A long time ago, early rulers went to other lands, forced them to follow their rules, change their culture or religion, and then took control because a nation was considered more powerful if it had more land, more people, and more wealth.
Before World War II, this was often done by European countries like Spain, Britain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, the same countries we call world leaders today. And they also colonized outside Europe and crossed the Pacific Ocean.
Perhaps because countries in Asia were rich in gold, natural resources, spices, silk, metals, and unique crops and other resources they didn’t have.
But, instead of buying them from these countries the European colonizers wanted the entire lands and people where they came from.
So we can say that a long time ago, colonization was actually a trend especially in European countries.
Hence, that’s the same fate the Philippines faced with Spain.
What does Bangsamoro mean?
Bangsamoro now refers to the Muslim minorities in the Southern Philippines and the autonomous region they live in interchangeably. But a long time ago, the Bangsamoro people were only known as Moro and it was the Spaniards who gave them that name.
After the Spanish colonizers took over Luzon and the Visayas, they also explored Mindanao. Here, they noticed that people were very different. They dressed differently and they worshiped differently.
But their culture looked familiar. Although they spoke different languages, their way of life was similar to the Muslim people they saw from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and western Libya who are called Moors.
Spanish often changes the ending of words for pronunciation, so they called the Mindanao Muslims “Moros” which the Moros themselves Over time, however, the people being called Moro also began using the term for themselves as it affirmed that the Spaniards see them as “different” from the Christianized people of Luzon and Visayas.
Mindanao Polities Are Older than the Republic of the Philippines
If you are wondering why identity remains so important to many Bangsamoros today, this is one place to begin looking.
Muslims in Mindanao already had their own political system, culture, laws, and traditions. And they even had strong relationships with neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and even Saudi Arabia.
So when colonizers saw Mindanao, they didn’t “discover” anything. They walked straight into fully functioning, organized polities and scattered, loose tribes.
You may already know that religion can shape more than personal worship. It can influence education, law, family life, trade, diplomacy, and ideas about community. That’s how Islam gave a formal system to the Moros’ previous way of living.
In governance, their old tribal system has evolved into a sultanate system which sprouted into: the Sultanate of Maguindanao, the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Buayan, and the Confederate Sultanate of Lanao.
The coming of Islam also educated them. It taught them how to read and write using Jawi and Sulu Arabic. Because of that, they got connected to the wider world, which linked them to the Brunei Sultanate, Malay Muslim polities, and Arab traders that guaranteed them safer trade routes and military alliances.
Their story also becomes bigger when you look beyond the Philippine islands. Moro communities maintained relationships with neighboring Muslim societies in Southeast Asia and beyond. Trade connected Mindanao and Sulu with places such as the Malay world and other parts of the Muslim world. These relationships mattered because trade also gave them alliances, knowledge networks, diplomatic relationships, religious connections, and military partnerships. And most importantly, it meant that they were not isolated from the rest of the world.
Now we get to one of the most important parts of the story.
Why Spain Failed to Conquer Mindanao
Spain conquered large parts of Luzon and the Visayas, but over three hundred years of attempts, Mindanao and Sulu proved much more difficult. Although the four sultanates had overlapping interests, including rivalries between Maguindanao and Buayan, they stood united against Spanish and American colonizers through their shared Islamic brotherhood.
At those times, Muslims in Mindanao already had their sultanate system. Like any other governments, they already had strong maritime and naval warfare expertise. And their long time of alliance with other Muslim countries also allowed them to trade and own war weapons.
During combat, what stood out the most was their bravery because as Muslims, they believed that martyrdom would give them a divine reward and a special place in heaven. And how can you win against someone who aims to die?
RELATED: Remembering the Juramentados: When the Tausug Chose Death Over Surrender
Then Spain Lost the Philippines to the Americans
Most of the Spanish military had to return to Spain because they were also facing another war against Portugal.
Back in their home country, the Americans took over their colonies and were fighting over Cuba. While liberating Spain’s colonies, the Americans followed the Spanish to the Philippines.
