Dr. Arlyn Jawad Jumao-as: Doc at forefront of healing wounds of war in Basilan
As a young doctor in Basilan, Arlyn Jawad Jumao-as came face-to-face with the grim consequences of violence through the patients she had to attend to in her clinic in Lamitan City.
Children as young as 2 years old were brought to her, suffering from wounds sustained from gunfire or explosives.
Most of them were caught in the crossfire between government troops and Moro rebels and bandits and criminals, or in the indiscriminate offensives of terrorist groups. Some failed to survive their serious injuries, while those who did suffered long-term disabilities and had lifelong psychological scars.
Jumao-as, now 58, is not a stranger to the sordid outcome of violence and conflict. Born and raised in the rubber-growing village of Santa Clara in Lamitan, Jumao-as lost her father to a landmine planted by Moro rebels.
This perhaps fueled what would become her life’s other significant pursuit aside from the practice of medicine—saving children from the dire effects of war and violence.
“My heart bleeds every time I see innocent, hapless kids fighting for life, bleeding to death, or when I see [Muslim] religious leaders cleaning up mangled bodies [for burial],” Jumao-as told the Inquirer in a 2017 interview.
That time, Jumao-as was unsettled by the trend of children being injured in the course of violent incidents, especially warfare.
Apart from being employed as combatants, children were also exposed to the dangers of war materiel in their midst, with many of them becoming victims of roadside blasts.
Ending suffering
Her desire to put an end to the suffering of children exposed to violence pushed Jumao-as to advocate for a vision of peace among Basilan communities through the Save the Children of War (Mindanao) Inc., which she organized in 2014 for humanitarian work.
The group believed that only through an end to decades-old conflicts could children be spared from violence and be able to achieve their full potential as human beings. The group also noted that persisting conflicts had left many far-flung communities deprived of social services.
But with support from different benefactors, Jumao-as was not only able to lead medical missions to these remote villages, but also to rally people toward a shared desire for a community free of violence and provide a safe haven for children.
In a land torn by war and conflict, the group preached harmony and understanding through its annual Children’s Festival of Love and Peace that began in 2014.
In time, Jumao-as and her group gained the trust of communities and her advocacy gained traction even among Abu Sayyaf members, all of them calling her “Mama Doc.”
In 2016, Jumao-as celebrated the decision of over two dozen boys, the youngest of them 8 years old, to turn their backs on banditry and terrorism. Along with the leadership of the then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Jumao-as also gladly welcomed the resolve of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), then in the thick of peace negotiations with the government, to finally implement a commitment to disengage children from its fighting units.
Since the group’s interventions in remote areas, and with the help of a network of women supporters, casualties among children have dropped, some child soldiers have returned to school, and kids are no longer afraid to see soldiers in uniform or helicopters hovering in their communities.
Children’s needs
To sustain the children’s path to a peaceful life, Jumao-as’ group also helped them pursue education, providing school supplies and supporting the livelihoods of families so their income could help fund the education needs of their children. Through her network of benefactors, Jumao-as even helped send the community’s youth to college.
As the security situation in Basilan improved with the drive against terrorism and banditry gaining ground, and the ceasefire with Moro rebels minimizing the armed tension with the military, Save the Children of War advocated for more child-friendly spending by local governments, such as for playgrounds, plazas and other open spaces where children could converge and interact. Or, as Jumao-as put it, “Spaces where children can be children.”
Jumao-as hopes their collective effort can make a dent in reversing the locals’ fixation with guns and other instruments of violence, mirrored in the continuing preference of children in local communities for toy guns.
Save the Children of War has a long-running program of exchanging toy guns with bicycles to help steer children away from living with and loving weapons of violence.
For her work in fostering social healing among the people of Basilan and helping children and youth aspire for a brighter future, Jumao-as was conferred the Outstanding Alumna award in 2024 by the University of the Visayas Gullas College of Medicine, where she earned her degree in medicine.
