RECREATING THE PAST OF MUSLIM FILIPINOS IN THE MIND OF FILIPINO PEOPLE

Introduction

Recreating the past is an arduous task. Educators and students of history must take note that recreating the past requires unbiased judgement and discernment over relevant information and knowledge, strong willpower to break established systems and structures of perceived ideas in the society, and outpouring effort to seek innovative methods and practices to enlighten the people. Recreating the past is a process of enlightening the mind of the concerned individuals with the proper understanding of past events based on the lenses of appropriate Philosophies and Theories of History.

The Filipino people have been raised in an Educational System where History is introduced as a subject of memorizing dates, names, and events. Thus, the relevance and role of History in addressing social and cultural issues in the present have been undervalued. Filipino people perceive it as a useless subject that cannot help them in solving irresistible problems such as corruption, poverty, terrorism, and separatism. However, this is a grave mistake for the Filipino people including their government.

Take for instance the problem with the separatist groups of the Muslim Filipinos. In his research paper entitled, “Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Southern Philippines: A Discourse on Self-Determination, Political Autonomy, and Conflict Resolution” Dr. Jamail A. Kamlian pointed out that the rebellion of the Bangsamoro (Muslim Filipinos) is a deep-rooted problem with strong historical underpinnings. The struggle of the Muslim Filipinos could be traced as far back as the start of the colonization of the Spaniards (Santos, 2005). In simple words, separatism of the Muslim Filipinos is not based on the idea that they rebel because they are rebellious people, who do not have a sense of solidarity with the whole Filipino people. They have been conducting secessionist movement due to historical profound sentiments that have not been properly addressed because of the oversimplistic view of the top military and civilian leaders of the Philippine Government regarding the problem (Kamlian). Dr. Kamlian further explained in his research paper that one of the popular perceptions among the Filipino people today is the general tendency to perceive and consider all Muslim Filipinos as terrorists. This is the problem for a nation that has no sense of history like the Philippines. Filipino people tend to view their current condition as an incident isolated from the past events.

This is the burden of the discussion of this paper. The purpose of this paper is to help the readers become more enlightened with the narrative of injustices that the Muslim Filipinos suffered in Philippine history. It is divided into four sections. The first part presents the brief history of Muslims since their arrival in the Philippine archipelago. The second segment tackles the concise background and idea of the theories that shall be used to dig deeper into the narratives of the Muslim Filipinos; and these are the Theories of Hermeneutics, or also known as the Theory of Interpretation, and Historical Continuity. The penultimate segment provides a stipulation of comprehensive historical knowledge about the Muslim Filipinos through the lenses of Hermeneutics and Historical Continuity. The concluding section stipulates the key insights that Filipinos must take into consideration to integrate the narratives of the Filipino Muslims in the Filipino Value system.

BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSLIM FILIPINOS

At around 8th and 9th centuries, the Southeast Asian region started to undergo Islamization when the Arabs were extensively trading with the Chinese Traders (Jocano, 2001). It was recorded that “Islam had arrived in Sulu in the last quarter of the 13th century and the Sulu sultanate was established in 1451, more than a century before the start of the Spanish period in (Santos, 2005).” Jocano (2001) supported this fact when he discussed in his book that the Muslim traders and missionaries were the first group to systematically introduce a new culture to the ancestors of the Filipino people.

Based on the words of Jocano (2001), positive acceptance of the Islamic culture could be observed from the natives of “sulu archipelago, Basilan, Palawan, and Mindanao…” In relation to that, Agoncillo (1990) said in his book “History of the Filipino People” that it rapidly spread as well to the islands of Luzon and Visayas. However, the arrival of the Spanish colonizers interrupted the continuous spread of Islam throughout the archipelago and resulted to the retreat of the Muslim Filipinos to the south where they maintained their independence while persistently fighting against the Spanish Regime (Agoncillo, 1990; Santos, 2005).

Agoncillo (1990) discussed that the struggle of the Muslim Filipinos continued even during the arrival of the American colonizers, where the Americans conducted several military pacifications. He also tackled the cases of massacres to show the brutalities that the Muslim Filipinos experienced under the American conquest (Agoncillo, 1990). By 1913, Christian and Muslim Filipinos were forced to reside under a single government (Santos, 2005).

Below are the historical roots and contemporary causes that Santos (2005) cited from the research paper of Dr. Macapado Muslim:

1. The forcible/illegal annexation of Moroland to the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris in 1898;

2. Military pacification;

3. Imposition of confiscatory land laws;

4.Indionization (or Filipinization) of public administration in Moroland and the destruction of traditional political institutions;

5. Government financed/induced land settlement and migration to Moroland;

6. Land-grabbing/conflicts;

7. Cultural inroads against the Moros;

8. The Jabidah Massacre in 1968;

9. Ilaga (Christian vigilante) and military atrocities in 1970-72; and

10. Government neglect and inaction on Moro protests and grievances.

The above-mentioned historical events and information contributed to the long-persistent struggle of the Muslim Filipinos to fight for their self-determination.

