A VERY interesting thread was spurred by the posting of a newspaper article about mothers coming together to help feed babies in evacuation centers around Marawi City considering that the distribution of infant formula for babies is discouraged, even prohibited. The thread stemmed from the warning of Sama scholar Mucha Shim Arquiza that there are procedures that have to be followed.
This is something that should be known to us all, the cultural nuances of such issue especially among the rabid pro-breastfeeding who will insist that evacuee-babies be made to suckle on surrogates by hook or by crook.
Although she was quick to apologize for any omission or commission of wrong information that she does not know, Arquiza said that as far as she knows, "Radaa" or breastfeeding by a surrogate is permissible in times of need for as long as the parents record who suckled their babies since the surrogate or wet-nurse will be considered as "mahram" of the child and thus the rule of incest taboo is observed between children of the same breast. Among their people, she said, this practice is called "Mag-sawu-duruh".
This will thus rule out the well-intentioned practice among non-Muslim breastfeeding advocates of donating breastmilk and packing these in vacuum sealed plastics will not be acceptable. There is also the common concern of mothers about what the surrogates are eating as they might be eating pork, which is "haram".
It is heartening, however, that Cagayan de Oro-based Nadine Angelica Gadia Casino, founder of Modern Nanays of Mindanao, who is heading the distribution of Malong Care Packs to mothers with children below two years old in evacuation centers, is very receptive about this cautionary advice.
While the Modern Nanays primary action is giving out Malong Care Packs containing baby items, hygiene kits, water and food wrapped in a malong, which can be used as a prayer mat, blanket, skirt, or baby carrier, they also give lactation education and support, which entails wet-nursing or surrogates.
Given such cultural nuances, Casino saw the need to work with the mothers.
"We cannot impose our beliefs on them. Muslims talaga ang best people to talk with," she wrote in the thread.
As expected, there were those who regarded such guidelines as cumbersome considering the situations on the ground, but the mere fact that such is being discussed opens our eyes to the need to fully understand the cultural nuances of our people considering that there are Muslims and indigenous peoples among us, who have their own belief systems that the majority will have to understand. Yes, Christians may comprise the majority of the Philippines, but the issue at point is the country's only Islamic City of Marawi and we have to respect whatever their beliefs are.
As Casino said, "We cannot impose our beliefs on them."
Let something good come out of this chaos we are in the midst in. Let us become more open to dialogues to stir up understanding rather than the condemnatory stance that we have made as our default mode of late.