Challenges to human security in complex situations

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Editors

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Mertie B. Mendoza Victor M. Taylol'

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Mindanao: A Historical Overview

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Mindanao

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with-

plu.". Without such an understanding'

ur"ru'rrog.u*s introduced may result in

600 Kilometeu

-dro.

4lt

an

tr@

The Peoples of Mindanao and Sulu

,0

"*

in

1890

j 1

i,J

id

,lt

ririitri.t reveal that from a low of 21'300 Lr"iit*t in northern and eastern Mindanao

Spanish colonial Presence

the settlers of the twentieth centurY, from Luzon and the Visayas and their descendants. Based on the 2000 census tf," Lo*ua communities, some 35 tribes and sub-tribes in all, constitute B'9 percent of the region's total population; the Moros' thirteen

N

+

.

bv Ferdinand Blumentritt (the Austrian .ih.ronrrrit", who pioneered in Philippine

,".""tiy, mostly

it4indur,ro as the tri-peoples of the region'

d0Awl-rAw

200 Kilometers

ethnograPhiC maP made

These are the indigenous peoples, consisting oi the lrariorrs Lum-ad tribes and the Islamized Moros, on the one hand, and those who came

vears or so io speak of the inhabitants of

cf

100

In an

lvlovement

1890

decade of the seventeenth century ii."-fr*t"t grew to a high of 1'9L'493,in the area to as far as the Zamboanga ="rnu"n"n"rul irr" west' Thjs clearly indicates that tne'no "..i.3rirl" lareescale movement of population from ot north"took place during the three centuries

It has become common in the past twenty

surq

100

into Mindanao'Sulu

till

and .ii.r""Errirfru i" the laie nineieenth century now Rizal' Dr' of Jose ;";;. a ciose friend ,t'lrtltutil benefits for the people in. the hero), which he based ,"*ion, Uut these benefits may not last if the ifr"-pflif*ri"" national by Jesuit missionaries' do not take into consideration the o" tf-r" autu put together geo-"tthnic settihg clearly "r"onru-t shaped have ii"-rtri"au"Lo-sulu which trends irrui? ilttori.rl o"f thut period' most of the resion and which continue to influence i"Ji"^i"t that as was inhabited bY Lumad brie-fly mainland chapter d;;;;r, This there.

J"r"tJp*."tt by the Islamized followed lhat .o-*""ities, inlluences i.llrri J"s.rlb"t the key historical or small strips of the coastal areas g;ups.

Only Philippines Southern the shaped have most of whom t" referred to as Mindanao and the ilur"'o..,rpi"a by Cfuistians *tlut during the inhabitants local "un trom *"i. .o""*tt Sulu ArchiPelago.

Soanish colonial period Catholic missionary

i

ii:

in

be truly effective, must begin ur"u, oI an understanding of the historical context

vifgyii,

-'j' lo0

Anv humanitarian intervention

ffi,

li.,r

No Largescate Population

lntroduction

ifi411

WlLilzon

jll :\r

Rudy B.Rodil

il

i,?,

etf,nolinsuistic groups alt'ogether' make uo 18.5 iercent ind tne settlers and their .l'"scenclants, for Iack of a better" nane' 72'5 percent.

ir,ih" thitd

The Name: Mindanao-Sulu has In today's common usage' Mindanao

tsut tnrs come to inciude the Sulu archipelago the-early from perhaps phenomenon, is a recent in Part to the efforts of the Moro isi0r the Liberation Front (MNLF) to unify I ne natron' or Moro Moros into the Bangsamoro

;rritt ilrti"*f

|

Mindonao: A Histoticol Ove$ew

16 1

17

Rudy B. Rodil

region has always been known as Mindanao an? Sulu even in'spanish documents, obviously in reference to theiultanates of Sulu which had existed from 1450 and Maguindanao which was formalized by Sultan Kudarat in 1619' The name Mindanao evolved from Maguindanao' Tiiis paper will use the term Mindanao-Sulu to refer to the region.

