Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo said lasting peace in Mindanao grew out of friendships between Christians and Muslims, arguing that reconciliation begins in everyday encounters long before it reaches negotiating tables.
The retired archbishop of Cotabato shared the reflection after receiving the 2026 Bishop Julio X. Labayen Memorial Award from the Metro Infanta Foundation, which recognized his decades of ministry and commitment to peace and justice in southern Philippines.
Quevedo said the Church of the Poor shaped much of his ministry in Mindanao. He recalled how the vision adopted by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines in 1991 and championed by the late Bishop Julio X. Labayen guided his work among poor communities, Indigenous Peoples and Muslims.
“It was a vision that would concretize the uniquely Christian preferential option for the poor,” he said.
The cardinal said that vision led him to organize Basic Ecclesial Communities and support initiatives that enabled poor communities to participate more actively in the life and mission of the Church.
His ministry later brought him into regions where Christians and Muslims lived side by side, particularly in Cotabato and neighboring provinces within what is now the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“There is, therefore, not surprising that Muslims and Christians daily meet in the streets, in offices, shops and markets, in schools, in a dialogue called technically a dialogue of life,” he said.
Quevedo said peacebuilding often begins with simple encounters that allow people of different faiths to know one another, share their experiences and build trust.
“That is how friendship develops,” he said, recalling conversations among Muslim and Christian students who shared stories and learned from one another.
Those relationships, he said, can gradually overcome suspicion and hostility.
“Friendships developed between teacher and students, and that is how for peace and reconciliation takes place a process that moves from doubt uncertainty or even hostility to reconciliation and peace even to genuine friendship,” he said.
Quevedo also reflected on his involvement in efforts that supported peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, recalling a time when he saw a roadside display describing him as a “man of peace.”
While political agreements are important, Quevedo said genuine peace ultimately begins within people and communities.
“Genuine peace is from the heart,” he said.