BACKGROUND OF THEORIES

HERMENEUTICS. Scholars believe that Hermeneutics plays a vital role in various disciplines that comprise subject matter pertaining to the interpretation of human actions, beliefs, and intentions, and the meaning of human experiences as preserved in arts and culture (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). In this connection, Hermeneutics can be considered as the study of interpretation. Moreover, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2020) discussed that the concept of interpretive experience in Hermeneutics has been usually explained in accordance with the idea of understanding. For instance, when a person says that he/she understands something, it means that he/she comes up with its successful interpretation (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). Hans-Georg Gadamer further explained that interpretive experience is closely connected to education (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). He pointed out that successful interpretation or understanding of a particular idea, event, information or other relevant knowledge would help the person to experience an enlargement of his/her vision or understanding of his/her identity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020).

HISTORICAL CONTINUITY. Roth and Liu (2017) reviewed studies that the sense of historical continuity of an in-group displayed benefits for their social identity including collective self-esteem, positive feelings towards the in-group, and the perception that the in-group fulfills basic needs. Hence, Historical Continuity is a relevant concept that helps in building the social identity of a group of people based on the existence of the contextual events in the past. This theory is a way of looking at History with a proper understanding that events are inseparably interconnected, and must be examined based on context (Paine, 2005). Historical Continuity proves the idea that a society must have an adept realization and reflection of its past in order to solve its present problems and create a better future for its next generation.

NARRATIVES OF MUSLIM FILIPINOS THROUGH THE LENSES OF HERMENEUTICS AND HISTORICAL CONTINUITY

HERMENEUTICS. Filipinos must have a change of perspective as regards to their judgement of the narratives and conditions of the Muslim Filipinos. The Philippine Government, and even the ordinary people, would perceive their conduct against the Muslim Filipinos as a form of “defending the territorial integrity against secession and dismemberment (Santos, 2005).” On the other hand, Santos (2005) explained that the liberation fronts of the Muslim Filipinos saw this situation as a “conscious struggle to regain the historical sovereignty of the independent Moro nation-states.”

In order to reconcile the above-mentioned different perspectives, the theory of Hermeneutics is a good tool to retell and reinterpret the past events that have prevailed in the Philippine History. Exploring the past events with the Hermeneutic lens will help the Filipino people to gain empathetic knowledge and understand the long-narrative of injustices (not just by the hands of foreign powers but also by the cruelty of their fellow Filipinos) that the Muslim Filipinos have experienced.

To begin this reinterpretation, it is relevant to start the misconception about the Muslim Filipinos from the period of the Spanish Colonizers. Santos (2005) discussed that Spanish-Moro wars prevailed during the Spanish colonizers. The Spaniards used their collaboration with the Christianized Filipinos to invade the territories of Muslim Filipinos (Santos, 2005).

Santos (2005) noted that the aid of Christianized Filipinos to the Spaniards “established Christian ‘indios’ as representatives of the colonial invaders.” Consequently, these incidents contributed to the retreat and isolation of the Muslim Filipinos to the southern part of the Philippines, the place where the natives positively accepted them (Jocano, 2001; Agoncillo, 1990).

Upon the arrival and start of American rule and military pacifications, the Muslim Filipinos experienced various forms of killings. Agoncillo (1990) discussed in his book the following atrocities that the Muslim Filipinos experienced under the cruel hands of Americans:

1. In Maciu (now spelled Masiu), Lanao, there were 150-200 Muslim Filipinos who fought against the Americans but only 3 survived;

2. 200 Muslim Filipinos were killed by the American soldiers during the Battle of Taraca fort; 3. In the Bud Dajo massacre, 600 Muslim Filipinos (including non-combatants-women and children) were killed and wiped out by mortar and machine gun fires of the Americans; and

4. Muslim Filipinos were also massacred for resisting the American soldiers in the battle of the Bud Bagsak.

The above-mentioned events were just some of the recorded fights of the Muslim Filipinos to defend their territories and culture up to the point of their death against the subjugation of the American imperialists. It is also worth noting that these incidents were happening while some of the Filipino people (especially the members of the Filipino elite) in Manila were already comfortably living with the American rulers (Agoncillo, 1990).

After suffering all these injustices, the historical sentiments of Muslim Filipinos have been exacerbated due to the relevant incidents that took place in their lands. Santos (2005) explained that Muslim Filipinos experienced political and economic dislocation in the areas where they were prominently dominant due to the subsequent migration of Christian Filipinos during the Commonwealth period and the Philippine Republic. As a result, it generated a deep resentment among the Muslim Filipinos because they felt minority in the land where they were once dominant natives (Santos, 2005).

