| Group: | Moro people Bangsamoro people |
| Flag: | Flag of Bangsamoro.svg |
| Flag Caption: | Flag of Bangsamoro |
| Population: | 5 - 10.7 million[1] [2] |
| Popplace: | Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Middle East |
| Langs: | Filipino, English Maguindanao, Maranao, Tausug, Yakan, Sama, Iranun, and other Philippine languages |
| Rels: | Sunni Islam[3] |
The Moro people or Bangsamoro people are the 13 Muslim-majority ethnolinguistic Austronesian groups of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan, native to the region known as the Bangsamoro (lit. Moro nation or Moro country).[4] As Muslim-majority ethnic groups, they form the largest non-Christian population in the Philippines,[5] and comprise about 5% of the country's total population, or 5 million people.[1] [2]
Most Moros are followers of Sunni Islam of the Shafiʽi school of fiqh. The Moros were once independent under a variety of local states, including the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Maguindanao, and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao; withstanding repeated Spanish invasions, the Moro states remained de facto independent up until the Moro Rebellion of the early 20th century. Upon Philippine independence in 1946, the Moros continued their struggle for self-determination against a predominantly–Christian Philippines, culminating in a decades-long insurgency of armed rebel groups, chief among them the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), against the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The Moro people are guaranteed an autonomous region by the Constitution of the Philippines; the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao however did not satisfy the demands of rebel groups. A ceasefire and successful peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF led to the creation in 2018 of a region with greater political autonomy and powers, known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Today, outside of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, the Moro people are a significant minority in other nearby provinces in Southern Mindanao and in the province of Palawan, Samar, Bicol Region, and are a visible and integrated minority in various urban centers of the country, such as Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Outside of the Philippines, some Moros remain in areas once controlled by the Sulu Sultanate along the eastern coast of Sabah; others emigrated to neighboring Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei in the late 20th century due to the Moro conflict in Mindanao. Newer communities can be found today in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, and Semporna in Sabah, Malaysia,[6] North Kalimantan in Indonesia, and in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
The word Moro (a cognate of the English "Moors") originates as an exonym which, prior to the Spaniards' arrival in the Philippine archipelago, came to be used by the Spanish in reference to Muslims in general. The term originates from "Mauru", a Latin word that referred to the inhabitants of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania in northwest Africa, which today comprises the modern Muslim states of Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco.[7] With the rise of Mauritania as part of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate, Muslim armies conquered and ruled much of the Iberian Peninsula from 711 to 1492, for about a total of 781 years in which Christians became involved in conflicts to reclaim Iberia. The term came to be extended to Muslims in general. The term was similarly applied by the Spanish to the Muslim communities they found in parts of the Philippine archipelago when they arrived.
In their struggle for self-determination, the term was later adopted in the names for separatist organizations such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Rashid Lucman's Bangsa Moro Liberation Organisation (BMLO) as well the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).[8]
The recently coined term "Bangsamoro" is derived from the Malay word "bangsa", (originally meaning "nation" but altered to denote "race" in colonial times) with the "Moro" as "people" and may also be used to describe both the Muslim-majority ethnolinguistic groups and their homeland. The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro recognizes "Bangsamoro" as an identity and called for the creation of a new autonomous political entity called Bangsamoro.[9]
Though the term may carry some derogatory connotations for some, the term "Moro" has evolved to become seen as a unitary force especially by the Philippine government, despite opposition from some of the modern Muslim communities in the Philippines who object to the term's origins in the Spanish colonial era. Marvic Leonen, who was the Chief Peace Negotiator for Philippine government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has said:[10]
The Muslim-majority Philippine ethnic groups according to the Bureau on Cultural Heritage (BCH) of Bangsamoro include:[11]
See also: Malay language in the Philippines. The Moro people speak their native languages. Non-native languages spoken are Ilocano, Chabacano, Hiligaynon, Cebuano, and Tagalog, of which the latter two are used as linguae francae. This is true for Cebuano because of the mass arrival of Cebuano settlers to Mindanao. Tausug are at ease in speaking Cebuano, because both Tausug & Cebuano are Visayan languages. Chabacano is the lingua franca of native people in the Sulu Archipelago, alongside Tagalog, as well as in Basilan. Many locals and merchants in the Sulu Archipelago can also speak Sabah Malay.
