What Peace Process?
For the life of me, I cannot understand why some Moros and Christians, including the MILF and government officials, are still calling for the resumption of the “Peace Process”.
Peace must always be strived for. But not at any price. Look at what kind of peace the MNLF got from the Philippine government! Does the MILF [...]
The Difference Between Moros and Indios
With the aborted MOA-AD between the Philippine government and the MILF still in the news, so many Indio Filipino commentators keep on repeating ad nauseam the myth that the Moros and Indios are both Filipinos since the coming of the Filipino savior, Ferdinand Magellan. Some are even saying that the Moros and Indios have always [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )AFP – MILF war in Lanao: Remembering Sultan Qudarat
The Philippine government’s all-out war against the MILF Commanders Kato and Bravo is now threatening to engulf the whole Lanao. Two days ago, fighting was reported in Gadungan, Madalum in Lanao del Sur.
This is a bad sign. The MILF should not bring the fight to Moro areas. As was learned from the 1970s war, the [...]
FREE TIBET FROM CHINESE IMPERIALISM
The Olympic torch world relay is getting a lot of attention due to protests by Tibetans and their supporters. While the current Dalai Lama has been popular in the West, the condition of his land and people are not as well known to most of the world.
Tibet has a long history of independence. At times, [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Jun Abbas and the Bangsa Moro
A few years ago, I was quite shocked to hear a Moro UP professor say that Misuari’s legacy was to give the name Bangsa Moro to the Moros. I simply could not conceive of Misuari doing something that original. Besides, I was already aware of the Bangsa Moro movement in the early 1970s, [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Moros in Video Documentaries
[from my M.A. thesis (2004) with additional notes]
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) produced a one-hour documentary containing four episodes. The first two episodes were titled: “Komunidad Mindanao” and were sub-titled Komunidad Basilan: Peace and Governance Redeemed and From War Zone to Thriving Communities: The Story of Former Camp Abubakar. The last two [...]
Review of Two Academic Articles by Moro U.P. professors
While browsing through my computer files, I saw the reviews I made of two articles by two Moro UP professors. I wrote this in September 2002
REVIEW OF ARTICLE: The Philippine Muslims: Our Link to Southeast Asia
Abraham P. Sakili (2000) Kasarinlan Vol. 15, No. 2
University of the Philippines pp. 27-34
Sakili argues that the Muslims are the [...]
War in Moroland — MNLF commander calls for Jihad (Holy War)
War is again afoot in Moroland. Ustadz Habir Malik of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has just declared Jihad or Holy War against the Philippine Armed Forces. There are again thousands of people fleeing their villages. And to add to the tension between the MNLF and AFP, the non-Islamist and non-Islamic Abu Sayyaf Group [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Bangsa Moro Conflict – Historical Antecedents and Present Impact
In September 2000, I was invited to deliver a speech/lecture on the Social Impact of the Moro Conflict at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos. Later, I uploaded the speech in my website and in one web forum I joined. Later, I found out that this speech has been linked and/or re-published in [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 6 so far )Once upon a time: Sarangany Island
Located thirteen kilometers from Tinaka Point, the southernmost tip of mainland Mindanao, is a beautiful island called Sarangany. It is accessible by ferry from Davao City or by banca from my hometown, Malita in Davao del Sur. From the Sarangany town proper, one can take another banca ride to go to Maluku (Moluccas) [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 8 so far )Milestones in Moro historiography
MUSLIMS IN THE PHILIPPINES
“…History books in the Philippines tend to lay emphasis on events in other islands and glorify national heroes from such area, as if the history of the Philippines is only that of people who had been conquered while the history of the unconquered ones do not merit a share in the history [...]
The Moro Sultanates
The Sultanate of MAGUINDANAO
The Sultanate of Maguindanao, the lower valley (sa ilud) kingdom, was a harbor sultanate relying heavily on trade and naval power. At the height of its power in the 17th century under Sultan Qudarat and Sultan Barahman, Maguindanao was the acknowledged overlord of all Mindanao, Sulu and even Borneo. The last [...]
MOROLAND – Land of the Bangsa Moro
Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan comprised the Land of the Moros since the 13th century. The lands north of it like the Kingdom of Manila were invaded and colonized by Spain. The Moro sultanates — Sulu, Maguindanao, Buayan and the Maranao confederacy — however fought and maintained their independence until the coming of the Americans in [...]
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