ISIS fighters in a recruiting video clip targeting the Philippines ( Asia Times). Terrorism has become a global byword since the September 11 attacks which happened exactly 22 years ago today. But our archipelago has been experiencing it way before the Spanish advent.
This terrorism we speak of were the Moro raids and kidnappings of Visayan and LĂşmad peoples. Occasionally, it also stretched northwards to as far as LuzĂłn's Ilocos region.
Mamalu and Tabunaway
The Moros were never natives of Mindanáo. They came from the south (Malaysia) to spread Islam to the Lúmads. Through oral tradition, there is indication that Islam was forced unto the Lúmad peoples. This can be gleaned through the story of brothers Mamalu and Tabunaway. Sharif Kabungsuwan, a native of Malaysia, brought Islam to Mindanáo. Tabunaway embraced the religion, but Mamalu fled to the mountains.
Tabunaway represented the Lúmads that were converted to Islam: Badjao, Maranao, Tausūg, etc. On the other hand, Mamalu represented those that didn't: Manobo, B'laan, Tboli, etc.
Whether this story is apocryphal or not, the brothers have never been reunited. And since the arrival of Islam in Mindanáo, peace has always been compromised there. Non-Muslims were regular targets by those tribes converted into Islam by Sharif Kabungsuwan, often being kidnapped and sold to slavery, their property and belongings becoming booty.
The roots of "Moro"
When the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they were aghast to find that their old nemesis, the Muslims, were also here. The Spaniards have battled them for the longest time, for their peninsula was conquered by the latter for more than 700 years. In Spain, they had a term for the Muslims: Moros, a word used to identify the Islamic peoples of Northern Africa (English: Moors). Upon their arrival in our archipelago, they applied the same term to the Muslims they encountered in Mindanáo and elsewhere. Hence the name stuck.
The Christianization of the indigenous peoples of LuzĂłn and the Visayas Islands also brought with it Westernization. The Spaniards, particularly the religious orders (friars), taught the natives modern agriculture. This intensified Moro raids of Christian settlements, for the Moros in these parts were not known for agriculture. They attacked Christian communities not just to kidnap people for slavery but also to ransack their agricultural produce. Occasionally, friars were some of those who were kidnapped, forcing their orders to pay for them for their safe return. This was the beginnings of the "kidnap for ransom" scheme perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf, a practice which they still continue to this very day.
This also explains why our country is dotted with Spanish-era lighthouses (farola). Most of these were built not really to assist fishermen and sailors at night but to serve as lookout posts against Moro invaders. Many churches were also designed to serve as fortresses to withstand Moro attacks (most famous of these are the thick-walled churches of Miag-áo and Majayjay).
In addition, it is a myth that Spain never conquered Mindanáo. The place was, in fact, a Jesuit enclave. In 1861, four Jesuits opened a mission among the Tiruray tribesmen who lived on the southern bank of the RĂo Grande (PulangĂ River). The following year, two more Jesuits erected a new parish in Tetuán (now a geographic district in Zamboanga City); one of them was later assigned to Basilan. Several more missions were opened up in the ensuing years: Daváo in 1868, Dapitan in 1870, Surigáo in 1871, Agusan in 1875, and BuquidnĂłn (now spelled as Bukidnon) in 1877. The residents in these missions were the LĂşmads, the indigenous of Mindanáo (the abovementioned Tiruray is one of them). Upon looking at a map, one should realize that the Jesuits had succeeded in dotting the entire coastline of Mindanáo with mission stations in only 16 years!
We haven't even talked about Zamboanga's "Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza", Azim ud-Din I (the Christianized sultan of Joló), Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera (the tormentor of the cowardly Sultan Qudarat), and the successful campaign of Governor-General Juan Antonio de Urbiztondo in Joló (José Rizal even wrote a poem about it).
Bangsamoro is not an identity
Lastly, in light of this decades-old global war against terror which was a result of the 9/11 attacks, it is now funny that our government even caters to this "Bangsamoro" idea. Bangsa is not even a LĂşmad/Mindanaoan term. It is from Old Malay — hardly Filipino at all (no wonder Malaysia has been fully supporting it). And Moro, as already explained above, is a Spanish word. This only shows that Bangsamoro is a recently coined term. And as a recently coined term, this dispels the national identity of those Moros who continue to ram it into the throats of our gutless government.
Who, really, are these Moros then? Because if given a chance, these centuries-old terrorists will easily shed off their Filipino citizenship in a heartbeat. So why does our government still kowtow to them and funnel billions of our tax money to pay for their autonomous hogwash?
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