The majority of the Moro people have historically resided in what is now called the Bangsamoro region, which was known as Muslim Mindanao in 1989 when the ARMM was created. That land is located in the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Palawan, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. It includes the cities of Cotabato, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, and Marawi. Some eastern areas of what is now the Malaysian state of Sabah, formerly the British protectorate of North Borneo, are also claimed by the Moro National Liberation Front as part of the proposed state of Bangsamoro Republik. However, the idea has failed since the MNLF founding leader Nur Misuari exiled himself after a clash against the government in 2013 in Zamboanga City, as he protested the further unilateral changes by the government on the mutually signed 1996 Final Peace Agreement. Misuari was labelled a "terrorist" during the siege.[12] [13] [14]
On 5 August 2008, after nearly 10 years of negotiation, with all Thebes's associated international bodies all ready to witness a supposed historic event, an attempt by the Philippine government's Peace Negotiating Panel to sign a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front through a petition by Settler politicians in Mindanao like Governor Manny Pinol and Governor Lobregat, was then declared unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court.[15] Conflict immediately broke out following the decision, with nearly half a million people displaced and hundreds killed. Observers now concur that two Moro commanders — Kumander Umbra Kato and Kumander Bravo — did launch attacks in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato as a response to the non-signing that has shaken the peace process in the region.
The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro defines Bangsamoro as who at the time of conquest and colonization were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and their descendants whether of mixed or of full blood".
Islam has greatly influenced Moro cultures since the era of the Sultanate of Maguindanao and Sulu. Large and small mosques can be found all over the region. In accordance with Islamic Law, alcohol consumption must be avoided at all cost, fornication is prohibited. Pork and pork byproducts are not permissible. Fasting during Ramadan and providing charity for the poor are mandatory in Islam. The Hajj is also a major requirement as it is one of the five pillars of Islam. Moro women cover themselves using a veil (tudong) just as in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and southern Thailand. Moro men, especially the elderly, can always be seen wearing a black skull cap called the songkok or the white one called the taqiyah. Differentiating from their Malay relatives in neighboring countries, the only main problems associated with Moro groups is that they are not always united and lack a sense of solidarity.[16]
See also: Kulintang and Music of the Philippines.
One type of traditional Moro musical instrument is the kulintang, a gong made from bronze or brass found in the southern Philippines. This creates a unique sound that varies in the speed it is hit which includes the Binalig,[17] Tagonggo and the Kapanirong plus others more also normally heard in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
While the majority of Moros attend both government and private educational institutions especially in key cities such as Davao, Cebu and Manila, some may choose formal Islamic education and are enrolled in Islamic/Arabic institutions like the Jamiatu Muslim Mindanao in Marawi City. At the tertiary level, there are government and privately run educational institutions in traditionally Moro-majority areas. In Marawi, many attend Mindanao State University, the second-biggest state university in the Philippines next to University of the Philippines, which has several campuses across Mindanao. Mindanao State University also has an Islamic Institute within its campus (the King Faisal Centre for Islamic Arabic, Asian Studies). With the assistance of scholarship grants, some even attend university outside the country.
Prior to the arrival of Islam, the territories of what is now Bangsamoro were ruled by leaders who held titles such as rajah and datu. The Malay kingdoms interacted and traded with various tribes throughout the islands.
In the 13th century, the arrival of Muslim missionaries such as Makhdum Karim in Tawi-Tawi initiated the conversion of the native population to Islam. Trade between other sultanates in what are now Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia helped establish and entrench the Islamic religion in the southern Philippines. In 1457, the introduction of Islam led to the establishment of sultanates. This included Rajah Buayan, the Sultanate of Maguindanao and the Sultanate of Sulu, which is considered the oldest Muslim government in the region, and was annexed by the United States in 1898.