Dr. Macapado Muslim (1994), as cited in the paper of Santos (2005), noted the following contemporary massacres as the trigger of Bangsamoro struggle:

1. The “Jabidah” or Corregidor massacre on March 17, 1968. In this incident, it was recorded that Christian Superiors in the Philippine Army massacred 28 young Muslim recruits.

2. The subsequent massacres of Muslims and the burning of their homes and mosques by Christian vigilante groups, particularly the Ilaga, and some units of the Military from 1970-1972. The Ilaga vigilante conducted massacres where they were reported to carve out ears, slash nipples, pluck out eyes, and mark the bodies of their victims with crosses. Some of the massacres took place in Alamada, North Cotabato where 73 Muslims were massacred in January 19, 1971 and in Barrio Tacub, Kauswagan, Lanao Del Norte where 37 Muslims were massacred in November 22, 1971.

With all this historical information, it can be concluded that Muslim Filipinos have suffered a long narrative of injustices and cruelties from the hands of Spanish Colonizers, American Imperialists, and Fellow Filipinos. Their history in the Philippines is a horrifying record of massacres after massacres. The archipelago that accepted the culture of Muslims became a bloody killing field of their people.

HISTORICAL CONTINUITY. Proponents of this theory discussed that present event must be interpreted based on its historical roots or context. It provides a bridge from the historical knowledge of sufferings of the Muslim Filipinos to their current sentiments. Hence, the secessionist movements being conducted by certain groups of Muslim Filipinos should not be purely interpreted as marks of separation. They are products of a persistent struggle to overcome injustices and cruelties. Filipino people must interpret the attitude and behavior of the Muslim Filipinos with an understanding of the dreadful incidents that they endured.

Historical succession of brutalities and massacres against Muslim Filipinos all contributed to the formation of profound grievances among them. Moreover, the society at large did not properly educate the Filipino people with enough historical knowledge concerning the sufferings of Muslim Filipinos. Hence, Filipino people would only perceive the protest of Muslim Filipinos as an oversimplistic complaints against discrimination.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this paper is not to defend the secessions of certain groups of Muslim Filipinos. This paper aims to enlighten the Filipino people as regards to the perseverance and heroism of Muslim Filipinos just to defend their territories and culture without any sense of doubt. They were willing to die instead of accepting the rulership of the Spaniards and Americans on their land. They persisted on defending their people compared to the Filipino elite and other collaborators of the colonizers. These stories of valor only proved that there were narratives in the Filipino history that must be considered to learn the lessons of sacrifice and loyalty from the men and women of the other parts of the Philippines. These narratives must be substantively and consistently uncovered in order to retell and reinterpret the image of the Muslim Filipinos in the perceptions of the Filipino People.

By and large, Filipino People must be awakened with the gravity of injustices and cruelties that the Muslim Filipinos have experienced throughout the history. Muslim Filipinos must not be perceived as people of violence as how they are being portrayed today because of the acts that some of the separatist groups have been executing. The Muslim Filipinos must be understood with the proper background and knowledge based on the historical roots of their grievances.

Retrospectively, Muslim Filipinos have displayed to the Filipino people how they should live their lives without reservations. They are the real epitome of not giving up amid pressures, intimidations, and challenges. Young Filipinos and the succeeding generations can learn from the wisdom of valor of the Muslim Filipinos in history. The resilience and grit that the Muslim Filipinos used to stand up against their colonizers up to the point of death can serve as a reminder for the youth of this nation that Filipinos have the tenacity to endure pain and overcome challenges and trials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- Agoncillo, T. (1990). History of the Filipino People. GAROTECH Publishing.

- Jocano, F. (2001). Filipino Prehistory: Rediscovering Precolonial Heritage. PUNLAD Research House, Inc.

- Kamlian, J. Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Southern Philippines: A Discourse on Self-Determination, Political Autonomy, and Conflict Resolution. Global & Strategis. Retrieved at: http://www.journal.unair.ac.id/download-fullpapers-jgs36b20cae172full.pdf

- Paine, M. (2005). Historical Continuity, a primer What is Historical Continuity, and how is it different from Linear History?. Available at: http://michaelpaine.blogspot.com/2005/07/historical-continuity-primer.html

- Roth, J. & Liu, J. (2017). It’s About Valence: Historical Continuity or Historical Discontinuity as a Threat to Social Identity. Journal of Social and Political Psychology. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.677

- Santos, S. (2005). Evolution of the Armed Conflict on the Moro Front. Philippine Human Development Report. Retrieved at: https://www.hdn.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2005_PHDR/2005%20Evolution_Moro_Conflict.pdf

- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2020). Hermeneutics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/#UndeEduc