Overview

This lesson is aimed at providing students with a thorough understanding of groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, Moro National Liberation Front, the New People’s Army and their role in the southern Philippines. It will also address current conflicts between such groups with the Philippine government, and other intervening nations. In addition, it will discuss the focus on groups such as these since the September 11^th tragedy.

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Brief History of the Moro Struggle

What is Moro?

1. Moros vs. Spanish Colonization
2. Moros vs. American Imperialism
3. Moros vs. Philippine Industrialization

(i.) Around 1280 A.D., before Spanish settlement in the Philippines, commercial expansion between China and Arab lands brought about the presence of Muslim traders to southern region of the Philippines—Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Thus, the Islamic teachings expanded to these parts of the islands as well.

Then, in 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, lands and claims the Philippines for Spain. For more than 300 years, the Spanish ruled over islands of the Philippines, especially Luzon and the Visayas. However, colonists failed to conquer Muslim areas in the South. During Spanish rule, there has been movements and continued resistance against colonization among the Moros. Ever since those times, tension has existed and grown between the Muslim and Christian communities in the Southern Philippines.

These days, the war in Mindanao should not be called a "holy war," for it is anything but. It is not a matter of religion, but a matter of political agenda between a community of minorities and government control.

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Moro National Liberation Front

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Moro Islamic Liberation Front

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Abu Sayyaf

1. Abdurajak Janjalani, a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front, meaning "Bearer of the Sword" in Arabic, organized the Abu Sayyaf Group with the financial support of Jamal Khalifa, a Saudi businessman. After Abdurajak Janjalani was killed in a conflict with Philippine Police in 1998, his brother Khadafi took the main leadership position. Like the MNLF and MILF, the Abu Sayyaf is also seeking a separate Islamic state for its Muslim community.
2. The Abu Sayyaf’s extremist activities include bombings, extortion, assassinations; but their kidnappings are what they are infamous for. Throughout the past decade, ASG has engaged in several kidnappings of Americans and local Filipino businesspeople as well as schoolchildren. They target mostly Westerners because they tend to make for larger ransom payments. The ransom used in exchange for the kidnapped has become a source of funding for the group, allowing them to purchase better weaponry and attracting others to join this dangerous faction.
3. The Philippine’s central government has been pursuing Abu Sayyaf by sending thousands of soldiers to the southern islands of the Philippines. However, they have not been successful in freeing ASG’s hostages.
4. The United States has always viewed the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization, and since the September 11^th attacks in New York, the U.S. has sent over 500 troops overseas to assist Philippine soldiers in the pursuit of the Abu Sayyaf. However, many residents of these regions are not happy with the presence of U.S. forces.
   
   In an article, one local stated, "They shouldn’t be allowed here. Many of us in Basilan are against it." He also added, "It’s important that they don’t make the wrong move. Many people are just waiting to pick a fight with them because so many are against them."

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New People’s Army

1. The development of the New People’s Army came about in 1969 under the direction of Jose Sison, former editor of the journal, Progressive Review. This guerilla group is the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
2. Like several of the other separatist groups, the New People’s Army disapproves of U.S. military presence on the Philippine Islands. In December 2001, the U.S. State Department has added the NPA to its list of terrorist groups; however, unlike the Abu Sayyaf, the New People’s Army has not been recognized as a major threat to the U.S. since the September 11^th incident.

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Photographs

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References:

Macaraig, Twink. "U.S. Troops in Basilan Raise Fears of Wider Armed Conflict" <http://cna.mediacorpnews.com/articles/2002/02/20/
southeastasia21517.htm> 2002.

Butler, Amir. "An Enduring Freedom for the Moros" <http://www.islamphil.com/index_main.htm>, 2001.

Williams, Michael C. "FOCUS ON PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON"
<http://www.inps-sison.freewebspace.com/focus.htm>, 1986.

Other Related Resources:

Katherine G. Adraneda, "Human rights activists to GMA: Please stop Basilan siege," Cyberdyaryo (October 11, 2001).
<http://www.cyberdyaryo.com/features/f2001_1011_04.htm>

T.J.S. George, Revolt in Mindanao: The Rise of Islam in Philippine Politics (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1980).

Eric U. Gutierrez, The Re-imagination of the Bangsa Moro: 30 Years Hence, Institute for Popular Democracy (Manila, Philippines).
<http://www.ipd.ph/pub/wip/reimagining_bangsamoro-e_gutierrez.shtml>

Salah Jubair, A Nation Under Endless Tyranny (Lahore: Islamic Research Academy Mansoorah, 1997).

Cesar A. Majul, "The Iranian Revolution and the Muslims in the Philippines", in John L. Esposito (ed.), The Iranian Revolution: Its Global Impact (Florida International University Press: 1990), pp. 262-263.

Cesar A. Majul, The Contemporary Muslim Movement in the Philippines (Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1985).

Thomas M. McKenna, Muslim Rulers and Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern Philippines (Berkeley: UC Press, 1998).

Marites Vitug and Glenda M. Gloria, Under the Crescent Moon: Rebellion in Mindanao (Manila: Ateneo Center for Social Policy and Public Affairs and Institute for Popular Democracy, 2000).

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