Like the empire of the Bruneian Sultanate, Sulu and other Muslim sultanates in the Philippines were introduced to Islam through Chinese Muslims, Persians, and Arab traders. Chinese Muslim merchants participated in the local commerce, and the Sultanate had diplomatic relations with Ming China. As it was involved in the tribute system, the Sulu leader Paduka Batara and his sons moved to China, where he died and Chinese Muslims subsequently brought up his sons.[18]
See main article: Spanish–Moro conflict, Piracy in the Sulu Sea and Castille War.
In 1519, a Spanish expedition to the East Indies began in search for a westward route to the Maluku Islands (the "Spice Islands"), led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. In March of 1521 the fleet reached the Philippine archipelago, where Magellan was to die in the Battle of Mactan before the expedition's successful circumnavigation of the Earth and return to Europe. There were several subsequent expeditions to the islands, including that of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1564, which marked the beginning of Spanish colonization in what later became the Philippines.
The local sultanates actively resisted the Spaniards. With intentions of pacifying the islands, the Spaniards made incursions into Moro territory, erecting military stations and garrisons with Catholic missions, which attracted Christianised natives of civilian settlements. The most notable of these are Zamboanga and Cotabato. Spain was in the midst of the Inquisition which required Jews and Muslims to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave or face the death penalty; thus Spaniards tried to ban and suppress Islam in areas they conquered. In response, the Moros challenged the Spanish government, conducting raids on Catholic coastal towns. These Moro raids reached a fever pitch during the reign of Datu Bantilan in 1754.
The Spanish–Moro conflict began with the Castilian War of 1578, fought between Spaniards and Moros in areas held by Sultanate of Brunei. While the Castilian War itself lasted only two months, the conflict between Spain and the Moros continued for centuries thereafter. The string of coastal fortifications, military garrisons and forts built by the Spaniards ensured that Moro raids, although destructive to the economies of the local settlements, were eventually stifled. The advent of steam-powered naval ships in the 1800s finally drove the antiquated Moro navy of colorful proas and vintas to their bases. It took at least two decades of Spanish presence in the Philippines for extensive conquest of Mindanao to begin.[19] The Sultanate of Sulu, one of the last remaining sultanates, soon fell under a concerted naval and ground attack from Spanish forces. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Moros in the Sultanate of Sulu allowed the Spanish to build forts, but Spanish control over these areas remained loose as their sovereignty was limited to military stations, garrisons, and civilian settlements in Zamboanga and Cotabato (the latter under the Sultanate of Maguindanao). Prior to that, in order to retain its independence, the Sultanate of Sulu had ceded Palawan to Spain in 1705, and Basilan in 1762; The Sulu Sultanate also granted partial rule over Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to Spain.
In 1876, the Spaniards launched a campaign to placate Jolo and made a final bid to establish a government in the southern islands. On 21 February of that year, the Spaniards assembled the largest contingent in Jolo, consisting of 9,000 soldiers in 11 transports, 11 gunboats and 11 steamboats. José Malcampo occupied Jolo and established a Spanish settlement with Pascual Cervera appointed to set up a garrison and serve as military governor. He served from March 1876 to December 1876 and was followed by José Paulin (December 1876 – April 1877), Carlos Martínez (September 1877 – February 1880), Rafael de Rivera (1880–1881), Isidro G. Soto (1881–1882), Eduardo Bremon, (1882), Julian Parrrado (1882–1884), Francisco Castilla (1884–1886), Juan Arolas (1886–1893), Caésar Mattos (1893), Venancio Hernández (1893–1896) and Luis Huerta (1896–1899).
