It is a bright, Saturday morning. A small group of community members start their day by making their way to the barangay hall. They then find themselves sitting around an audio speaker readying to hear about the radio drama they’ve been following for weeks. 

There is a beat, and the theme song echoes around the hall: “Iba man ang kultura, iba man ang relihiyon, hangga’t bawat isa’y magtutulungan…” This signals the start of EAI PH’s 48-episode radio drama series, Saranggola.

This is a typical setting of a Listening and Discussion Action Group (LDAG) session happening simultaneously across 10 different at-risk municipalities in Mindanao. But more than just listening to a radio drama, the LDAGs have become a life of its own and transformed into a platform where listeners, who are members of the community, share their own stories of struggle and success.

One such instance surfaced in the municipality of South Manuangan, Pigcawayan, Cotabato, where one of the listeners during the LDAG session, comparing himself to the the radio drama protagonist’s obedience to his own grandmother, shared about being enjoined to a violent extremist organization.

When he was in High School, Ahmad (not his real name) was once recruited by an armed group. He asked permission from his parents and was advised not to join. They explained to him that education is actually one way of performing Jihad and not by killing other people. Just like Omar in the story, he obeyed his parents and is now continuing his high school education.

He expressed during the LDAG session: “If I didn’t obey my parents, maybe I am not here with you guys. Or even worse, maybe I would already be dead.” 

In the same municipality, a listener shared her experience which reflected an episode where Omar, the radio drama’s lead, was convinced by Hadja Patima, his grandmother, to participate in a Tech Camp that would develop his capacities and prepare him to return back to school more empowered.

The community member, during the session, expressed that she adopted a boy who was abused by his own father and gave him hope by sending him to school. The boy is now enjoying being a Senior High Student, with the pains of the past completely buried there and with eyes set on a new, hopeful future.

These are only two of many stories of inspiration that emerged because of the LDAG sessions, and many more that are about to develop. Twenty LDAGs around Mindanao are formally organized by 10 community reporters engaged by EAI-PH as volunteers. 

Norhanie Abutazil, an LDAG community reporter based in Cotabato, quipped about the different learning gained from the listeners who discussed different issues after listening to the episode. 

She shared: “Many youth issues came up: being left behind in terms of social support from the government, discriminated against because of their tribal upbringing and living far from the urban communities, and witnessing violence up front.”

Despite these, Norhanie shared that the radio drama series and LDAG sessions encouraged listeners to stand for what they believe in and participate in the programs intended for the youth by becoming representative voices of their community. 

The LDAG is designed as a community forum under the participatory media and technology strategy of EAI. It’s objectives include strengthening the reach & impact of the radio programming, providing ongoing feedback & assessment, reinforcing & contextualising information through discussion, providing a supportive environment & network, and encouraging action.

The LDAG sessions are done weekly for six months in the following areas: Lanao del Norte, Surigao, North Cotabato, Zamboanga city, Compostella Valley, Basilan, Sulu, Davao City, South Cotabato, and Lanao del Sur.