Some of the remaining Spanish soldiers were protecting their colony in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, when the Americans came.
A group of American modern warships led by Commodore George Dewey made a surprise attack on the Spanish squadron of an older and weaker fleet.
Because of the Americans’ modern warships, they captured and sank Spanish ships into the water in just a few hours with very few injuries.
Americans claimed that it was their duty to liberate people. However, some historians and analysts believed that Americans only wanted to show off their advanced weapons at that time.
But since they ran out of countries to colonize, they turned their eyes to the crumbling Spain.
Sometimes I think that had the Spaniards not colonized the Philippines, the Americans would not have gone there and made their way to Mindanao.
But they did.
Just one year after they stayed in the Philippines, the Americans went to Mindanao and they noticed that Mindanao was a different world.
The Moros have their own sultans, their own laws (Shariah, and adat, or custom), their own armies, and their own art. They knew that Moros were not used to being ruled by others.
They could tell that the Moros were hard to control.
So they did not repeat the mistake Spain did.
They didn’t go to direct conquest because they knew that Moros were brave fighters. They knew that Moros fiercely ran with their swords and spears even against cannons and rifles so they befriended the Moro leaders to reassure them that they were not a threat.
And this is why I also believed that the early Moros were deceived more than they were conquered because the Americans used subtle strategies at first
A treaty is not like the contract we know today. It’s a more complex written promise between rulers who recognize each other’s power or authority than a contract.
At first, the Americans showed respect to their Sultanate by negotiating with them through a written formal agreement called a “Treaty”.
At face value, you’d think that they’re showing diplomacy and recognizing the Moros’ sovereignty. But years later, when they breached that treaty themselves after they had infiltrated Moro land so much, it was revealed that they were only buying time to carry out their plan.
In 1903, they divided the Mori Province into administrative districts of Davao, Cotabato, Lanao, and Zamboanga. But to not alarm the Moros, they appointed new governors without absolutely removing the powers of Moro Leaders in their tribal wards.
They searched for rival Moro leaders and tribes and then supported friendly parties, turning the Moro leaders against each other. This gave them control over villages without fighting every village.
American colonial administration expanded. They built roads, schools, and hospitals. They also introduced and implemented American laws, tax systems, and government councils, and that’s how they slowly penetrated and gained control over the Moros.
You might be tempted to think that the Americans simply came and peacefully integrated Mindanao. But Moros were not d*mb. All over Mindanao, they resisted because they were aware of what the Americans were doing.
But instead of listening to them, the Americans suppressed their needs. Around 1906, when the Tausug left their control and went uphill, the US troops attacked them violently. This was to demonstrate their military superiority so that other Moros would not do what the Tausug did, this only shows how little the Americans valued the Moros’ lives.
(RELATED: Why Historians Call the Battle of Bud Dajo a Massacre Rather Than a Battle
Fast forward, American rule ended
After World War II, countries agreed to stop fighting against the Axis powers and formed the United Nations in 1945. This also pressured colonial powers to free their colonies.
Just the following year, Americans let go of the Philippines and recognized its independence on July 4, 1946.
However, the Bangsamoro communities did not necessarily see their history in the same way as the newly independent Philippine state.
They even wished that they remained under the Americans and not the Philippine Republic.
When the Philippines ruled them, the Moros felt a total loss of control over their homeland
When the Americans granted the Philippines independence, the Philippines also inherited Mindanao, since it was already administered by the Americans.
Mindanao was already weakened by the Americans. They were easier to control for the Philippine government and this is where the idea of historical injustice became central to the Bangsamoro narrative.
Around the 1960s to 1970s, the Philippine government opened many programs that encouraged people from Luzon and Visayas to migrate to Mindanao, giving them free or cheap land, free transportation, and farming tools. Most of these lands were owned by Moros. They inherited them from their ancestors long before land titles were invented in the Philippines.
As settlers became the majority, the Moros became strangers in their own home.
They were pushed back to the margins of their own land, losing political power, cultural authority, and access to towns.