The Chinese sold small arms like Enfield and Spencer rifles to the Buayan Sultanate of Datu Uto. They were used to battle the Spanish invasion of the Sultanate of Buayan. The Datu paid for the weapons in slaves.[20]
The population of Chinese in Mindanao in the 1880s was 1,000. The Chinese ran guns across a Spanish blockade to sell to Mindanao Moros. The purchases of these weapons were paid for by the Moros in slaves in addition to other goods. The main group of people selling guns were the Chinese in Sulu. The Chinese took control of the economy and used steamers to ship goods for exporting and importing. Opium, ivory, textiles, and crockery were among the other goods which the Chinese sold. The Chinese on Maimbung sent the weapons to the Sulu Sultanate, who used them to battle the Spanish and resist their attacks. A Chinese-Mestizo was one of the Sultan's brothers-in-law, the Sultan was married to his sister. He and the Sultan both owned shares in the ship (named the Far East) which helped smuggle weapons.
The Spanish launched a surprise offensive under Colonel Juan Arolas in April 1887 by attacking the sultanate's capital at Maimbung in an effort to crush resistance. Weapons were captured and the property of the Chinese were destroyed while the Chinese were deported to Jolo. By 1878, the Spanish had fortified Jolo with a perimeter wall and tower gates, built inner forts called Puerta Blockaus, Puerta España and Puerta Alfonso XII, and two outer fortifications named Princesa de Asturias and Torre de la Reina. Troops, including a cavalry with its own lieutenant commander, were garrisoned within the protective confine of the walls. In 1880, Rafael Gonzales de Rivera, who was appointed the governor, dispatched the 6th Regiment to govern Siasi and Bongao islands.
Muslim Moros like Datu Piang, and the families with the Kong and Tan surnames are the results of non-Muslim Chinese merchants marrying Moros and their Han Chinese Moro mestizo offspring became Muslim.[21] [22] The Chinese merchant Tuya Tan of Amoy was the father of the Moro leader Datu Piang who was born to a Maguindanaon Moro woman.[23] [24]
Filipino Christian settlers were massacred by Moros under Djimbanan, his brother Datu Ali and Datu Piang in September and December 1899.[25] Only the Chinese were not harmed.[26] [27] [28]
An Urdu speaking Afghan named Sharif Muhammad Afdal lived in Mindanao and helped advise Datu Piang.[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] Sharif Muhammad Afdal helped the US try to convince Moros to cooperate during the Us war against the Moros.[40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] Serial set (no.4001-4500)[46] [47] [48] [49] [50]
"The Moros then looted the town, although apparently the Chinese residents, with whom they were always friendly, were not molested - only the Filipinos"[51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56]
Datu Piang, as a Moro-Chinese mestizo, led Chinese and Moros to defeat and kill Filipino revolutionaries under Ramon Vilo who tried to seize control of Cotabato when the Spanish left in January 1899.[57]
At "the time of the Spanish evacuation [Piang] had become the richest Moro in Mindanao and the most influential chief in the island" according to Najeeb Saleeby. Cotabato based Chinese merchants who had close links to Datu Piang bought 150,000 Mexican dollars worth of gutta-percha, almaciga, coffee, beeswax and rice in 1901.[58] [59] [60]
See main article: Moro Rebellion.
After the Spanish–American War, Spain ceded to the United States administration of the Philippine archipelago, which included Sulu and Mindanao, under the 1898 Treaty of Paris. As their administration began, American officials began to suppress any remaining violence and resistance in the Moro areas. Attacks by juramentados persisted in the early 20th century but were eventually stopped by the Americans.
The Moros fought against the Japanese occupation of Mindanao and Sulu during World War II and eventually drove them out. Moros also assisted the resistance against the Japanese in North Borneo after the failed Jesselton revolt, in retaliation for which atrocities were committed against local peoples by the Japanese.
