The Moroland (Mindanao, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Palawan), also presently known as Southern Philippines, comprises the area of about 96,438 sq. km- about 33 percent of the total land territories of the Philippines. Currently, it contains 23 of the Philippines' 73 provinces. 

The land has been picturesquely described by Herman Hagedorn as a vast green crab, in tropic waters, stretching out an irritated claw after a school of minnows skipping off in the direction of Borneo. 

The crab is Mindanao. The irritated claw is the Zamboanga Peninsula. The minnows are the islands of the Sulu Archipelago. By way of comparison, Moroland is larger in territory than either Portugal or Austria. The Muslim population of the Moroland outnumbers the populations of many independent countries such as Albania, Costa Rica and Libya. 

The Moros are the Islamized people and the native inhabitants of the Moroland who were once the majority inhabitants of the area. However, due to the consequence of the colonization of Mindanao, the status of the Moros as majority has diminished from majority to minority. The exact figure of the Moro population is difficult to determine because of conflicting information. 

Based on the government census in 1980, the number of Moros were estimated at about 2,504,332 out of 10,905,243 total population of Mindanao. The truth of this figure is, however, questioned by majority of the Moros as the government's strategy to portray that Moros were just a very small segment of the majority Filipino populations of the area. 

Hence, the Moro respondents claim that there were about 5,310,958 Moros in 1982. And at the time, the MILF's estimate is from seven million to ten million Moros all over the Moroland. 

The Moros are divided into thirteen ethnic linguistic groups such as Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, Samal, Yakan, Sangil, Badjao, Kalibogan, Jama Mapun, Iranun, Palawanon, Kalagan, and Molbog. They are mainly found in Western and southern Mindanao Island, the Sulu Archipelago, and coastal areas of southern Palawan. 

But only five (Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Basilan) of the twenty-two (now twenty- three) Mindanao provinces have a Muslim majority. 

The Moros were once considered to be the most developed communities in the entire Philippines Archipelago. They reached the level of a centrally organized life. They had their own form of government antedating several hundreds of years the creation of the Philippine Republic. 

These governments were the Sultanate of Sulu, which was founded approximately in 1450, and the Sultanate of Maguindanao and Buayan which were united by Sultan Kudarat into one Sultanate, Sultanate of Maguindanao in 1619. 

Sultan Kudarat's sphere of power and influence, aside from his traditional dominion over the whole of Cotabato, Lanao, Davao, Misamis, Bukidnon, and Zamboanga, was so extensive that he was able to collect tributes from seafaring inhabitants of the coast of Borneo and some areas of Basilan and the Visayas. 

This only shows that the Moros under these two Sultanates were not only enjoying sovereignty and independence but influencing other peoples as well, which become the foundation of the legitimate rights of the Moros to regain their lost freedom and independence. 

The process of the Islamization of Moroland first started in Sulu Archipelago towards the end of 13th century, estimated to be in 1280 CE, through the missionary effort of  a certain Tuan Mashaikha who married there and established the first Islamic community. 

Thereafter, it was reported that Tuan Mashaikha was followed by a Muslim missionary named Karim-ul- Makhdum around the second half of the 14th century. Through Rajah Baguinda who came at the beginning of the 15th century, the political element in the Islamization process was introduced. 

It was his son-in-law, Abu Bakar, whom he had designated as his successor, who started the Sulu Sultanate. 

In mainland Mindanao, Islam was first introduced into Maguindanao areas by a certain Sharif Awliya from Johor around 1450. Like the preachers of Islam in Sulu, he was also said to have married to a local lady, who gave him a daughter. 

When Sharif Awliya left, a certain Sharif Maraja, also from Johor, came and stayed in Slangan area and married the daughter of Sharif Awliya. Later, around 1515, Sharif Kabungsuwan , also from Johor with Arab descent, arrived with many men at the Slangan area, roughly where is Malabang now. 

He augmented the missionary activities of his predecessors, and was credited the founder of the Maguindanao Sultanate. 

Through intermarriages and political alliances with the neighboring ruling families, Islam spread from Maguindanao through along the coast to the Gulf of Davao and inland to Lake Lanao and Bukidnon. 

