Women’s peace coursework at MSU-Maguindanao in full swing

May 3, 2026 | 2:55pm

COTABATO CITY — Peace advocates and entities involved in women’s empowerment programs want the 12-month academic coursework at Mindanao State University–Maguindanao replicated in other state-run schools in Region 12.

The MSU-Maguindanao campus is located in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte and operates under the auspices of the main Mindanao State University in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. Maguindanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur are two of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Ranking education officials in BARMM and Administrative Region 12 told reporters on Saturday, May 2, that MSU-Maguindanao’s Diploma in Women, Peace and Security (DWPS) postgraduate program is the first of its kind in Asia, aiming to maximize women’s participation in peace and security efforts in local communities.

MSU-Maguindanao Chancellor Bai Hejira Nefertiti Sinsuat Macalandong Limbona, along with her faculty, is overseeing the DWPS postgraduate program, which was launched in August 2024 and first conceptualized through extensive studies in 2021.

The program has produced 31 graduates since its inception two years ago, according to MSU-Maguindanao officials. It currently has 35 students and remains open to prospective applicants.

Information materials obtained from MSU-Maguindanao indicate that the DWPS aligns with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls on nations to involve women in the resolution of armed conflicts, peace negotiations, post-conflict humanitarian efforts, and the promotion of peace and security.

Two provincial governors in Region 12, Reynaldo Sucayan Tamayo Jr. of South Cotabato and Emmylou Taliño Mendoza of Cotabato, separately said on Saturday that they will recommend to the central office of the Department of Education the replication of MSU-Maguindanao’s DWPS program in state-run universities in their provinces.

“That would be good for the professional women in our province, which has areas where there are current peace processes between the government and the Moro communities and where our local government units, the police and the military are together ushering back to the local communities former members of the New People’s Army who had pledged allegiance to the government in recent years,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza is the chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, which covers four provinces and four cities in Region 12.

Tamayo, the presiding chair of the inter-agency and multi-sector Regional Peace and Order Council 12, said they can pass a council resolution urging the central office of the Department of Education (DepEd) to study the viability of expanding or adapting the DWPS program in government schools in South Cotabato and its capital, Koronadal City.

“That something that we want available too for our women in the province,” Tamayo said.