Major Events influence History The flow of Mindanao-Sulu history was punctuated and substantially influenced by inajor events, namely, (a) the settling- in of Islam, (b) the arrival of Spanish colonialism in the Philippine archipelago mainly in Luzon and the Viiayas and in northeastern Mindanao'

(c) the intr;sion of American impenalism, and (d) the unification of the entire Philippine

archipelago into one Republic of the Philippines in1Si6. E-ach of these major events had its own major sub-plots but these will be touched upon as the story moves along.

The lslamic Factor It can be assumed that prior to the coming of Islam in 1380 or earlier in the Sulu archipelago and around 1515 or earlier in central Mindanag all communities in the Mindanao-Sulu region were indigenous. Social structures were presumably- simple, akin to what the Spanish irissionaries had noted about the barangays of old. Ethnolinguistic SrouPS were not really tribes but small clan communities living more or less independently of one another, although

groups beionging

to the same linguistic

identities tended to generallyinhabit contiguous territories" There were intermarriages and other forms of alliances to define inter-clan and intercommunity relationshiPs.

It sounds more correct to say that Islam settled into the regiory brought in by Arab traders from ]ohore, who by the very nature of travel by sea crafts propelled by the wjnd, would tarry for long periods in one place, their trading camPs, as it were, waiting for trade goods-to come from neighboring communities ind the monsoon winds for their sailboats' This was how these traders married into the local

population, converted their new relations, and revolutionized their social structures; a new ummah or Islamic community was formed; the sultan became the vice regent of Allah within the realm. Islam had found a new home.

Islam revolutionized the indigenous It brought with it not only

communities.

monotheism or systematized belief in one God called Allatr, enshrined in the Holy Qurhn, but also the idea of centralized leadership, the new social structure of the state, which was what a Sultanate was all about. In due time these Sultanates buiit up their respective armies, on

land and at sea, had their internal economic system, and were engaged in interisland

tiade or what may correspond to what

is

known today as international trade, as far as the Celebes, Southeast Asia and China. These Sultanates also signed treaties. At the arrival of the forces of Spanish colonialism, at least two states were already in place to oppose them, the Sulu Sultanate and the Maguindanao Sultanate.

The same may be said to a certain extent with respect to the Pat a Pongampong ko Ranaw, the four principalities of Lanao whose maturation into a sultanate was unfortunately truncated by the arrival of the newcomers.

The Spanish lmPact Spain came to colonize and to Christianize The

with the use of both sword and cross.

Spanish

king enjoyed the relationship of

patronato real wiLh the Pope whereby he 'b".r*" responsible for and supported the evangeiization of the inhabitants of his new-

land that belonged to no one, thus justifying their acquisition and denying the possessory and

founl lands,

terra nullius, lhey called them,

territorial rights of the indigenous inhabitants.

After demolishing Muslim opposition in Mindoro and Manila and conquering almost all of the Visayas and Luzory except for the peoples of the Cordillera in the northern portion of Luzon, the Spanish colonial power attempted to bring the Sultanates of Brunei, Sulu and Maguindanao to their knees, but without success. The establishment of native Christian communities in the northern and

United States should have recognized and of at least three restored the independence-1946: the Republic ir',a"o"na""t states in luly the Sultanate of SuIu and Philippines, of tlie vT :ri.1" $";T. ffi ;"'Tl'l,", of Maguindanao' The logic of il"';^;;tt, lasted from 1565 to 1898' during the Sultanie Mindanao' as well as the

eastern Parts of T"*ii^i*^ peninsula in western Mindanao'

#:#'f;:

';'flil";;ffi

the

emPloYed

.sPaniards of Filipino fighters' and in return regularly retiliated by hitting the

;:;;.;.it ;'# M;;;; Luzon' the li-rtitiir"ir"i communitiesandineastern parts ;;";';". and the northern ], ii'"l".uo. Thousands of captives on both

colonialism won out on the premise that there were no nations there, only different tribes fishtins one another, the grant of independence *"", ,ol""ly fbr the Republic of the Philippines; the Moro political entities were unilaterally integrated into it.