Both Americans and Japanese committed massacres against Moro Maranaos. 400 Maranaos were massacred by US artillery bombardment by Captain John S. Pershing in 1903. Japan invaded Mindanao in 1942 and issued orders for Maranao to surrender bladed implements so that every 2 households would share one blade and give up all their guns, killing anyone who didn't obey the order. The Japanese executions of Maranos who kept their firearms led to Maranao revenge attacks against the Japanese. Manalao Mindalano was one of the Maranao insurgents fighting the Japanese. The Japanese at Dansalan massacred and bayoneted 24 Maranao men and women civilians in Watu village while searching for Manalao Mindalano even though they had no relations to his guerilla group. The Maranaos then destroyed a Japanese convoy by shooting at their tires and drivers causing them to crash off bridges and roads. Maranao houses were then burned by the Japanese. A Japanese infantry company was slaughtered by Maranao villages with bladed weapons in September 1942 in the battle of Tamparan. The battle started on the 1st day of Ramadan on 12 September when the Japanese, searching for a Maranao guerilla leader in Tamapran sent 90 Japanese infantrymen there. The Japanese used mortars to fire on the Maranaos after they defied the Japanese patrol. Maranaos around and in Tamparan came with bladed weapons and rifles to attack the Japanese as they heard the mortar shells. Most of the Maranaos only had blades and charged the Japanese directly through their mortar and bullet fire while Maranos with rifles attacked the Japanese from the rear while crawling in the grass. The Japanese were pinned down from three directions and an out of ammunition and tried to escape to boast on Lake Lanao but were stuck in the marsh. The Japanese were stuck in the mud by their boots while trying to use their bayonets as the Moros who went barefoot hacked at them. Japanese tried to surrender as they were defeated by the Maranao refused to accept surrender. Some Japanese soldiers under 1st Lieutenant Atsuo Takeuchi tried to escape to a boat on the pier but the forced labour on the boats already escaped into the lake and the Japanese were stuck. Takeuchi tried to surrender and threw away his sword but a Maranao hacked him to death and mocked him, saying "No surrender Tekeuchi!" as he recalled that Tekuchi boasted before that Japanese never surrendered. 85 Japanese were hacked to death on the lake near Tamparan. The Maranaos hacked and mutilated the Japanese corpses. The Japanese responded to the battle by bombarding Maranao villages including Tamparan from air and artillery for 25 days, massacring civilian children and women Maranaos. 80 Maranao civilian children, women and men were killed in a mosque by a Japanese bomb. Maranaos then blocked culverts, cut down trees and razed the road to block Japanese movement as the felled trees and blocked culverts would cause the rain to destroy what was left of the roads. At Ganassi a Japanese garrison was besieged by Maranao. At Lake Lanao the Maranao severed communications and contact between 3 Japanese garrisons in total by the conclusion of 1942. Before US guerillas even started their insurgency against Japan, Lanao Plateau was liberated by Maranao from Japanese control. Moros in other places like Datu Udtug Matalam fought the Japanese in upper Cotabato Valley and Bukdnon. Japanese avoided Datu Udtug since 1942 because he constantly attacked their garrisons. Udtug Matalam's brother in law Salipada Pendatun fought the Japanese in Bukidnon, expelling them from Malaybalay, the provincial capital, Del Monte airfield and garrisons in Bukidnon in a period of six months in 1942-1943 and winning a battle at a POW camp.[61]
97% of the Japanese soldiers occupying Jolo were slaughtered by Moro Muslim Tausug guerillas according to Japanese soldier Fujioka Akiyoshi, who was one of the few who remained alive by the end of the war.[62] [63] Fujioka described the Moros as brutal and recalled how the Moros sliced the livers and gold teeth off Japanese soldiers, and in one month slaughtered 1,000 Japanese after they came to the island.[64] [65] Fujioka and his fellow Japanese soldiers were overjoyed when they finally reached an American base to surrender to, since they knew their only other fates were to be butchered by Moro Muslims or starvation.[66] [67] Injured Japanese were slaughtered by Moros with their kris daggers as the Moros constantly attacked and charged and butchered Japanese soldiers.[68] [69] Fujioka later published a diary of his war experiences on Jolo called titled "Haisen no ki: Gyokusaichi Horo-tō no Kiroku" and a private account "Uijin no Ki".[70] His diary mentioned that the majority of Japanese on Jolo were slaughtered, succumbing to malaria and to Moro attacks. Japanese corpses littered the ground, decaying, infested with maggots and smelling horrendous. Fukao and other Japanese survivors surrendered to the Americans to avoid being slaughtered by the Moro Muslims and after they were in American custody a group of Moros grasping their daggers saw them and wanted to slaughter them. One Moro mentioned how his 12 year old son was eaten by Japanese soldiers at a mountain and he was slaughtering all Japanese soldiers from that area and Fujioka saw he was wearing the wristwatch of Japanese Sergeant Fukao.[71] [72] [73] [74] [75]
See main article: Moro conflict in the Philippines.
