Muslim Participation in Interfaith Community Development Programs in Barangay Tumana, Marikina City

Migration from the southern Philippines to other national and transnational locations has its peak in the 1970s (Watanabe, 2008). The Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) estimates that over 2 million Muslims now live outside Mindanao since year 2005. Muslims leave their ancestral homeland and establish communities outside Mindanao due to persisting poverty and armed conflicts (Pandya and Laipson, 2009). Muslims are left with no choice but to leave their homes in Mindanao for the sake of attaining peace and finding an end to their poverty. So, despite of the continuing discrimination of non-Muslims to Muslims, the latter took the risk of living in non-Muslim dominated communities, particularly, in Metro Manila.

In line with these issues, the researcher wanted to study Muslim participation in the community which is largely dominated by Christians and how this takes place even there are these cultural
differences and long history of animosity between the two. This study seeks to answer the following questions:

• How did Muslims settle in Barangay Tumana?
• Do Muslims participate in community development programs that also involve non-Muslims?
• What are the factors that motivate and hinder Muslims to cooperate with non-Muslims in community development programs in Barangay Tumana?
• What are the efforts of the LGU in encouraging Muslims to cooperate in community development programs?