Though no specific date is known for the Islamization of the people of Lake Lanao, the Maranao tarsila trace their Islamic ancestry as well as royal lineage back to the same Sharif Kabungsuwan. In this manner, Islam became the majority religion in the island. 

By the mid-Sixteenth century, the Moroland was in the process of becoming part of the wider Muslim world of South East Asia. Commercial relations and political alliances linked the Moro Sultanates of the Mindanao-Sulu region with other neighboring Muslim states. 

The impact of Islamization of the Moroland was so great as Cesar Adib Majul, a Muslim historian, commented: 
         "By adopting Islam, a segment of the population of the Philippines became a part of the wider religious community from the pillars of Hercules to the borders of China. Those people in the Philippines gained from Islam a high sense of religious community, new laws, a more developed political organization…and above all, a new ethical outlook on life. Having adopted values that transcended their race and particular culture, they began to consider themselves as a historical people, yet assuming all the time that their history was not the result of their own making or efforts. Without this consciousness, as well as all the benefits that Islam brought to the peoples of Sulu and Mindanao, they would have been easily swept away by Western colonialism and relegated to the limbo of conquered peoples." 

The Spanish colonialism started when Ferdinand Magellan, a Spanish navigator, landed in one of the islands of the Philippines, named Limasawa, in 1521. 

Although he was killed by a Moro chieftain, named Lapu-Lapu in Mactan, Visayas, Magellan’s unintentional landing in the Philippine archipelago paved the way for the so called discovery of these islands by Europeans. 

Few years later, specifically in 1565, another Spanish navigator, named Villalobos arrived and landed at the same Island. It was through this man that the Spaniards were able to defeat the native inhabitants of the Island of Visayas and converted them, through forceful means, into Christianity. 

Thus a Spanish colony was established in the said Island. They called the native converts 'Indios, who later became known as Filipinos. 

Following the defeat of the natives in Visayas, the Spaniards moved northward or to the Island of Luzon to further extend their hegemony. 

Although they faced fierce resistance from the Muslim inhabitants of the area, the Spaniards were able to subdue them, and transformed this area as the center of their colony in the Archipelago, which served as their base for their intrusion to the south. 

Certainly, the defeat of Muslims in the North and Central Philippines had blockaded further spread of Islam from Borneo and the south Philippines toward Luzon and the Visayas. Consequently, Islam was confined to the Sulu Archipelago and Western Mindanao. 

In pursuit of their desire to extend their colony to the south, coupled with their zeal to propagate Catholic faith, the Spaniards compelled their native (the Indios) converts to serve as their allies in attacking the Moroland, particularly the Moros settlements and forts in Sulu and Mindanao. 

The Indios were indoctrinated with the belief that they were performing a religious service. Thus the Indios together with their colonial masters fought ferociously against the Moros. In response, the Moros fought a life and martyrdom battle against the Spanish invaders and their allies, the Indios. 

This  fighting, which was known as 'Moro wars,' lasted for 333 years, and failed to conquer the Moros. 

The centuries of incessant warfare contributed to irreconcilable tensions and conflicts between Christian Filipinos and the Moros that are existent today. 

It also wrought havoc to the Muslim communities and farms, and destroyed thousands of sea-crafts, disrupting the lives and economy of an agricultural, fishing, and commercial people. 

It was in this context that the Moros lived when the Americans came as colonizers in 1898. 

The defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American war, in 1898, prompted the United States of America to take over the Philippines as successor to Spain under the treaty of Paris, signed in 1898. 

Under this treaty, the Spanish had to surrender its authority over the Philippines Archipelago, including Moroland to the United States, even though Spain had never succeeded to incorporate Moroland into its colony. 

The Americans were relatively clever and might have learned lessons from the Spanish experience in dealing with the Moros. While they were engaged in the Filipino rebellion in the northern part of the Archipelago, the Americans signed a treaty with the Sultanate of Sulu, known as “Bates Treaty.” 

The treaty enabled the Americans to build up their military positions in the Moroland without opposition from the Moros. They were also given a chance to concentrate their forces to suppress the Filipino rebellion in the north. 

The Moros, however, had been deceived by  the American policy of non-interference with respect to their affairs as contained in the treaty. 

