By - Admin March 24, 2025 Comments (0) 1 Mins Read

The Moro people "Bangsa Moro" is one of the oldest peoples of the Philippines, as it consists of several nationalities who converted to Islam in the fourteenth century AD (about 1380 AD), and they controlled the Philippine archipelago for nearly two centuries, including the city of Manila, and with the arrival of Spanish colonization led by Magellan in 1521 AD, the colonists called the Muslims of the region "Moro", a name usually given by the Spaniards to the Muslims of North Africa, and they tried to Christianize the inhabitants of the region, and the Muslims resisted them, and as a result, Magellan himself was killed. They tried to Christianize the inhabitants of the region, but the Muslims resisted them, and as a result, Magellan himself was killed, but the Spaniards were able to control the entire archipelago, including the island of Mindanao, the largest gathering of Muslims, and they called it the Philippines after the name of the King of Spain at the time, and their rule continued until 1898 AD, which marks the actual end of the Spanish Empire that ruled the country for 356 years, and its transformation into a limited state.
In the late nineteenth century, the Philippine Revolution/Tagalog War (1896-1898) against Spain ended with the alliance of the revolutionary leader Eugenaldo with the United States of America, which was fighting a war against Spain (the Cuban War). The Spanish-American War, which started from Cuba in 1898 AD, represented the beginning of the collapse of Spain's presence in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean and was the reason for their loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, in favor of the Americans in the same year, and Spain legally ceded its colony in the Philippines to America under the Paris Agreement in 1898 AD after the Americans paid compensation to Spain worth twenty million dollars, then the Philippine Republic, which the revolutionaries had declared during the war, officially declared war on the United States of America, which is known as the Philippine American War (1899-1913 AD)1913 AD), and following the end of the revolution, a House of Representatives was elected in the Philippines for the first time in 1916 AD, and in 1934 AD the Commonwealth Act was passed and the Philippines promised independence by 1946 AD, but the Japanese occupied the Philippines in 1941 AD after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, until the American General MacArthur expelled them from it at the end of World War II in 1944 AD, followed by the Philippines gaining independence on July 4, 1946 AD.
The population of the Philippines, according to the current year's statistics, is about 107 people, of which Muslims constitute about 10 or 11 million and approximately 11% of the population, living in Mindanao, Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago, and in the Bangsamoro region.

The Birth of the Moro People's Cause

The issue of the Moro people emerged with the departure of American colonization from the region and its handover to the Manila government. Throughout the Spanish and American occupations, the Moro were an independent social and political entity that was involuntarily attached to the centralized state in the Catholic Christian majority Philippines, which meant that they became a mere minority in their own country.

The first militant phase:

Since the independence of the Philippines, Muslims have tried, through peaceful means, to force the majority to recognize their status as an independent nation, but they did not succeed in that, and in 1969 AD, Moro Muslims founded the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) headed by Nur Misuari, to resist the discrimination and marginalization to which the Moro people are exposed and for the right to self-determination on the land of each of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, and with the declaration of the then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos of a state of emergency in 1972 AD in the country, an armed revolution was launched against the central government that lasted four years and killed thousands and ended with the signing of the Tripoli West Agreement in 1976 AD, which culminated in granting the Moro people autonomy in 1990 AD, which continues until today.

Second Struggle Phase

This historic phase of the Moro people's struggle for freedom was led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MLIF) headed by Salamat Hashim, which split from the National Front when it saw that the agreement signed with the Philippine government did not represent the aspirations of the Moro people for sovereignty and independence, and continued the armed jihad until 1997, when it started new peace negotiations that resulted in a peace agreement in 2014, and became the main faction that led the second phase of negotiations with the government, which led to the current law.
Meetings between the Islamic Front and the Philippine government began in 1997 AD, and negotiations began after the ceasefire in 2012 AD, and the Front, with Malaysian mediation, renounced the establishment of an independent state and accepted autonomy under the name "Bangsamoro", and in 2014 AD the Comprehensive Moro Peace Agreement was signed, and this agreement grants more political rights and economic, legislative and legal powers to the region, and includes four regions, namely: Tawi Tawi, Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and a fifth, Sheriff Kaputsuan, which was lost by a court ruling in 2008.
The other areas where the number of Christian migrants from the north has increased are six municipalities and 39 villages in two disputed regions, and there will be a referendum to determine the fate of these areas.

