History[edit]
For the most part of Philippines' history, the region and most
of Mindanao have been a separate territory, which enabled it to
develop its own culture and identity. The region has been the
traditional homeland of Muslim Filipinos since the 15th century, even
before the arrival of the Spanish who began to colonize most of the
Philippines in 1565. Muslim missionaries arrived in Tawi-Tawi in 1380
and started the conversion of the native population to Islam. In 1457,
the Sultanate of Suluwas founded, and not long after that the
sultanates of Maguindanao and Buayan were also established. At the
time when most of the Philippines was under Spanish rule,
these sultanates maintained their independence and regularly
challenged Spanish domination of the Philippines by conducting raids
on Spanish coastal towns in the north and repulsing repeated
Spanish incursions in their territory. It was not until the last quarter of
the 19th century that the Sultanate of Sulu formally recognized
Spanish sovereignty, but these areas remained loosely controlled by
the Spanish as their sovereignty was limited to military stations and
garrisons and pockets of civilian settlements in Zamboanga
and Cotabato,[5] until they had to abandon the region as a
consequence of their defeat in the Spanish-American War.
The Moros had a history of resistance against Spanish, American,
and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The violent armed struggle
against the Japanese, Filipinos, Spanish, and Americans is
considered by current Moro Muslim leaders as part of the four
centuries long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro
(Moro Nation).[6] The 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese,
Americans, and Spanish by the Moro Muslims persisted and morphed
into their current war for independence against the Philippine state. [7]
In 1942, during the early stages of Pacific War of the Second World
War, troops of the Japanese Imperial Forces invaded and overran
Mindanao and the native Moro Muslims waged an insurgency against
the Japanese. Three years later, in 1945, combined United
and cities. Then, on August 4, 2008, after local officials from North
Cotabato asked the Court to block the signing of the agreement
between GRP and MILF, the Court issued a Temporary Restraining
Order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on
Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine government and
the MILF rebels in Malaysia. [12] Several lawmakers had filed petitions
with the Supreme Court to stop the Philippine government from
concluding the MOA-AD due to lack of transparency and for MILF's
failure to cut ties with the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network Jemaah
Islamiyah, which aims to establish a pan-Islamic state in Southeast
Asia using MILF camps in south western Mindanao as training
grounds and staging points for attacks.[13]
On October 14, 2008, the Supreme Court of the Philippines, by a vote
of 87, declared contrary to law and the Constitution the Ancestral
Domain Aspect (MOA-AD) of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001
between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). [14][15] The 89pagedecision, written by Associate Justice Conchita CarpioMorales ruled: In sum, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process committed grave abuse of discretion when he failed to carry
out the pertinent consultation process, as mandated by EO No. 3, RA
7160, and RA 8371. The furtive process by which the MOA-AD was
designed and crafted runs contrary to and in excess of the legal
authority, and amounts to a whimsical, capricious, oppressive,
arbitrary and despotic exercise thereof. It illustrates a gross evasion
of positive duty and a virtual refusal to perform the duty enjoined.