We help Bangsamoros reconnect with their shared values and history. Because only when we speak the same values can we think deeply about who they are becoming.
Vision
We envision a generation of Bangsamoros who are grounded in their roots and feel pride in their identity.
They are not uncomfortable with other beliefs and ideologies not because they feel helpless but because they deeply know who they are. Guided by faith, they can represent the community’s interest from everyday conversation up to the negotiation table.
Writing Philosophy
With a background in philosophy, we uphold intellectual honesty and creative integrity. Hence, we would like to maintain not using generative AI for our writing.
For transparency, we use the free version of Grammarly for small corrections, like misspellings, prepositions, or subject-verb agreement that we might overlook while putting our ideas on paper because yes, we write our drafts by hand. However, all ideas, research and writing come from real books or e-books and real articles we saved on Instapaper.
One of our motivations is to practice and promote critical thinking, and using generative AI would defeat that purpose.
What We Believe In
Open Dialogue. We listen to understand.
Authenticity. We honor the struggles, faith and the wisdom that raised us.
Cultural Integrity. We build bridges without compromising our foundation.
Why Is The Bangsamoro Manual Created
We were confused about the Bangsamoro struggle too.
We first learned about it only from people who were against it. Their opposition wasn’t just in belief, it showed in their actions. For a while, we were skeptical too, and we voiced that skepticism online and in person whenever we got the chance.
To put it simply: while people our age showed their support through fundraising or organizing events to educate people about peace building and nation-building, we sat in our dorm rooms, finding things to criticize on our news feed.
As we grew older and began thinking for ourselves, we started to understand what the fight for autonomy was really about.
We read books, worked with communities, and saw firsthand what life was like up close.
In hindsight, we were only a product of our own ignorance. So we started The Bangsamoro Manual to provide well-written information to Bangsamoros who might also be wondering about their history, like we once were. And also to curious non-Bangsamoros who want to understand the other side of history.
The background comes from combined years of applied research, data-driven studies, public administration, community work and freelance writing.