Special Article
Muslim Struggle in Southern PhilippinesI
By Dr. Mozammel Haque

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a hostage crisis perpetrated by the extremist Abu Sayyaf group, and a wave of bombings in Manila’s main shopping malls – all these events helped to bring the South Philippines issue into focus, injecting gloom in the political outlook in the country. Thus the political, economic and cultural scenario of the Philippines has undergone a radical transformation recently. Violence is rife in the south where Moro Muslims are fighting for an independent homeland. This ongoing conflict in the Mindanao region has to be studied in the context of the social, cultural and economic issues of the region, as some of the worst-off areas in central and western Mindanao are inhabited by a sizeable Muslim population.

The question is: what are the grievances and demands of these Moro people? How have the successive Manila governments been responding to their demands? What are the alternatives which can be tried to resolve the crisis? Before attempting to find the answers to these queries, it is worthwhile to find out who these Moro people are and where do they stand in relation to their fellow-countrymen.

Historical Background

Land, people and their history: Mindanao is inhabited by millions of Moros who are the indigeneous inhabitants of these islands. “Mindanao is often cited as a potential engine of economic growth for the entire Philippines. The country’s second largest island is home to tropical idylls perfect for tourism; its fertile soil and position outside the typhoon belt make it ideal for agri-business. Its seas are rich in fish and the land boasts deposits of copper and gold,” wrote Deidre Sheehan in the Far Eastern Review recently. But Mindanao also has 15 of the poorest provinces in the country, the lowest literacy rate (75 percent), and the lowest life expectancy (57 years). Some of the worst-off areas, in central and western Mindanao, have 19 percent of the region’s population, which is largely Muslim. Inspite of that, Mindanao contributes 18 percent of the country’s economic output.

The Spanish and American colonization never reached these isolated Muslims. Unlike Moros, the Filipinos surrendered their land, honour and dignity to become subjects of the Spanish Crown and remained thereafter in bondage for 377 years. On the contrary, the Moros resisted and fought the Spanish colonizers for the same length of time. It is for this reason that the Moros survived as a people with distinct religious, social, cultural and political identity for centuries. In the beginning of the 20^th Century, the Americans had come into terms with the Bangsamoro people under the Bates Treaty of 1902 and the Carpenter Agreement of 1915. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1898, The Philippines was bought by the US from Spain.

Through a series of unjust and inhuman legislations, the whole island was declared public property, and, as such, all land-holdings of the Moros were confiscated and subsequently expropriated by the Christian settlers from Luzon. The government simply grabbed the lands of the Moros and gave the same to its “own people” – the Christian Filipino settlers from the north. One example of “legalized “ injustices committed against the Moros is the Quirino Recto Colonization Act of February 12, 1935 – a law without the slightest reservation in calling Mindanao and Sulu its colonies.

The floodgates of resettlement of the people from the north were opened in 1935 and continued until 1976 through 1986, that resulted in the settlement of nearly four million Christians from the northern and central Philippines, which consequently increased to their current number to form a majority. Thus, the demography of Mindanao and Sulu was changed in favour of the Christians.

In fact, the inhabitants of Sulu and Mindanao protested violently against the US-Filipino conspiracy of incorporating their homeland as part of independent Philippines, immediately after the July 4, 1946 declaration of independence till date, the Moros, particularly the Taosugs, continue their struggle against the Philippine government’s illegal usurpation of their ancestral homelands. It is for this reason that Manila adopted the Torren System of land distribution by sending nearly four million northern Christian Filipino settlers to Mindanao and Sulu between 1933 and 1976 with the sole purpose of changing the demography of the islands. Thus the contrast in history between the Filipinos or Indios and the Moros speaks well of the spirit of freedom and aspirations for sovereignty of the latter.

Jolo island, 960 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, which is in the limelight presently for the hostage crisis, is a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf. It is 98 percent Muslim and survives on fish and seaweed for nourishment. Except for its seaweeds that find their way to the US and European markets, it has no significant businesses. More than half the population is unemployed and illiteracy is rampant.

The mayor of Jolo town traces fishing rights to the core of the rebellion and the abject poverty of the predominantly Muslim Jolo, 70% of whose population is dependent on small-scale fishing, but trawlers from Manila and other major ports “are the ones invading our seas; there is no means of controlling it. The navy and the coast guard do not have sufficient patrol boats to drive the trawlers away.”

Conflict with Muslim fighters has raged on and off since the early 1970s, leaving more than 120,000 dead by government estimates, and stunting economic growth in the impoverished region. Moro Muslims have been fighting a secessionist war for the last 24 years for a separate state in the region. The Manila government adopted a divide-and-rule strategy that culminated with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signing a peace treaty in 1996 that granted the large Muslim minority limited self-rule in four Mindanao provinces and had Nur Misuari elected the governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This left out the 15,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a 1978 offshoot of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), most of whose members were former fighters of the MNLF.

Thus, at present, there are mainly three parties: the Manila government; the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), which is mediating the dispute and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace agreement with the government in September, 1999. Another breakaway faction is the 15,000-strong armed men belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has kept on fighting for an independent state in Mindanao. Then there is a small band headed by the notorious Abu Sayyaf, which is holding more than a dozen hostages on Jolo Island, with no clear-cut objectves.

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