The Center for Moderate Muslims (CMM) is now going places, literally!  At first, Taguig City was alone in hosting a small CMM office.  Then, after a few months in 2004, Quiapo hosted a Youth Center for CMM.  Other areas followed suit in welcoming some Programs, such as Imam Training in Calamba (Laguna), Qur’an Reading in Tandang Sora (Quezon City), and Women Seminars in Marawi City.

      This year, CMM went to Tawi-tawi with Mufti Abdulwahid Inju as Coordinator. In Basilan, Mufti Abdullah Hamja Utoh coordinates the Islamic seminars and lectures with some young volunteers. The latest hosting Province is Maguindanao through the Al-Ihsan Foundation, headed by Duma Mascud.

      These new branches beef up the pioneering CMM offices in Davao City (under Aleem Mahmod Adilao and Mahmod del Monte), Zamboanga City (Engr. Juhdar Ladjamatli and Aida Mistul), Marawi City (Mansawi Macada-ag and Aleem Sandiman Lomala), Cebu City (Imam Haron Mangadapa), and Jolo, Sulu (Timothy Ijiran). Radio Programs in Metro Manila, Pampanga, and the Mindanao branches are also in place, together with the Free Computer and Livelihood Programs being implemented for the past 4 years.

      Due to the man-made calamity in Mindanao resulting from the non-implementation of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement – Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), CMM joined the various Groups undertaking Relief Assistance to different Evacuation Centers. So far, CMM has gone to Datu Piang, (Maguindanao), Kauswagan (Lanao del Norte), Marawi City and Madalum (Lanao del Sur) for some relief operations in coordination with Local officials and Non-Government Organizations.

      Lately, the Expanded Scholarship Program of CMM has attracted thousands of students and Madrasah applicants from all the communities mentioned, including Iligan City, General Santos City, Bukidnon, and North Cotabato. CMM is now processing the documents of the applicants, who are vying for the 200 scholarship slots to be granted this November.

      Despite these developments, CMM does not sit on its laurels. According to Comm. Taha M. Basman, CMM President and UNESCO Commissioner, the Center still strives to implement Programs aimed at making the Muslims productive and equal partners in building peaceful and progressive communities in the country. The assistance extended by big Institutions like TESDA, Interfaith Groups, Muslim Embassies, and Philanthropic individuals makes the staff and volunteers of the Center all the more enthusiastic to pursue their noble objectives. CMM now welcomes partners to become more effective in its advocacies.