I''a"r'""i"a up in slavery' Mutual bad blood American lnstitutions *"t"ul diitrust characterized the feelings ""^J each for Christians Filipino :;*il;;.t and The American Covql!rylt accumuiated negative energy field

iirit r"*ri"t very much alive today'

Iin"r.

oa" bu side ironically with many

coexisting instances

tri-people relations built up 91e1

oi

"*."tt""t y"u.. oi li,ittg i.u.y

together

in the 20th

centurY.

US Denies RealitY

of Nations

-irIr,941ce4 a number of vital instituii'oil ihat had taken the deep roots and have remained to this day: Arnerican brand of representative governmenf th" torr"rr. land titling system; compulsory public education; and caPitalism'

Verv earlv into their rule the Americans

u .ur,r,.rt of the lslands and "ondu.ied oromptlv classified the population into two

Couching their own imperialistic ambitions i-,uut cateeoties, Christians and non-Christians' al=leged mission to civilize' the also desZribed as civilized and uncivilized early and emerican impeiialists of the late 19th respectivelv, the latter being made up of the iOtf, .ut t"ti"t claimed that when they arrived Moros and-so-called "wild tribes'i in the Philippines, there were no nations there' only different tribes fighting one another,thus Regular political units, provinces and negating the very legitimate existence of the towns"were ireated for Christians; special soiu Soitrttutu, the Miguindanao Sultanate and orovinces and tribal wards were established the newly established state of Pilipinas' Their ior non-Christians for ten years, both as a *u, *ith Spain was an excuse to occupy the recognition of their distinci identities but also Philippines. The Treaty of Paris of December and ispecially to form transition mechanisms ffi98, became a transaction whereby Spain that #ould iacilitate their integration into ceded for twenty million dollars the Philippines the mainstream Filipino community' Studies t ot -Ch'ittian cultures but to the Americins, ignoring the fact that the *ud" Philippines had already won its independence these were found inadequate to serve as a from''Spain six months earlier, and the basis for a civilized government and were Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao and the dismissed to givq !9

with the

ot

*u."

Pat a Pongampong ko Ranaw had all this time

remain"drn.olonized by the Spaniards until

then. Any question on this spurious transaction in Paris r.iras however rendered moot and academic when the Americans subsequently conquered the Filipinos and the Moros by force of arms.

Logic of Colonialism Wins By the logic of indigenous patriotism, the

promptly

1'g3y

-w"!tgln

institutions.

The Torrens SYstem As new alleged owners of the Philippine Islands, the Arnerican government reserved tlle right to classify the lands and distribute ;il; ;"L" to the inirabitants' Public land laws

were passed institutionalizing the

;;;;*:

-torrens Th" first of these laws' enacted by the

lAindonaa: AHisto|icdl Qverview

18 |

Rudy B. Rodil

American-dominated Philippine Commission

in 1903, declared as nu1l and voicl all land grants made by traditional leaders if done without government consent, thus getting native iandholding and land use institutions neatly out oI the way. The public land laws then went into force, settlement areas were opened in L;uzort and Mindanao after these had been declared as public lands, which settlement areas weie opened to settlers who were variously known as homesteaders, homeseekers, coionos, as

well

census,

ls

the migrant population steadily shoots up 69.17 perce:nt in 1948 to 76 percent. in 197i1, while the Lumad population slips to 4.52 percerrt in

!.:.

Public Land Laws, Resettlement and Marginatization

in

and

5 has.

4

has,-

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i:,

{: i|,

MoRo veAn sETTLERs ' MUSLIM 1948 69.17 26"31 24'"63 72.9 1960 19198 {)70 ., 76"00

LUMAD

2.47 4.OA

basic causes o{ the Moro rebellion. Its outbreak in'1972 was precipitated by a series of violent events like the fabidah massacre, widespread

violence among the civilian population in

centrai Mindanao, mainly Cotabato and Lanao de1

Nortg prrnctuated by

th.e

hv lwo eiarrts, bolh Anrerican multiuationals' p*t f,toi," irr Bul'iCnon and Dole in South

tn:I,?,To

$;,T1,:l,

e

Cotabato.

