A featured story on Normalization: Changing Lives
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COTABATO CITY (via OPAPRU) — At the Sultan Kudarat Islamic Academy, 21-year-old Zariah Abas settles into her English education classes, textbooks spread before her. Behind every page is a story of transformation that began in the conflict zones of Maguindanao and is now unfolding in the lecture halls of Mindanao.
The gift of hope
Zariah carries with her an unusual inheritance: the dividends of peace.
Unlike most students from her community, Zariah is able to pursue her studies without worrying about tuition and other school fees. This is thanks to the educational assistance that she is receiving from the national government.
As a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Zariah’s father fought in the trenches “to pursue fighting for our peace, for Islamic peace, and for our personal rights and identity as Muslims.” Today, his daughter carries textbooks, supported by the very peace agreement that transformed him from a fierce combatant to a peaceful and productive civilian.
As part of the peace agreement between the government and the MILF, former combatants who opted to pursue the path of peace shall receive a package of support from the government. This includes the Educational Assistance Program (EAP), which provides P50,000 per year for up to four years to decommissioned MILF combatants or their dependents.
Zariah is one of the more than 3,000 children of decommissioned MILF combatants who are now benefitting from the program.
No one left behind
The EAP is designed to ensure that “no one shall be left behind” in the continuing journey of former combatants and their families towards a genuine and long-lasting peace. The Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities (TFDCC) processes applications using a stringent validation process involving the Government of the Philippines, MILF representatives, and the Mindanao State University (MSU).
Aside from the current 3,000 student-grantees, the program plans to support an additional 6,000 students by 2026. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) has committed Php420 million from 2021 to 2025 for this program.
Last August 6, 2025, 404 student-recipients lined up in Cotabato City to receive their educational assistance checks — their tickets to a brighter future.
Zariah learned about the program from her father and also from the TFDCC announcement page, which is a life-changing event for her and her family.
Education as a ‘weapon’
“Education is a powerful tool in achieving peace,” Zariah declares with the conviction of someone who has seen the impact of war. Her words echo the broader transformation taking place across the Bangsamoro region, where education has become the “new weapon of defense.”
Zariah’s experience marks a remarkable shift for the offspring of once grizzled warriors. The EAP’s vision is to produce “at least one professional from every family of decommissioned combatants,” which is a recognition that genuine peace and sustainable development can be achieved by creating economic opportunities.
Zariah speaks of education opening “our minds and giving us the skills to improve our community,” making her a symbol of the theory of change that underpins the entire Normalization Program: that knowledge can break the cycle of conflict and violence.
As an education student, Zariah plans to share with others how her life has turned around after securing the scholarship. Her goal is to “graduate and to serve [my] community, inshallah, using my knowledge and what I have learned to give the community or to the youth for a better future.”
The definition of peace
But behind Zariah’s dreams is a daughter’s love for her family. When she defines peace, she does not invoke grand political settlements or policy statements. Instead, she offers something more personal: “Peace for me is to build my or my parents a good life and to replace or repay all of their sacrifices during my studies.”
This definition captures something that is often lost in academic discussions of post-conflict development — that peace, ultimately, is measured not in the treaties signed or weapons decommissioned, but in the quiet moments when parents see their children achieve what they themselves never could.
Zariah’s dream is beautifully modest and profoundly revolutionary: “My dream, once I complete my degree…I want my family to live out of poverty since I am coming from a [big] family…to feel and experience a good life or a better life.”
As the Mindanao State University (MSU), the implementing partner of the Educational Assistance Program, continues to attend to the needs of the student-grantees, Zariah offers a message of hope to other potential beneficiaries: “Do not hesitate to apply for this program because it will help us change our lives.”
Transformation through education
Zariah’s story unfolds against the backdrop of a region that lived in the shadow of a decades-long armed conflict into “conditions where communities can achieve their desired quality of life.” The Normalization Program seeks to restore not just peace and security, but also dignity and stability in the Bangsamoro.
As the Government Peace Implementing Panel Chair, Cesar Yano notes, “Educational Assistance Programs are essential for our youth to succeed.” But success, in this context, means more than individual advancement. It means transforming entire communities, one graduate at a time, from conflict zones into centers of learning, growth, and progress.
Standing at the intersection of boundless possibilities, Zariah Abas embodies both the promise and the proof of peace. She plans to use her education to touch other young lives in Sultan Kudarat and beyond. In this quiet revolution of the classroom, the children of former combatants are becoming the teachers, doctors, engineers, and leaders their parents once fought to make possible.
Truly, the most profound victories are often measured not in battles won, but in minds opened, futures secured, and promises kept to the next generation. (/)