Over the years, large foreign and foreign-affiliated private corporations opened in Mindanao, using its fertile soil, trees, and minerals. But the immense wealth they brought to the Philippines only benefited the people in Luzon and Visayas.
Over the years, the Moros felt alienated. Because the corporations that bought land in Mindanao discriminated against them and would only hire Christian settlers.
While these happened, several massacres, rapes, and killings were committed against the Moro people, including women, old and infants.
Early Moro Leaders Tried Peaceful Means
Moro leaders wrote letters and manifestos to and for the government many times.
They talked about the killings, the land-grabbing, and explained how these all contradicted their laws.
Among these leaders were Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, Datu Piang, and Datu Udtog Matalam. Some Datus also wrote in groups.
One noticeable part of these letters is how they address the Christians as their “friends” and “neighbors” and even mention that they will protect them.
This shows that although religion plays a role, the Moros’ war against the Philippines was not a war between religions but a war against oppression and injustice.
Moro leaders wrote letters and manifestos to and for the government many times.
They talked about the killings, the land-grabbing, and explained how these all contradicted their laws.
Among these leaders were Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, Datu Piang, and Datu Udtog Matalam. Some Datus also wrote in groups.
One noticeable part of these letters is how they address the Christians as their “friends” and “neighbors” and even mention that they will protect them.
This shows that although religion plays a role, the war between Moros and the Philippines was not a war between religions. It was a war against oppression and injustice.
Then Came the Jabidah Massacre
Bangsamoros had always been ruling themselves for centuries. They had their own rulers, laws, and traditions.
It was in the 1970s, under the Marcos regime, that really opened the Moros’ eyes to how much worse their situation was.
It was believed that in the 1870s, before Mindanao became a part of the Philippines, the Sultan of Sulu leased or ceded part of northern Borneo (Sabah) to the British North Borneo Company. A lease is like rent but for long-term use.
So Marcos Sr. thought that the Philippines still has the right to claim Sabah (in Malaysia today) as once belonging to the Sultanate of Sulu, and hence, belonged to the Philippines too.
Marcos seemed to adopt the mentality that once oppressed Luzon and the Visayas because beyond this claim, Sabah is actually rich in timber, oil, minerals, and fertile lands.
Like the early European colonizer mentality, Marcos, not only wanted these resources but the entire land.
So he organized “Operation Merdeka” where he recruited young Tausug and promised them good food, good pay, and a stable job without telling them that their actual job was to conquer Sabah. This is very strategic because using fellow Muslims would easily allow them to infiltrate Sabah without suspicion.
However, the young Tausug noticed that days had passed and they hadn’t received the good food and the good pay. Instead, they were even abused and maltreated in the secret camp.
But the twist is, after some time, the young Tausug found out why they were trained.
They stopped following orders. They demanded their payments. And they said they didn’t want to die on the mission.
The officers could see that the trainees no longer wanted to continue the mission and there was no use in continuing to train them. But they couldn’t return them to their hometown because they might tell the public.
So on March 18, 1968, to get rid of any evidence of this operation, the officers had decided to execute them at Corregidor Island in Cavite. The official reports say that at least 11 trainees were killed but many witnesses, including Moro leaders believe that there were 20 or more than 60 who were killed.
The only survivor was Jibin Arula who later told the Moro communities about what had just happened.
The survivor said that when the soldiers started killing the trainees, he immediately ran toward the cliff and jumped into the sea.
He grew up on the Island of Sulu and it’s not unusual for islanders to swim long distances.
So Jibin then swam through the water until he reached another part of the island and fishermen saw him and rescued him.
The news spread through towns and served as a wake-up call that peace would no longer work, it’s time now to fight back. This realization gave birth to revolutionary groups.
Until today, I find it uncomfortable when Moro fighters are called “rebels”. The term feels so colonial-washed and lazy-thought for me.
Because rebellion is when you go against the government with clearly different political objectives.