Immediately after the defeat of the Filipino rebellion in the Northern Luzon, the Americans declared the Bates Treaty as null and void- an act which meant, among other things, that their policy of non-interference also came into an end, and was replaced by a direct rule and control over the Moroland- an obvious declaration of war against the Moros. 

Soon, it was followed by the Americans' efforts to achieve the un-accomplished dream of the Spaniards, i.e., integrating the Moros to the Filipino mainstream society. 

In order to achieve this, the American laws and notions of justice were imposed, public schools and other services were created; land was surveyed and titled; and homesteaders were encouraged to migrate from overpopulated Luzon and settle on open land in Mindanao. 

Despite the superiority of the American weaponry, the Moros, as expected, resented this policy and waged jihad against the American occupiers. Many bloody battles between American soldiers and the Moros occurred. The Americans fought for a number of decades before they could relatively and physically pacify the Moros. 

After the initial success of their pacification campaign in the Moroland, the Americans shifted from a military rule to a civilian administration named as the Department of Mindanao and Sulu (1914-1920). 

Under this Department, the policy of attraction was introduced. Scholarships were granted to the Moro students. Schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges were built to attract the Moros. Throughout this period the Moroland was relatively peaceful. Although there were some Moro armed resistance occuring here and there to express their resentment to the American authority, laws and policies, but they were always easily suppressed. 

To transfer the burden of integrating the Moros into the Filipino society, the Americans handed gradually their authority over the Moros to the Christian Filipinos. This effort was done through the creation of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes (1920-1937), which paved the way for the transferring of the American administrative and legal control over the Moros into the hands of the Filipinos. 

In response, the Moros, despite their incapacity to launch an armed struggle against the Filipinos who enjoyed military back up of the American armed forces and constabularies, some incidence of pocket resistance, particularly in Lanao areas were reported. 

They were acts of open defiance to the obvious conspiracy of gradual inclusion of the Moros to the Philippine Republic, as well as an explicit protest to the existing Government run by the Filipinos who were considered by the Moros as foreigners. 

These efforts did not work. The Americans still demanded the Moro's integration to the Filipino society. Towards this end, a ten-year transitional Commonwealth Government, covering the entire Philippine Archipelago and the Moroland, was introduced by the Americans in 1936, to train the Filipinos the art of handling the affair of the future independent Philippine Republic. 

At the beginning, the two warring groups, the Filipinos and the Moros seemed to have found their way to work together for the welfare of their would- be independent Republic. This led some Filipinos to assume that the Moros could be integrated with them. 

The assumption was supported by the active participation of some of the Moro leaders in the Government's activities, and even urged America to expedite the process of granting independence to the Philippines. 

In addition, during the 1936 national election for the constitutional convention delegates, there were some Moro leaders who participated and won seats. Also there were Muslim leaders who had expressed their belief that through constitutional process, they could preserve their rights as a separate people from the Filipinos. 

For instance, some Maranao leaders, led by Hadji Abdulhamid Bogabong, sent a letter to the Governor General, asking him to transmit their requests to the Constitutional Convention: that their religion, Islam be not curtailed or changed in anyway; that their practices, traditions, and customs should not be prohibited; that the legal values of the Kitab (i.e., Muslim law in the Qur'an) be not set aside by Christian officials; that all their occupied land; whether forested or not be reserved for them for twenty years to give them time to apply for such lands. 

This did not mean, however, that the Moros ceased their opposition to integration with the Filipino-run government. This was proven by the Moros rejection to the Philippine constitution when it was submitted before the public for approval.  It is true that it was generally approved in the Moroland, but the Christian settlers were the ones who did it; the Moros rejected it with the ground that it would destroy their religion, rights, and marital customs. 

The resentment of the Moros to their inclusion to the Commonwealth government could be further attributed to the clear threat posed by the continuous influx of the government- sponsored Christian settlers from Luzon and Visayas to Mindanao. 

However, this protest was not heard due to the Commonwealth Government’s insistence, building up of its military forces in the Moroland and encouraging huge numbers of Christians to migrate to Mindanao and Sulu. 

Because of these, many Christians migrated and settled in Mindanao occupying the strategic areas and receiving all material supports from the government. Though the Moros could not stop it, at least it created uneasiness on their part for obvious reasons. 

