A Woman Attorney General for the Bangsamoro

She’s part of the new face of leadership in her long-troubled homeland of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Attorney General Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba sits down with InAsia to talk about the past, the future, and her vision for the Bangsamoro.
Read more about her story: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/09/16/podcast-a-woman-attorney-general-for-the-bangsamoro/

Transcript

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (00:00):

It's such a wonderful feeling that people believe in you and they feel that you have a leader in you. It's a big feat for a leading lawyer like myself.

John Rieger (00:10):

The lady lawyer is an old friend, who's part of the new face of long troubled Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba joins us today on InAsia, from the Asia Foundation. I'm John Rieger.

Tracie Yang (00:23):

And I'm Tracie Yang. As a young Filipino lawyer, she was already climbing the ladder in New York when she felt called to return to her Homeland in the Southern Philippines to work for peace. There, she helped draft the landmark law that created the BARM, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

John Rieger (00:40):

We got to know her in 2015 when she spent a year as an Asia Foundation development fellow. But since 2019, she's had a new job.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (00:49):

The Attorney General of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in Southern Philippines.

Tracie Yang (00:54):

We have the pleasure of her virtual presence today from her home in Cotabato City in central Mindanao. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, welcome to InAsia.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (01:03):

Thank you. It's a pleasure.

Tracie Yang (01:05):

As a young lawyer, you had other opportunities to pursue your career, and yet you chose Mindanao over New York city. What happened?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (01:15):

People will always tell me that you were already in New York. Why did you have to come home? I felt that it was my calling. For some reason, God put me in a situation where I had the chance to really serve Bangsamoro people. And at that point I never hesitated. Even when I had the opportunity to stay in the US, I still went back and chose to go back to my roots.

John Rieger (01:43):

So what's it like to be a woman Attorney General in a conservative Muslim society?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (01:49):

I would say it's something new. But I've always been there. I was appointed in 2019, but before that, I was already immersed in the peace process. When they were crafting and drafting the organic law, I served as legal consultant to the peace panel. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panel. And I also served as a Bangsamoro Transition Commission Secretariat. So for the longest time, people have been seeing me giving talks and orientation about the law. So I think the familiarity also helped.

John Rieger (02:25):

So it sounds like you were a young firebrand.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (02:31):

Well maybe, yes. Actually, I've gotten a lot of support from my appointment last year and it's such a wonderful feeling that people believe in you and they feel that you have a leader in you. So it's very encouraging and inspiring.

Speaker 3 (02:50):

So Elijah, what was it like for you growing up amid the conflict in Mindanao?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (02:55):

Growing up in Mindanao in a conflict zone, I remember spending most of my time at home, because first, going out was not safe. At the time, kidnapping for ransom was a big scare in the city. Second, obviously for lack of peace and order, there was also under development. There was really no where to go, no malls, no parks. So we had to be creative with how we spent our free time. But that also pushed us to look for better options, to dream bigger and to demand change. I remember my video submission when I applied to the Asia Foundation Development Fellows Program for 2015, I mentioned there that I've had the fortune, the good fortune, of being born to a family that values education. And so that meant having the opportunity of going to a good university for a college degree and eventually law school. But that really meant pursuing education for a purpose. And it came like an epiphany that I was called to assist in the peace process upon going back to my roots in Bangsamoro.

John Rieger (03:58):

So where does Mindanao's long struggle fit in the ongoing story of the Philippines?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (04:05):

Well, it's very interesting. This peace process has been going on for decades. And I mean about 40 years. The roots of the Bangsamoro struggle isn't actually about religion. The root of the Bangsamoro struggle, really, it's about the right to self determination. Four out of the five poorest regions in the Philippines are in Mindanao. More than 50% of the people in Mindanao live in poverty. The peace process in Mindanao is fundamental to the progress and development of the Philippines as a country. Nobody can be left behind. And Mindanao can not be left behind.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (04:48):

Mindanao is the food basket of the Philippines. And if we don't have peace and order here, it's going to affect the entire country. If there is peace and order in Mindanao, then development and progress will really spread all over the country. It's sad that Mindanao has the poorest regions in the country, and we hope that by having a peace process that really works and that is successful, that it's going to really have a genuine and lasting peace, not only in Mindanao, but also in the Philippines.

Tracie Yang (05:22):

What's your agenda for Mindanao? What does your Homeland need from you?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (05:26):

I wouldn't want to compare the work of the Attorney General from before and today in the BARM, but I'm taking a more active role in terms of pushing the women's agenda, the legislative agenda for the government of today, because we shifted from a Unitarian form of government into a parliamentary form of government. So being a lady lawyer and an Attorney General, it puts me in a position where I can serve as a bridge, I would say, between the traditional Muslim people and the young professional ideal ones, as I bring the common message across.

John Rieger (06:08):

So the-

Speaker 3 (06:11):

[inaudible 00:06:11].

John Rieger (06:11):

Whoa.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (06:14):

Sorry. Sorry. That's my son. I was going to bring him to the dentist today but...

Tracie Yang (06:18):

Aw, oh. Is that your only [inaudible 00:06:23]?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (06:22):

No.

Tracie Yang (06:22):

Okay.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (06:24):

I have two. My eldest is eight and you wouldn't believe it, but my youngest is a year old, so there's a seven year gap, mainly because I was juggling between career and family.

Tracie Yang (06:36):

So, Elijah, do you think women like you have a special role to play in the peace process?

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (06:42):

Yes. I think women humanizes the process. It softens the hearts of the people and I can not just overemphasize the power of a woman's patience. With women around there seems to be a looming obligation to get things done in recognition of the multiple roles that women fulfill, even outside of the peace tables. So some of the key lessons that we get from women's participation in the peace process is that women's opinions and views are as valuable as any other's. And women uplift and empower fellow women when it matters. And women's participation in formal processes ensures a balanced, more acceptable, credible and long lasting peace.

Tracie Yang (07:32):

Some Attorney General, Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba (07:37):

Thank you so much. It's my first time to be talking in a podcast. So I hope I did not disappoint, guys.

John Rieger (07:46):

And that's all for this edition of InAsia. You can find our previous shows, all of them excellent, by visiting the InAsia blog or your preferred podcast provider. Until next time. I'm John Rieger.

Tracie Yang (07:58):

And I'm Tracie Yang.

John Rieger (07:59):

Thanks for listening.