After gaining independence from the United States, the Moro population experienced many grievances; exclusion from mainstream Philippine society, discrimination by the Philippine government (which they perceived as former foot soldiers of Spain), the loss of their ancestral lands to settlers and corporations due to land-tenure laws, the formation of settlers-militias, and a government policy of "Filipinisation". These eventually gave rise to armed secession movements.[76] Thus, the Moro struggle for independence has lasted for several centuries, starting with the Spanish colonization and continuing to the present day.
During the 1960s, the Philippine government envisioned a new country in which Christian and Moro alike would be assimilated into one culture. This vision, however, was generally rejected by both groups, as Christians recalled Spanish reports of fierce Moro resistance, and Moros remembered three centuries of subjugation by the Christian Spanish. These prejudices continue to this day. Because of this, the national government set up the Commission for National Integration (CNI) in the 1960s, which was later replaced by the Office of Muslim Affairs, and Cultural Communities (OMACC), now called the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA).
Concessions were made to the Moro after the creation of these agencies, with the Moro population receiving exemptions from national laws prohibiting polygamy and divorce. In 1977, the Philippine government made another palliative attempt to harmonize Moro customary law with national law. These achievements were seen as superficial. The Moro, still dissatisfied with the past Philippine governments' policies and misunderstanding established a first separatist group known as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari with the intention of creating an independent country. This initiated the modern Moro conflict in the Philippines, which still persists, and has since deepened the fractures between Muslims, Christians, and people of other religions. The MNLF is the only recognized representative organization for the Muslims of the Philippines by the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC). By the 1970s, a paramilitary organization created by settler mayors in collusion with the Philippine Constabulary, mainly of armed Hiligaynon-speaking Christian settler residents of mainland Mindanao, called the Ilagas began operating in Cotabato originating from settler communities.[77] In response, Moro volunteers with minimal weapons also group themselves with much old traditional weapons like the kris, spears and barong, such as the Blackshirts of Cotabato and the Barracudas of Lanao, began to appear and engage the Ilagas. The Armed Forces of the Philippines were also deployed; however, their presence only seemed to create more violence and reports that the Army and the settler militia are helping each other.[78] A Zamboangan version of the Ilagas, the Mundo Oscuro (Spanish for Dark World), was also organized in Zamboanga and Basilan.
In 1981, internal divisions within the MNLF caused the establishment of an Islamic paramilitary breakaway organization called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The group continued the conflict when the MNLF signed a Peace Deal with the Philippine Government in 1994. It has now become the biggest and most organized Moro armed group in Mindanao and Sulu. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is now on the final stages of the required annexe for the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro that has a set time-frame for full implementation in 2016.
See main article: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Although initialed in a 1976 ceasefire, come 1987 as a fall out of the EDSA revolution, peace talks with the MNLF picked up pace with the intention of establishing an autonomous region for Muslims in Mindanao. On 1 August 1989, through Republic Act No. 6734, known as the Organic Act, a 1989 plebiscite was held in 18 provinces in Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago and Palawan without considering the effects of continuous migration by settlers from Luzón and the Visayas. This was said to determine if the residents would still want to be part of an Autonomous Region. Out of all the Provinces and cities participating in the plebiscite, only four provinces opted to join, namely: Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Even its regional capital, Cotabato City, rejected joining the autonomous region as the settlers has now greatly outnumbered the Moro and Lumad. When before they were a majority, they have now become a minority. This still led to the creation of the ARMM, however. A second plebiscite, held a year more in 2001, managed to include Basilan (except its capital, Isabela City) and Marawi City in the autonomous region. Of the original 13 provinces agreed on the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the MNLF, only 5 has now been included in the present-day ARMM due to the continuous settler program of the Republic of the Philippines that started in the earnest of 1901.