But if your political system had already existed, and then outsiders suddenly colonized you, and then you stood your ground and refused to be treated poorly, that’s not just mere rebellion, that’s resistance.
It’s worth remembering that early Moros had military strengths and international relations for ages, long before the Americans came.
So when Moros faced oppression for decades at the hands of the colonizers, the roles reversed. It made them rely more on their fighters, not on their Sultan. These fighters later held the power and credibility to represent their voice and interests at the negotiation table.
Although there were many Moro fighter groups, there were two major military groups that the Philippine government negotiated with: the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The Moro Popular Military Leaders: Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
One thing about Islam is that Muslims consider every Muslim brother wherever they are.
When Muslim leaders in other countries heard what was happening to the Muslims in the Philippines, they poured their support.
Libya gave them training, money, and weapons, they had support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and training in Malaysia and the Middle East. The MNLF emerged around the 1970s under the leadership of Nur Misuari.
When the MNLF was organized, they did not have to recruit because the young Moros were already angry and ready to fight at that time. Most of the members voluntarily joined, since most of them were sons who watched their fathers lose their lands.
In later years, they were able to capture AFP weapons, they also exchanged arms through maritime routes (Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea) and made their own firearms.
Most of the MNLF members studied abroad and could speak multiple languages. So their being recognized as the official representative of the Bangsamoro people was not only because they had guns but also because they were educated and had diplomatic power.
In the later years, however, MILF, a younger but fast-growing faction that broke from MNLF due to different ideologies, gained more respect and trust from the Moros. They formally broke out from the MNLF in 1977, led by its former Chairman Hashim Salamat.
Most of the MILF members who broke out were MNLF commanders who studied and trained outside the country and were already experts in guerrilla warfare. Like the MNLF, the new MILF had vast Islamic networks.
In the 1980s, they built their base camps in central Mindanao. Aside from the support they got from other countries, Moro communities also supported them through sadaqa (charity) and Zakat (tax), and also collected donations from Moros overseas.
Seeing that the MILF grew as the largest Moro freedom fighters at that time, the government chose to negotiate with them in 1996.
Eventually, the struggle shifted from Armed Struggle to peaceful dialogue.
Because war is exhausting. Instead of investing your money and time to grow and get your country richer, you use them to buy war tanks, guns, and ammo.
You have to feed your armies, give them good pay so they’d be willing to die for the country, and then you also have to pay their families.
The government realized that the money they spend on war could be better used in building schools, hospitals, and roads.
Plus, Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia, Libya, and others were aware of what their Muslim brothers in Mindanao were facing and often brought these issues in international forums.
This pressured President Marcos to enter into negotiations and not destroy his relationship with other countries.
From Marcos to Duterte, there were several talks attempting to bring a solution to the conflicts in Mindanao
(Table)
BARMM Created
After a decade of negotiations and revisions, BARMM was established and the Moros became the first and only region in the Philippines that had their own autonomous government. The Moros now have a parliamentary system, within a presidential country, that once matches their political culture. Through this, Moros can make decisions about their schools, culture, and laws.
Autonomy is Their Right, not a Government’s Gift
Autonomy is a big deal for the Bangsamoros because it’s their right legally and morally.
It’s their right legally because they talked with the government for many, many years to recognize their different culture, identity, and beliefs.
After years of struggle, their rights were finally recognized through agreements that later turned into the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
It’s also their moral right because for centuries, they have had their own political system that worked. They point out the ways that suit them that the government ignored and suppressed for decades. Autonomy is about justice and correcting historical injustices that keep on erasing or misrepresenting them.
Let’s face it: BARMM is not perfect, no government is.
But the self-rule for the Bangsamoro connects them to how their ancestors lived.
It’s not that they think they’re special, they only want to come home.
Disclaimer: The Bangsamoro Manual supports the peace process and its gains. It does not encourage violence, extremism, or terrorism in any form. This article draws from recorded history and scholarly sources. It discusses past conflicts and resistance only to explain historical realities that can give context to the present issues faced by the Bangsamoros, necessary for critical thinking and decision-making.
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