i was touched by the life of father bert layson

father bert layson is a humble, simple parish priest in pikit, cotabato. he has an international reputation for peacebuilding between christians and muslims—a result of his ministry in the context of four wars in six years. he received us in his convent just like any young man—in his shorts and t-shirt. he’s a jolly person. i sensed the presence of isa al-masih in him. he emanates the compassion of christ.

but he did not start his ministry as a peacebuilder. at the beginning of our dialogue, he confessed: “i hated the muslims because they killed father ben.” he was referring to his mentor, father benjamin de jesus, who was the bishop of jolo. father ben was murdered in front of his church building. “it was a very traumatic experience for a young priest like me,” father bert expressed. “he was my spiritual father. for 9 years, i grew a lot under his ministry leadership.”

to give time for his healing process, father bert was moved from jolo to pikit, south cotabato—a place which was relatively peaceful.

then the milf-grp war broke out. pikit was one of the major centers of battle. more than 40,000 people were displaced from both the muslim and christian communities. father bert organized his parish to help both muslim and christian families who were displaced by war. he also sought the help of muslim religious leaders to form muslim-christian teams assisting the families. many of father bert’s experiences were documented by other government and non-government organizations. lessons learned from pikit are being used as part of training materials in peacebuilding.

father bert made it clear to us about his role in pikit: “i was a reluctant servant of god who offered the compassion of christ to all the people of pikit—whether they are christians or muslims. what's happening here is beyond me.”