The ARMM is headed by a regional governor as the outcome of the Final Peace Agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government in 1996 under President Fidel Ramos. The regional governor, with the regional-vice governor, act as the executive branch and are served by a Regional Cabinet, composed of regional secretaries, mirroring national government agencies of the Philippines. The ARMM has a unicameral Regional Assembly headed by a speaker. This acts as the legislative branch for the region and is responsible for regional ordinances. It is composed of three members for every congressional district. The current membership is twenty-four. Some of the Regional Assembly's acts have since been nullified by the Supreme Court on grounds that they are "unconstitutional". An example is the nullification of the creation of the Province of Shariff Kabungsuwan by the Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) as this will create an extra seat in the Philippines Congress' House of Representatives, a power reserved solely for the Philippine Congress — Senate and House jointly — to decide on. Some would say, that this proves in itself the fallacy of its Autonomy granted by the Central Government during the Peace Process.
See main article: Peace process with the Bangsamoro in the Philippines. The Moros had a history of resistance against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The armed struggle against the Spanish, Americans, Japanese and Filipinos is considered by present Moro leaders as part of the four centuries long "sovereign based conflict" of the Bangsamoro (Moro Nation). The 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese, Americans, and Spanish by the Moro persisted and morphed into their current war for independence against the Philippine state.[79] Some Moros have formed their own separatist organisations such as the MNLF, MILF and become a members of more extreme groups such as the Abu Sayyaf (ASG) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the latest formed is Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF).
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front boycotted the original referendum formed by the Organic Act referendum and continued their armed struggle until present. However, it remains a partner to the peace process, with the Philippines unwilling to brand MILF as a "terrorist" group. Today, the Moro people had become marginalises and a minority in Mindanao, they are also disadvantaged than majority Christians in terms of employment and housing; they are also discriminated.[80] Due to this, it has established escalating tensions that have contributed to the ongoing conflict between the Philippine government and the Moro people. In addition, there has been a large exodus of Moro peoples comprising the Tausūg, Samal, Bajau, Illanun and Maguindanao to Malaysia (Sabah) and Indonesia (North Kalimantan) since the 1970s, due to the illegal annexation of their land by the Catholic majority in certain regions, and armed Settler militias such as the Ilaga which has destroyed the trust between Mindanao Settlers and Moro communities. Further, Land Tenure Laws have changed the population statistics of the Bangsamoro to a significant degree and has caused the gradual displacement of the Moros from their traditional lands.[81]
See main article: Bangsamoro Basic Law. The office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process has posted a set of frequently asked questions about the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the draft of which President Benigno Aquino III submitted to Congress leaders. The Bangsamoro Basic Law abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and establishes the new Bangsamoro political identity in its place. The law is based on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March 2014. It is still to be implemented by the Government by Congressional mandate.
See main article: Cross border attacks in Sabah, Refugees of the Philippines and Illegal immigrants in Malaysia. Due to their conflict in the southern Philippines, many Moros have emigrated to the Malaysian state of Sabah since the 1970s in search of better lives because of the close proximity between Sulu islands and the state of Sabah.[82] Most of them are illegal immigrants and live in squalor, thus the Sabah state government are working to relocate them into a proper settlement to ease management.[83]
In 2018, a unification gathering of all the sultans of the Sulu archipelago and representatives from all ethnic communities in the Sulu archipelago commenced in Zamboanga City, declaring themselves as the Bangsa Sug peoples and separating them from the Bangsa Moro peoples of mainland central Mindanao. They cited the complete difference in cultures and customary ways of life they have with the central Mindanao Muslims as the primary reason for their separation. They also called the government to establish a separate Philippine state, called Bangsa Sug, from mainland Bangsa Moro or to incorporate the Sulu archipelago to whatever state is formed in the Zamboanga peninsula, if ever federalism in the Philippines is approved in the coming years.[84] [85] [86] [87]
Moro nationalists/separatists:
Moro websites: