MARAWI, Philippines, 7 December 2007 — Former Lanao del Sur Gov. Mahid M. Mutilan, the grand mufti of Muslims in the Philippines, died yesterday in a car accident.
Officials said Mutilan was being driven on board a car to Cagayan de Oro City when his driver lost control of the vehicle along the highway in the town of Gitagum in Misamis Oriental province.
Reports said Mutilan was trying to catch a Manila-bound flight to see his wife, who was scheduled to leave for Makkah to perform Haj.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, presidential assistant on the peace process, said Mutilan’s death was a big loss for Muslims and Christians alike.
“Mindanao has lost a significant figure in peace and development works,” said Dureza, who accompanied the Muslim leader’s body by helicopter to Marawi.
Mutilan was the convener of the Bishops-Ulama Conference, a group of religious leaders aggressively pushing for peace and development in war-torn areas of Mindanao.
He was also former vice governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
He was in the thick of preparations for the caravan being organized by the Ulama League of the Philippines and Markaz Al-Shabab Al-Muslimeen bil Filibben, being chairman of the Mindanao Week of Peace (MWP).
He was buried yesterday in Marawi, his hometown, with thousands of friends, relatives and supporters, as well as representatives of the Ulema group, local and national officials attending.
Also present were Sultan Topaan Disomimba, chairman of the 16 Royal Houses of Lanao; the Rev. Edwin De la Peña, bishop prelature of Marawi; Mindanao State University President Ricardo F. de Leon, and several police and military officials.
Mutilan’s sudden demise shocked not just the Muslims in the Philippines but also Christian bishops who have been partners of the Ulema in pushing for peace in Mindanao.
Known as a peace advocate and a moderate in his teachings, Mutilan was the first ever member of the Ulema to be elected to a public office in the Philippines.
After completing his doctorate in theology from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, he was assigned as a missionary to Japan, where he stayed for 11 years.
Returning to his homeland, he founded the first Ulema political party called OMPIA or reform, and was later elected mayor of Marawi by a landslide vote.
He recently joined forces with other Ulema groups in the Philippines, notably the Markaz Al-Shabab Al-Muslimeen bil Filibben, led by Alim Ameruddin Sarangani.
In his last act as a peace advocate, he was the key speaker on Wednesday at a gathering in Marawi on Mindanao peace, during which he talked about the responsibility of the Ulema and leaders in building and preserving peace and emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and calls for peace. (With a report from Inquirer News Service)