lrony: PovertY and Conflict in

Abundance CorPorate Activities At this point in time Mindanao-Sulu ('orrrinq side hv srcie with settlers were sante boast ot'- various maior manufacturing the tn. can although nol ",*""irt" i."tities were activities, like fish canning in General Santos' I'hese frrrmer' 1fis as ::,#;;.;t rlow early ."t""", in Davao and Iligan' coconut oil and -.t', ,o.i-corDoratlons during themostlv r"iL,, in Davao del Sur, Davao City and owrred llrl',]t in? i**'iu"rr' century' It was itinun, u"a many more' T'here is no need to spaniards' and Japanese' l];i;;;i;""', shortage because it has both enrrePrenetrrs and their Japanese i"r", u.,

I;"';;;;"t" :.:;it. for example, wlto tt ansfornred Davao Pltilippines l.i""il"- rr,,ta capital -o1 ihe out against the broke uprisings i"""rri'urr"a pronrptlv i;;;;;;; ;.P"nsion but these were inveslors' was the American '"l,t "."tt"a'lt '"tJr:-''.o".tft.ally the American Chamber th" rubber interest whtr ;ier;;;,." 'nato retain Mindanao as an thrice ]ir**rt"a ;;;;i.^n terrilory rather than incorporale and ;";;J;*, I'hiliPiine Commorrwealth moqt o{

".,"rgy g"eothermot tvJro ,rd

ry Philippine Republic But """"ir1f invLstors lef t for one reason ol al'ior'ller these

4.52

Marginalization extended beyond of settlers stalted population to politics, to economic life, to in 1913 with the opening of the agricultural crrlture, to control over land and tesources. one of the colonies of PikifPagalungan in the Cotabato To marginalization may be traced

lands. Ttre story of lesettlemel1t of migrartts florn Luzon and the Visayas tr, Mindanao is also the story of t.he marginalization of the indigenous inhabitants. The census data provide incotrtrovertibie evidence. tir the 1903

1: ,r.

ii:

Largescale movement

later, the newcomers outnumtrr:red the locals, the latter severely nrarginalized irr their own

:i It.

t,

(in percentages)

1024 has

Valley for the first 100 colonos from Cebu' These colonies were followed with officiallydeclared resettlernent areas, supported by at ieast three government resettlement projects during the American colonial period, two during the Cornmonwealth, and no less than five during the Republlc. Thking their cue frou these governnlent initiatives, thousands of other settlers were presum-ed to have come on their own. By 1970, less than sixtv years

'l*.. ,.i:

,'+'

j I

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,,t

Censuses

24 has.

1

il,

j:' t:

in Mindanao-Sulu, 1948ha 1974

Table 1. Public Land Laws and

Resettlement

*rl :i:,

',i:

Tabte 2. Demographic Changes

may be acquired bY whom.

;r:1931

19.98

a combined total of 24, percent. Seen terms of towns, only eighl municipalities remained witir Lumad majority by 1970; only five provinces and fifteen towns outside the-"e five were with Muslim majoritY"

amended forms, specified. not only how- land may be acquired but also how rnany hectares

1919

and that of the Moro Muslims to

pelcent for

in its original

,!:

,â‚Ź

1948,

(m

i,J,li,;., in;,, i,:t

migrants and tumble down to 52-"98 perr:ent for the locals. Population data'became better organized from tire 1948 census. From here,

as to corPorations.

The public land law,

r

population. whiie the combined populatiorr of ihe Moros and Lumad is 63.03 percent. Tire figures go up to 47.02 percent in 119"18 for the

r., i, ra.