Bangsamoro Muslim Constituent Act

After the Philippine Parliament approved the text of the law, which was subject to painstaking negotiations, President Duterte signed it on Thursday, July 26, 2018, and a popular referendum will be held in the region within 150 days of the president's ratification, after which a representative council consisting of 80 deputies will be formed to elect a prime minister who will rule until 2022 AD. 30% fighters from the Front must surrender their weapons and return to civilian life, with the rest to follow them after the 2022 elections, as the Front turns into a political party committed to Philippine law, the most important provisions of the law:

The region is granted an interim period until 2022, after which elections will be held simultaneously with the central elections to elect the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Until elections are held, local political forces, led by the Islamic Front, will manage the transition period.
The parliament is composed of 40% parties, 40% municipal representatives, 10% representatives of non-Moro nationalities and non-Muslim settlers.
The region is allocated a budget from the central government for three years.
The region is allocated a ten-year development budget of five billion Philippine pesos per year.
75% of the region's revenue goes to Moro County, with the rest going to the central government.
It has a special judicial system derived from Sharia law, in parallel with civil courts, and non-Muslims have the right not to sue.
The territory shall have maritime sovereignty with a depth of 19 kilometers.

Inevitable questions:

A number of important questions come to mind regarding the future of the law and the possibility of its realization on the ground, perhaps the most important of which are: What were the factors that pushed the Philippine government to sign the law?
It is clear that the Moro region, which has shrunk to a quarter of its historically known territory following organized migration campaigns from the north, has become a source of concern and attrition for the central government, and therefore there has long been a conviction among many Filipino elites that it is time to get rid of this issue and turn towards other pressing national issues such as corruption, drugs and border disputes, and with the advent of President Duterte, who promised during his election campaign to complete the agreement signed between the Islamic Front and the government, and turn it into law if he won the elections, he achieved what he wanted after difficult negotiations in Congress, he was able to achieve what he wanted after difficult negotiations.
We must realize that this law is in the interest of the central state as well as the Moro minority because it ends the state of attrition represented by the state of revolution and insurgency and makes the state more devoted to building the economy and a life of prosperity for citizens, in addition to the region's addition to the Philippine economy with its large mineral, agricultural and maritime resources, which will push the country's economy forward if it happens.
It is true that the Moro people did not achieve everything they had hoped for, but they realized that the policy of resisting the state gives it a cover to erode the land until the Muslims are left with only about a quarter of the original territory, and they have reached a conviction, it seems, that asserting their right by law and demanding more is better than intransigence and losing everything, as experience has shown, so their policy can be described as "step by step" or "take and demand" policy.

Conclusion

Islamic countries played an important role in the conflict that was ongoing in the region, as the Organization of the Islamic World intervened since the 1970s in order to find a solution to the issue, which resulted in the Tripoli Agreement in 1976, and perhaps the Malaysian role was one of the most prominent roles in trying to resolve the conflict, as the last peace agreement was signed in 2014 AD with Malaysian mediation, and Turkey also plays an important role, especially through the humanitarian relief institution İHH, which was an observer and an important factor in bringing the region to peace, and most of all the positive role that these countries can play in supporting the development process in the region and ensuring the central government's commitment to implement
Perhaps one of the challenges that has already emerged is the attempt by militant organizations to undermine the law and make the Islamic Front appear impotent, which would require the intervention of the Philippine army in the region and perhaps question the usefulness of the entire law accordingly. These organizations have already initiated a series of bombings in the region for this purpose, and although they are small in number, their impact could be devastating and dangerous for the nascent experiment, which poses a real challenge to both the regional government and the central government.
The biggest challenge now facing Moro Muslims is their ability to administer the region in an adult manner that improves the lives of the people, gives them hope for the future, takes advantage of the region's great resources and its privileged location, and eliminates extremism and crime, especially drugs and piracy. The success of the Mindanao experience could also encourage the central government to adopt a federal system in the country, which would reflect positively not only on Muslims, but also on the entire Philippines

Source: Egyptian Institute for Studies - 2019