28/05/2026
FROM INHERITANCE TO EMERGENCE: DIALOGUES ON MERANAW IDENTITY AND LEADERSHIP TODAY OPENS REFLECTIVE SPACE FOR YOUTH AND COMMUNITY DISCOURSE
MARAWI CITY โ The Mindanao State University Meranaw Cultural Heritage Center, under the leadership of ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง ๐. ๐. ๐๐๐ ๐จ, ๐๐๐ and through the stewardship of ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐. ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐จ, formally launched the pilot session of โ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐
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๐๐,โ a continuing dialogue series that seeks to examine how Meranaw identity and leadership are understood, practiced, remembered, and reimagined by the present generation amid rapidly changing social realities.
The program gathered scholars, cultural workers, youth leaders, professionals, media practitioners, students, and members of the community in a reflective and intergenerational discussion that explored the relationship between inherited traditions and the contemporary realities shaping Meranaw society today.
In her welcome and start of the dialogue, Ms. Ayesha Merdeka M. Alonto, Head of the MSU Meranaw Cultural Heritage Center and Meranaw Cluster Head of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts SCCTA, emphasized the importance of creating spaces where conversations on identity, responsibility, memory, and leadership may be approached thoughtfully, critically, and collectively.
Her dialogue, titled โFrom Inheritance to Emergence: Why This Dialogue Matters Today,โ introduced the rationale and direction of the continuing series, framing Meranaw leadership not as a fixed concept confined to the past, but as an evolving discourse shaped by memory, lived realities, emerging challenges, and the aspirations of the present generation.
The dialogue highlighted that questions of leadership today are no longer confined only to formal titles or traditional authority structures, but are increasingly expressed through education, cultural work, public service, scholarship, advocacy, community engagement, digital participation, and everyday involvement in social life. The series likewise emphasized that younger Meranaws are not merely inheritors of leadership discourse, but active participants in shaping its future meanings.
Serving as facilitator for the dialogues was Walid โHadji Jehadโ Z. Pangcoga, Cultural and Heritage Advocate and former Diamla sa Tugaya, who guided the discussions and interactive reflections throughout the session.
The second dialogue featured Sittie Aisha โBaiconโ Cayongcat Nuska, Commissioner of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, who delivered a lecture titled โMeranaw Traditional Leadership: Memory, Values, and Social Responsibility.โ
Her discussion revisited traditional Meranaw concepts of leadership and reflected on values historically associated with leadership, including honor, wisdom, responsibility, igma, and taritib. The dialogue encouraged participants to reflect on how these values continue to shape present understandings of legitimacy, communal responsibility, and leadership within Meranaw society today.
The third dialogue was opened by Dr. Tirmizy Abdullah, Professor from the History Department of Mindanao State University, through his discourse on โLeadership, Resistance, and Self-Governance: Meranaws During the Spanish Period.โ
Dr. Abdullah discussed how Meranaw communities maintained self-governance, defended their social order, and navigated external threats during the Spanish colonial period while preserving their political and cultural autonomy. His lecture situated historical leadership not merely as resistance, but as an expression of communal responsibility, negotiation, continuity, and resilience within changing historical conditions.
An interactive dialogue and open floor discussion followed, allowing participants and speakers to exchange reflections on inherited understandings of leadership, present realities among Meranaw youth, and emerging forms of leadership in contemporary society. The dialogue was also joined by members of the Ranaw Vloggers led by their President, Mr. Sahruddin Panoro T. Maruhom, together with Alip TV Vlog, Starlady, and other content creator, reflecting the growing role of digital spaces in shaping public discourse and community engagement among the younger generation.
The program also featured a cultural interlude through the theater presentation โPilandok: A Story of Leadership Transformationโ by the MSU Sining Kambayoka Ensemble. The presentation was itself part of the dialogue series as it reflected the journey of a Meranaw folk character on leadership through challenges, wisdom, transformation, and responsibility.
The story of Pilandok resonated deeply with the audience as it portrayed a wise individual who eventually became a leader, yet later chose to step away from authority, not out of rejection of leadership itself, but from an awareness of the weight and accountability that leadership carries. The performance opened reflections among participants on the deeper meaning of leadership and responsibility in both Meranaw society and Islamic understanding.
In Islam, leadership is regarded as an amanah (trust) and a haq (duty) that carries obligations toward the people, emphasizing that leadership is not merely a position of honor, but a responsibility that must be fulfilled with justice, sincerity, and service.
The event concluded with a synthesis and closing reflection delivered by Ms. Alonto titled โWhat Do We Carry Forward?โ emphasizing that the dialogue series is not intended to arrive at a final or singular definition of Meranaw leadership, but rather to sustain continuing conversations between memory and change, continuity and transformation, inherited structures and present realities.
The series ultimately hopes to encourage greater awareness, responsibility, reflection, and engagement among the younger generation while contributing to a more grounded and evolving understanding of Meranaw identity and leadership in the present time.
Organizers also shared that the dialogue will continue through succeeding sessions that will further explore the leadership of the past, present, and future, examining what continues to endure, what has transformed, and what new forms of leadership are emerging among Meranaws today.