3'lll,1 "ii: ll':T".llJ ,i",," ''*r" lu govern themselves t)wn aricesrral Jomains

tlte estimated nurnber o{ migrants of the total Mindanao-Sulu

36.97 percent

re

Manili massacre

in Manili, Carmen, Cotabato and

Thcub,

Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, all perceived by Moro Muslims as concrete evidence o{;r trend to extelminate them. T'he trplisingwas an assertion of Morcr self-dete:rmination, characterized by the r:onscious e{fort of Muslims to identify th.ernselves as belongin$ to a Baugsamoro ol Moro nation, the desire to establish iheir own Bangsam.oro reprrblic Foulteen years iater, tire Lumad ieaclers would thernseives deciare their or*'n struggle, though unarrned, for self-

19

'

resources' enouglt to

;";;;t;; MiJanao-sulu rhere are guarded .frirfit .f oil and gas deposits in central There are Minaunuo and in the Sulu sea ;trr,;f"d claims that Mindanao-Sulu' the

'r"nion once adverlised in the 20th century as due ;;: ;r; of promise (read full of promiseeasily carr resources) natural io i t'uurniunt {eed the whole nation'

While so much r:an be said of Mindanaois no denying Sulus natural resources, there the only region in the country wirere

world U-r, ,"* ,iuy"a o't untl ! ai ter the second

;hrii, it

Economic Boom

p"oriJri-utt"rtion

il;;;;;;'

political"conflicts exist side bv side:

Front (MNLF)/*lJ rit" Del Monte Pineappie in Bukidnotr' in ffiM;.-fu;,t.nd Liberation ft"afry Millar in Lanao and Weyerheueser Liberation Front (MILF)-led ii"-^"iJ^*r.

Basilan and Cotabato' Su;ntr-ot. struggle for sr'lf'determination (lndigenous ,t ri?rr"t back io I968; the Lumad to.selfdid nol Timber extraction and processing prolilerate until the early 1960s when a small timber corporate-concessionaircs .rt""*J "*rry all of Minclanao's commercial Lr"tit. *"t" ,fian five million hectares of them' these had contributed substantially ;.il;i forest cover' to the rap'icl decline of Minclanao's 54 i" if.r" f s50t, 59% of Mindanao was Iorested'five and forest prinrary being which oI ;t;"; l"r."nt secondary Fifleen years later' primary secolldary iorest wus down to 17 percent and dotted also leases Pasture percent ZS

lumher

of

1

17

,, to ,d"';;sJa;nrrkia.,or-,

,;;;^i" .".lfi""a

especially

in the provintes

of

the undivided Cotabato' Postwar

^r-td plantations

m'ostly

in

Lke banana'

though

Davao and South Cotabalo' presence since the late

nroiccted a dominant Pir-rpple production was held tightly

fi;il.

<-rf

their own right

a",Jr^l^r,i"" that goes back to 1986' and the i"r,t f.,. nalional democracy with a socialistof Pa rty ^I""^"ti "" nr rrsued bv the Communist PA) il;"Ilh'l;;r;"'-New Peopte's A rmv (CPP-N the only region It is 19b-8 in out itrririt"'d-k" of

il;l;;;""

of the 2o Poorest Provinces found' are country the

sPeak of And so one should ask: can we abundance of land this f,r*url-r".rrrity in the need to wltere so many are poor and feel rebel against the status quo?

Political settlements needed to The MNLF war' stretching from^1970.

Php 73 biltion 199(r. had cost the governmenl combat biui.n) uisr

;;;;;;"r;

s

in

Z0 I

Rudy B. Rodil

wake sonte expenses alone, and had left in its ii6.ooo a"ra, several thousands more maimed and wounded, and untold damage to proPerty

and to Philippine society's moral fiber' An asreement

Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), an important step to pave the way for the formulation o{ a comprehensive compact within one year.

Opposition politicians raised their objection

State Domain vs"

had been signed, the Tripoli to the MOA-AD to the

in 197o granting autonomy to the Muslims within the integrity of the Repubiic of the Philippines. After the plebiscite the listed territory of the autonomy was reduced frcrm 13 to five provinces. It took twenty years to come to terms on how it should he implemented; finally in 1996, the fina1 agreement on the implementation of the Tripoli Agreement was signed. To this day, however, the MNLF has complained that several provisions of the Agreement have yet to find reaiization. ,Agreement

Having split earlier frorn the MNLF, the leaders of the splinter group formed themselves into the Moro Islamic Liberation