The resentment of the Moros to the commonwealth government was further enhanced by the move of Manuel Quezon, the first president of the Commonwealth Government, to abolish the place for Muslim traditional leaders in the new regime and that the national laws would be applied to both Muslims and Christians equally. 

Similarly, the educational system implemented by the Commonwealth government, which emphasized western "progressive" ideas that served to create a conformed new national citizenry, ignited the Moro resistance too. 

Moreover, the resentment and dissatisfaction of the Moros towards the government run by the Filipinos, that had been developed even before and during the time of the Commonwealth Government, was further exacerbated by the integration of the Moroland, without consulting them, to the Philippine Republic which gained its nominal independence in 1946. 
The Moros considered this period as the beginning of the Philippine neo-colonial regime. 

The new regime, that is the Philippine neo-colonialism has begun. Despite the Moros resentment of the policies of the Commonwealth government, their homeland was finally annexed and was structurally integrated into the Republic of the Philippines, which was declared on July 4, 1946. 

Inheriting the Moro problem, the new Republic adopted several measures and programs in search for suitable solutions to it. One of these solutions was the promotion of the integration of the Moros to the mainstream of Philippine life, primarily through education and socio- economic development program. 

In 1957, the Philippine Congress created the Commission on National Integration, under Act 1888 to provide, among other things, scholarship for the Moro students enrolling in the Government schools and Universities where the widely acclaimed brainwashing, Filipinization and secularization were done. 

Although the program was almost successful in achieving its objectives, still there were many other Moros, who enjoyed the scholarships, but could not be integrated. The assertion of their Islamic identity became even more manifest, and many refused to regard themselves as Filipinos. 

Among the reasons why the Moros could not identify themselves as Filipinos were firstly, the term Filipino is applicable only to those indios who were Christianized by the Spaniards and submitted to their sovereignty. Secondly, the Moros could not tolerate to loose their identity, once they accepted that they are Filipinos. 

Finally, their religion, Islam, provides them a sense of belongingness to the wider community of the Muslim ummah. This notion is strongly supported by the existence of the contemporary Islamic movementin south Philippines. 

With this account, it clearly shows that it was the problem of integrating the Moros to the Filipino mainstream society, which the former did not like, that created a point of conflict between the Moros and the Philippine government today. 

This point of conflict became more serious because of the impacts of the Post World War II Islamic resurgence that swept over the Muslim world, the deepening sense of deprivation by the Moros because of the unending government policy of integration, the 1968 Jabidah Massacre, and the 1970’s “Mindanao crisis.” 

The word resurgence means rising or tending to rise again. Based on this definition, we can define Islamic resurgence as rising of Islam again. A certain scholar defined Islamic resurgence as “an increase in Islamic activism” which became very common to the Muslim world after the second World War II. This Islamic activism is fostered by the Islamic movements in the world, locally or internationally in nature. 

Among the important aspects of these movements are: they emphasize Islam, not just as a set of beliefs and rituals, but as a moral and social movement to establish the Islamic order. They seek for comprehensive reform, that is, changing all aspects of life, making faith as the centre point of life. 

Thus, their central issues are the relationship between the eternal and the temporal, the moral truth and the contemporary socio-political reality. They are ideological movements, hence by definition they are international in nature. They are non-sectarian movements. 

They work for the unification of the so-called sects in Islam. They accept modernization without compromising the original principles of Islam, but deny westernization. They act as the alternative movements to unite all sectors of the Muslim society like the ‘ulama, the western oriented Muslims, the students, professionals, Sufis, and working class,  to work together for the cause of Islam. 

Presently, there are two widely accepted influential Islamic movements that serve as vehicles for the global phenomenon of Islamic resurgence, namely: Ikhwan al-Muslimin of Imam Hassan Al-Banna' in Egypt and Jama‘at Islami of Abul A‘la Mawdudi in Pakistan. 

The resurgence of Islam in the Philippines was contributed by many factors. Among these factors are, firstly, the arrival of Muslim teachers and visitors from Egypt, Arabian peninsula, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia to the Philippines, in the past quarter -century. Being usually well received, they have been able to arouse religious fervor, and in some cases influence the reform of Moro religious practices along normative Islamic lines. 

