The textual mandate of Mindanao State University is a triad — education, research, and extension.

But its mission is not restricted to these goals. The school was conceived and created for a much nobler purpose. The greater vision that impelled its Founding Father, who crafted the law creating the University, was to make it a social laboratory where Muslim and non-Muslim students could study, interact, and share books, rooms, and food under one roof in an atmosphere of brotherhood, love and a better understanding of one another's diverse tribal cultures and creeds.

The propagation of peace and brotherhood was the ultimate dream of the late Senator Domocao Alonto, one of the greatest Filipino statesmen, who sponsored and translated his vision into law.

Senator Alonto was then addressing the problem of disunity, distrust, and enmity that was wracking society because of the perceived discrimination against the Muslim minority, with the non-Muslim majority being favored by the government.

He firmly believed that many of the social problems, especially the fratricide then plaguing Southern Philippines, which gave birth to the secessionist and independence movement led by Datu Udtog Matalam of Cotabato, were due to ignorance and a deficit of knowledge about government policies addressing the so-called Moro problem.

He advanced the idea, and rightly so, that to put out the flame of secession and the social ills would be through education. MSU was the best way for the government to integrate and assimilate the Moro minority into mainstream society.

Having said that, the bombing incident last 3 December was not the first. I recall that there was a similar bombing at MSU in the 1970's, where many died, including native Maranaws. In fact, it triggered the transfer of students to other schools, and it took some time before the university recovered from the tragedy and brought the students back to the Marawi campus.

That incident and other crimes targeting non-Muslims had motivated the then mayor of Iligan City, an ex-officio member of the MSU Board of Regents, to propose a resolution transferring the main campus to Iligan. This writer was then the secretary of the university and the BOR. The move did not succeed because of the vehement opposition of then-regents Omar Dianalan and Elias Lopez.