BULUAN, Maguindanao—Age did not really matter to two 80-year-old Ilonggo bikers who joined Maguindanao’s mountain-bike challenge, as part of the province’s foundation anniversary which kicked off last February 7 here.
Agustin Posas Sr. and Jose Nusillas, born on August 28, 1935, and October 8, 1935, respectively, believed that as long as one is alive, they could bike and contribute to any noble cause.
Joining the “Sagayan Festival of Maguindanao,” this year’s celebration of its foundation anniversary, the two mountain bikers declared they have been advocating for Muslim-Christian solidarity, joining bike-for-peace activities in southern Mindanao.
Posas is a resident of Tampakan, South Cotabato, while Nusillas is from Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat province, two towns where Muslims and Christians have been living harmoniously.
“I would like to dedicate the remaining days of my life to peace advocacy through mountain biking,” Posas said.
Nusillas said Maguindanao is a peaceful province contrary to how it has been pictured.
“If our security is unsure here we would not have come to join the Sagayan Festival,” he said. The bike challenge is one of the highlights of Sagayan Festival and meant to bring together Muslim, Christian and Indigenous Peoples bikers from southern Mindanao to promote peace.
Both Posas and Nusillas said they witnessed firsthand the brutality of war in the 1970s when Muslim and Christians were pitted against each other by powerful personalities.
“I still love to see genuine peace to reign in our land,” Nusillas said, adding that he does not want the return of armed conflict when, in the 1970s in his hometown in Lutayan, he had to haul his family off to safer grounds when shooting war started.
Armed conflict, he said, will not bring any good to most of the people, especially the poor like him. Nusillas is a farmer. The bike challenge was participated in by about 800 bikers, including soldiers led by Lt. Col. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, police, students and government employees.