Secondly, thousands of young Muslims were granted scholarship to study in various Islamic institutions in the ‘Arab world and the sub-continent. During 1950' and 1960's more than a hundred Moro students were admitted to al-Azhar University of Cairo, Egypt. 

Upon their return, they began to correct local practices that contravened the pure teachings of Islam; many of these young ‘ulama' (scholars) taught in madÉris (Islamic schools), and some had become vocal in expressing Muslim aspirations for the socio-economic and cultural development of their communities. 

Some of them had even assumed the leadership of Islamic movement in the Moroland; for example, the case of Salamat Hashim and some of his colleagues who graduated from al-Azhar University, and lead the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). 

Another factor that contributed to the resurgence of Islam in the Moroland was the exposure of traveling abroad in recent years, thousands of them on Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, and other purposes. 

To some extent, under this factor, the participation of some of the Moro traditional leaders in the meetings of different world Islamic bodies had also contributed to the Islamic resurgence in the area. They were given overwhelming welcomes and were showered with questions. 

This treatment in itself began to awaken within the Moro visitors a latent consciousness of Islam and their social duty to the community. 

Through these factors the Islamic institutions such as mosque, madaris, and Muslim organizations were proliferated and became visible. They strengthened the sense of Moro nationalism and solidarity. The term Bangsamoro emerged as an identity for the Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu. Some times they called themselves Muslims so as to distinguish themselves from the Christian Filipinos. 

They refered to the Manila Government as foreign government, or Christian Government to whom no real Muslim owes allegiance. The cry for establishing Islamic government in the Moroland as the only solution to the Moro problem become widespread. 

Finally, the Moros became more articulate in defense of their faith as they become more knowledgeable about the doctrines and duties in Islam. Their concern was the preservation of their community (ummah) and elevation of their Muslim identity. 

They remained little interested in national goals, despite the efforts of the government to promote 'Filipinism' among them. 

During the reign of President Magsaysay (1953-1957), thousands of pardoned criminals and ex-communist members, who surrendered to the Philippine authority, were granted homesteads in the Moro traditional lands. The Government established colonies in the midst of the Muslim communal lands. 

It also facilitated the massive issuance of land titles to the Christian settlers it sponsored as well as to anyone literate enough to apply. Having owned the land titles, when land disputes between the new settlers and the native inhabitants (the Moros) arose, the former had little difficulty to persuade the authorities to evict the latter from their land. 

By employing this strategy, the government was able to ensure the domination of the Christian settlers  by the 1950's, and who were able to control vast areas of the Muslim land and several towns of Mindanao. 

They were equipped by the government with all materials needed to protect themselves. That is why it is not strange that there came a time when there were both landless Muslims and land less Christians in Cotabato area, and disputes arose and become more frequent. 

Thus, the migration of Christian settlers into the Moroland through the initiatives of the government, created a deep sense of deprivation to the Moros, which later contributed to the emrgence of the Moro Jihad (armed struggle) against the Government. 

In 1950's, an armed struggle, though limited in scope, started to erupt. Kumander Kamlon, in Sulu Province, and 100 of his followers declared war against the government and it took several years for the latter to pacify him, until he was persuaded to lay down his arms. 

This was followed by the parliamentary struggle of Congressman Datu Ombra Amilbangsa of Sulu in 1961. He introduced a House Bill 5682 in the Fourth Session of the Fourth Congress, calling for granting and recognizing the independence of Sulu; although nothing came to the Bill, it served as a symbol of discontent and resentment of the Moros towards the Philippine government. 

During the regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos (1965-1985), the deepening sense of deprivation by the Moros reached its climax. Since then, different Moro movements for independence of the Moroland from the Philippines Republic were organized. 

This kind of Moro reaction was a direct consequence of the 1970's Mindanao crisis which was precipitated by at least three important events: the infamous 1968 "Jabidah Massacre, the Ilaga movement, and the 1972 declaration of martial law. These events will now be reviewed. 

The Jabidah Massacre was the turning point of the reawakening of the Moro people. It was happened when, between 28 and 64 Moro recruits undergoing training for sabotage, jungle warfare, and guerilla tactics in Corrigidor Island, just off  Manila Bay, were summarily executed by their military trainers in late March 1968. 

