Here, you’ll find thoughts and talks about moro society, family, and becoming (self). Because the idea is in order to have a harmonious society, which is what we’ve been aiming for so long, it still should start at home first, and a harmonious home starts from one’s self, hence the unending pursuit to learn and grow. It’s like the Confucian idea that the family is the smallest, basic unit of society. You know what I mean.

When I started The Bangsamoro Manual, I didn’t really thought people would read my articles. Because in my mind, I just wanted to write them because they needed to be written. I wasn’t even focusing on the design; my time and energy were concentrated on putting my ideas on paper.

But then, after some time, I noticed that people really came to my blog from other regions and countries. And you could tell they were really reading because most of them stayed for ten to thirty minutes.

I was really surprised because I didn’t even share it on my social media accounts, and I only told my husband and, like, three friends about this blog.

I didn’t even optimize my articles to rank on search engines because my aim here is for it to be my creative and intellectual outlet. I know I am weird, and my ideas and thoughts are not usually welcome in daily conversations, so I want to put them here. I may have learned in my recent writing gigs to use ChatGPT to beat deadlines, and it really feels like a self-betrayal, but I don’t have a choice. It’s part of the job.

Here, however, I want this to be a place where I don’t use generative AI to generate ideas. So, the things you read here are just my own pure thoughts, pure beliefs, and pure values. That’s why sometimes it can really take me a long time before I publish and polish articles, because I really polish them on my own.

Although I use an AI assistant, Grammarly, to check my grammar and prepositions so that I can use my mind more in producing ideas.

But How Dit IT really Start

I used to be a product of my ignorance.

In my younger years, let’s say around 2015, I was very critical of the Bangsamoro struggle at the time.

My only source of information back then was what I read on social media. Although I didn’t engage much in the conversations online, I always found fault, in my head, with the people who pushed for the struggle.

However, when I stayed in my hometown around 2020, in Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City, I began to see and hear the real people and the real stories behind the struggle.

It’s easier to judge when you’re at a distance.

I wasn’t really interested in reading Bangsamoro history. In my free time, I could spend hours reading philosophy books or novels.

However, my professor during my master’s degree recommended a book to me: [Book Title]

I was a stay-at-home mom at that time. The book sat on our shelf for weeks then but I had run out of things to do with my newborn so I picked it up.

I was dumbfounded when I learned how vast, rich, and deep our Bangsamoro history was. I suddenly regretted every minute I had spent reading other people’s history and philosophy when ours was just as rich.

Then I really engaged with it. Whenever a question popped into my mind, I would seek answers from journal articles online.

After some time, I think I found my purpose. I also want to be a part of this struggle.

I still didn’t know exactly how, but I wanted to become capable of giving back to my homeland and its people.

And since people I have worked with, in both government and NGOs have trusted me to write their stories and documentation reports, because in their words, they like my authentic storytelling, style, and creativity, I want to contribute to our struggle for the sake of God using the same gifts He has given me, which is my writing.