standing beside the fruits and vegetables they sold; men moving their motor-vehicles aside as our convoy passed through the village. Yes, you read that right—a village. That was the first word that struck me as I watched ordinary people in ordinary clothes moving freely about, living in houses within the camp I had never expected to witness.

When we had the chance to roam around, I realized that the place I had once dreaded to enter no longer frightened me. I didn’t bother to think twice. I stepped out of the van and engaged with the locals. I tried to communicate with the women. Although we struggled to understand each other’s language, it didn’t stop us from sharing a brief conversation. For a moment, in their shoes, I felt a sense of ease.

Along the streets, small businesses thrived. When we returned on January 22, 2025 for the Inside BARMM for Luzon journalists, a journalist from Ilocos Norte even dared get a haircut from a local barber—who, as it turned out, was also the shop owner.

Life there was simple yet real—centered on survival and day-to-day living, no different from ours. Children, curious at first, eventually broke into wide smiles. 

Later, I realized their warmth had invalidated all the prejudices I had brought with me. What I saw was a community—a community of families, women, and children living ordinary lives. It was nothing like the hostile environment I had once pictured in my mind, but rather a breathing community.

This was one of the many proofs of the camp’s transformation, a product of the peace process. Now, as part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, they desire nothing more than to bring peace and development to the region.

(Batang Mindanaw is the youth section of MindaNews. Hazel Ardepolla is Administrative Officer of the Media Impact Philippines project of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism and the International Media Support. Part of the project is ‘Inside BARMM’ for journalists from the Visayas in November 2024, Luzon in January 2025 and Mindanao in March 2025. The journalists were given a preview of life in the BARMM through meetings with Bangsamoro leaders and community members and visits to the Bangsamoro Government Center, the Parliament, the Bangsamoro Museum, the military and the MILF’s Camp Darapanan, among others).