It was widely believed that the purpose of the training was a secret preparation for the Philippine Military operation in Sabah-code named “Operation Merdika” (Operation independence). This belief was substantiated by the revelation of Jibin Arula (the lone survivor of the carnage) that they were shot because they refused to follow the order of their military trainers to invade Sabah. 

Informed about this sinister plan of the Philippine government,  the then Sabah Chief minister, Tun Datu Mustapha Haron, later openly supported the 1970's Moro nationalist liberation movement. 

Indeed, the incident aroused the anger of almost all sectors of the Moro people. Two months later, Datu Udtog Matalam, the then Governor of the undivided Empire Province of Cotabato declared Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM) aiming at the establishment of an independent Islamic Republic of Mindanao. 

Before its founder succumbed to the Philippine authority, the MIM is credited for the armed resistance to the Philippine army and the fanatic Christian movement, (Ilaga), which was organized by  the Christian political leaders in Cotabato and Upi, Maguindanao, to protect their political interest in Central Mindanao. 

The organization of this movement exacerbated the already deteriorating Muslim-Christian relation in the Moroland. With the backup of the government’s military, the group brought reign of terror to the Muslim areas. 

On June 19, 1971, some 70 Moros, men, women, and children were mercilessly massacred by this group and its military backers at one mosque in Barrio Manili, Carmen North Cotabato. The incident was known as Manili massacre, proved the contention that the war between Moros and the Philippine government was caused by religious conflict. 

In Wao, Lanao del Sur, a grenade exploded inside a mosque on July 4, 1971, and over 60 Muslims' homes were burnt by Ilagas. Hundreds of Maranao Muslims were evacuated over the mountain to lake Lanao. 

Expectedly, the incidents ignited the Muslim- Christian conflict in the area. That is why immediately after the incident, there were reports of Christians in Wao being ambushed and their houses burnt. The fire of conflict between Christians and the muslims was thus ignited and become not easy to put off. 

As the conflict persisted, by the end of 1971, according to government sources, the Mindanao War had taken a toll of 800 lives and there were 100,000 refugees. 

In 1972 the conflict spread to Zamboanga del Sur, where Ilaga bands appeared, and to Balabagan, near Malabang in Lanao del Sur, which like Wao had a mixed Muslim- Christian population. There were also reports that the Ilagas were preparing for an attack on Sulu province but it did not materialize. 

In July, the private armies (Barracudas), who belonged to Muslim politicians in Lanao were reportedly conducting raids in Zamboanga. Everywhere in Moroland the atmosphere was tense. Here and there small-scale fighting occurred as the ILAGA and Philippine Armed Forces (AFP) squared off against Blackshirts or the Military wing of the MIM, and Barracudas. 

As a consequence of the ILAGA- AFP collaboration, the intense feeling of animosity, mistrust, and antagonism between the Bangsamoro people and the Filipinos were generated. Moreover, it created a suffocating atmosphere whereby both people desire to be free from each other. 

While the scourge of the Ilagas, whose collaboration with the Philippine armed forces persisted, its destructive effects became more serious by Marcos’ declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972. 

The move was an attempt, among other things to pacify the Muslim- Christians conflict in Mindanao through disarming the populace, including the Moros who could no longer trust the government. 

Instead of complying with the government’s order, the Moros defied it and their first act of defiance was the attack staged by several hundreds of Maranao armed men on the Mindanao State University (MSU), Marawi city. The University campus was occupied for several days and was only regained by the government armed forces after several days of bloody encounter. 

It was after the declaration of martial law in 1972 that the Moro National Liberation Front arose and claimed the credit of armed confrontation with the Philippine government soldiers in a systematic and well-organized manner. 

The members of the group were mainly led by the youth who allegedly had undergone military training in Sabah and somewhere in West Malaysia between 1968 to 1969. The MNLF emerged as the strongest, most discipline and most coordinated of the Moro groups. 

It soon became the chief voice for the grievances and aspirations of the majority Moros. Moreover, the MNLF came to represent the plight of the Moros in the high councils of the Muslim world. The present Islamic movement or the MILF separated from the MNLF in 1978. 
 

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