From ‘Moro wars’ to BARMM: Centuries of resistance and struggle for self-rule

First of two parts

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines – The seven-year-old Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), carved out of decades of conflict and negotiation between the government and revolutionary groups, stands as one of the country’s most ambitious attempts at self-governance for its Muslim population.

Established in 2019 following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the region replaced the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and brought together predominantly Muslim provinces and cities long shaped by insurgency and political rivalries.

BARMM now governs five provinces — Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi — along with the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, and Cotabato, and the Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province.

For many in Mindanao, the creation of BARMM represents the culmination of the centuries-old struggle for self-determination among the region’s Muslim communities. It’s a struggle that predates the Philippine Republic itself and traces its roots to the earliest encounters between local sultanates and foreign powers.

From independence call to autonomy

Long before the Spanish crown cast its shadow over the archipelago, Mindanao and its neighboring islands had enjoyed a stable and peaceful life. It was a civilization striving through the twin engines of trade and piracy, according to Tirmizy Abdullah, history professor at the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City.

In the 14th century, he said, Islam spread through the Sulu archipelago via trade and regional networks. Communities expanded through alliances, raiding, and systems of servitude, a form of slavery based on war, debt, or social hierarchy rather than race.

Abdullah said the Spanish colonizers, upon their eventual arrival in the 16th century, were surprised to learn that these people were Muslims. They called them “Moors” (later Moro), drawing a crude parallel with the Islamic tribes of North Africa.

“Spain and Portugal resented Muslims because they were under Moorish rule that conquered the Iberian rule (now Spain and Portugal) for nearly 800 years,” the MSU professor told Rappler.

Open conflict between Spanish forces and Muslims in Mindanao began in 1578, when Spanish expeditions reached Sulu and later extended into Maguindanao, marking the start of the “Moro Wars” against foreign rule.

Spanish authorities sought to spread Christianity and extend colonial control, but they were met with persistent defiance from established Muslim communities with strong maritime traditions.

“The Moros, particularly the Iranuns, were known for their naval strength and raiding activities,” Abdullah said. “They used their war and combat skills to resist Spanish colonization.”

Years of resistance meant that Muslim communities in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago remained largely outside Spanish control. The Spanish engaged the sultanates mainly through short-term treaties and trade arrangements that acknowledged neither Spanish rule nor the subjugation of the Moro people.

These agreements would later be turned against them when Spain sold the Philippines, including Mindanao, to the United States for $20 million, a staggering sum in 1898. There was no consent from Mindanao’s Muslims, only an unsolicited plan to assimilate Mindanao before departing.

From the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, which ended the war between Spain and the US, the declaration of Philippine independence, Martial Law, and the 1986 People Power revolution, historical injustices against the Moro persisted.

“The Filipinization, the integration crafted through policies that aim to turn Muslims into Filipinos, was designed by the Americans under a Filipino rule,” Abdullah said.

Muslims, once a regional majority, were suddenly reduced to a minority in land, authority, and sovereignty on July 4, 1946, when the Philippines formally gained independence under the watchful eye of the US.

“Muslims who once had a majority, now became a minority in land, authority, and independence,” he said.

Over the decades, the struggle in the Philippines for Muslim independence gradually morphed into a struggle for autonomy. Shared histories among Muslim communities coalesced into a collective identity known as Bangsa A Moro, or the Moro nation, a concept forged as much by colonial imposition as by cultural continuity.

Peace agreements, meant to bring the conflict to a formal closure, arrived tardily. From transitional justice to autonomous governance, the Bangsamoro continue their enduring fight for self-determination.

Armed struggle

After gaining independence, the Philippines largely continued policies put in place by the US. Moro communities in Mindanao were gradually marginalized as government-backed resettlement programs brought waves of Christian-Filipino settlers to Mindanao.

Programs that began under the presidency of Manuel Roxas as part of post-war reconstruction and land reform were expanded under the administrations of Elpidio Quirino and Ramon Magsaysay, reshaping local demographics and economic conditions for indigenous Muslim populations.

The late senator Ahmad Domocao Alonto, who worked to establish MSU, believed that the core of Moro identity is Islam and that peace could be achieved through education and opportunity, according to his granddaughter, Ayesha Merdeka Alonto.

The state-run university was founded in 1961 in response to the so-called “Mindanao problem,” the armed conflict fueled by historical neglect and underdevelopment.

However, issues of land disputes, marginalization, and government negligence, which fueled tensions and grievances among Moro communities, remained unaddressed but did not directly trigger rebellion.

The trigger came on March 18, 1968, four years before Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law. The killings of young Moro military recruits in Sabah, known as the “Jabidah Massacre,” sparked a new wave of resistance in Mindanao. 

The recruits, who had been trained for a secret Philippine operation in Sabah, were allegedly executed after protesting poor conditions and discrimination. 

News of the massacre outraged Muslim communities, exposing longstanding grievances over marginalization, and served as a rallying point for the formation of organized armed movements — including the Moro National Liberation Front — setting the stage for decades of insurgency. (To be concluded) – Rappler.com