Islam came to the Philippines in the 13thcentury, two centuries before the Spaniards arrived. Contrary to popular belief, the Islamic influence was not confined to southern Philippines; Islam had a significant presence in the Luzon, especially in today’s Manila. The Moro people have been fighting for full independence from Manila since the Spaniards colonised the Philippines in 1521. The Moros have been fighting for independence and the freedom to practise Islam since 1521. History is replete with stories of how the brave Moros used kris,swords and sharpened bamboos against the Spaniards (from 1521), Dutch (1774), British (1775), French (1884 blockade of Basilan) and the Americans (1898-1946) who invaded their homeland, suppressed Islam and tried to wipe out their identity. Many Moro warriors were inspired by the Mactan incident in 1521 when Sultan Lapu-Lapu, a devout Tausug Muslim leader speared Ferdinand Magellan to death. The Sultan accused Magellan of converting Muslims to Christianity, stealing their ancestral land and for interfering with the local customs like slave trading. Manila has never agreed to grant full independence to the Moros. On the contrary, successive Philippine regimes only agreed to negotiate for an autonomous region-mainly in southern part of the Philippines- for Bangsamoro people. Since 1512, the Moros have violently rejected assimilation with the mainstream Christian society in the Philippines whom they accused of selling their homeland to the colonisers. Until today, the Moros refuse to recognise the treaties of cession of 1898, 1900 and 1930, which assigned the Moroland under Philippines rule. The Moros continue to hold this sell-out, as an act of betrayal, the original sin, in their struggle for the quest of Bangsamoro Homeland. MNLF and MILF have separately agreed to establish an autonomous region for Bangsamoro; their leaders remain at odds with each other. The OIC and other countries have recognised the MNLF as a legitimate organisation, The MILF, under the late Hashim Selamat, one- time Misuari’s deputy, surfaced only after the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and it went underground. The Moros will never forget the incident in June 2000 when President Estrada ordered the military to bomb the MILF Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.{ALLOUT WAR}
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 06:58:33 +0000