Front (MILF) in 1984, rejected the terms of the 1996 Agreement signed by the MNLF and

resumed the Bangsamolo struggle for self-

determination. This organization entered

into its own peace negotiations with

the government sinceJanuary 7997 and was about on

Ancestral Domain in Mindanao-Sulu

Uncertainties in the Peace Process

lludu B, Rodil

The government peace negotiating par{el was Jissolved by the Office of the Presider\t; a nen paradigm {or the peace process waF defined by thc government: DDR (disar*r*"ni, denrobili zatj<.rn and reinlegration) a nd authentiN

conimunity dialogue, and a new panel wa[

MILF Resumes Bangsamoro Struggle

to sign a Memorandum o{ Agreement

Sup.reme Court, applied and got a temporary restraining order effectively preventing the signing of this Agreemen! the Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the MOA-AD is unconstitutional.

forrned. The peace process continues to be or]r an uncertain track, expecied to be switching on and off for its resumption.

In broad brushstrokes, these are

historical elements that have

the

brought Mindanao-Suir.r to the point at which :it is now as well as the major chalienges facing the region today. Any humanitarian interventions must be aware of these elernents and see how, in their own way, they can contribute to addressing the challenges which still exist.

lntroduction The conflict over land and territory is

thal clearly the product o[ a series of events of developments internal ihe inRuJn."a Mindanao-Sulu and the Philippines' It is not domains of iust land, il is domain. lt was the ,h" Mu.,,, anrl the l,umad that was taken ot'er' 'oack 'Ihe Moros and the Lumad w'ant these law' by and agreement by and secured,

Spanish colonial ambition led Spain to conquer not only central and northern

and in total disregarci of in<iigenous systems/ the region was laid oPen to governmentsponsored resettlement programs.

This combination of events consequently led to the marginalization of the Moro and Lumad communities in practically all major aspects of the'ir lives in less than cixly years: in their own lands and domain, in the sphere of governance. rn economic life, in education, jn culture. The policy ol governrnent was amalgamation of the non-Chri.stians into the mainstream FiliPino communitY"

Philippines but also certain parts of Mindanao'

The colonization and Christianization of northern and eastern Mindanao and Zamboanga was part of her strategy to subjugate Moroland.

American success at armed conquest and colonization of the entire Philippine

archipelago including the areas of the Suiu and Maguindanao sultanates and the Pat a Pongampong ko Ranaw has left very deep and iasting impact on the Mindanao-Sulu region.

The entire area was placed under one unifled political structure and governance, although there were distinguishing features between the Special Moro Province, the special Agusan province (combined areas of Agusan and Bukidnon) and the two regular provinces of Misamis and Surigao. Landirolding practices

were transformed into the Torrens system under the umbrella of the state-adopted regalian doctrine, and within this framework 1

Muslim hrdependence Movement

The marginalization plocess generated

a corresponding accumulation of resentment and dissatisfaction, and reached its explosive point in the MIM1 -MNLF-MILF uprising in i968, and the Lumad assertion o{ their own right to self-determination in 1986'

At ihis Point we become witness

to

Moro and Lumad articulations o{ political

aspirations, both against and within the framework of the Philippine state, coverlng political iclentity and right to self-governance' to territory and all resources therein'

"1ui*

But this rs also the point in time when the state apparatus, the migrant population itself'

economic system and the cultural milieu stand in the way of these claims' Ban6;samoro

tl-re

claims to self-determination and ancestral

territo-rv express the need to break away from a the staie uppurutrt itseii, or at least create

2? & Rudy B. Rodil

oomoinin tlindondo"Sulu Stote Domoin vs. Ancestrfll

secure niche within this apparatus; it must also reckon with other claimants, the Lumad especially/ who will contest said claims with

their own counter-claims in areas which overlap their own.

This is

a

very complicated situaiion indeed.

l{ow do a1l stakeholders con}e to a satislactory arrangement? We need to step back into history

for a while.

Geoethnic Situation Today Mindanao-Sulu has 25 provinces.

The names of these provinces will be used to pinpoint traditional domains of the Moros and the Lumad in Mindanar:_

__

1890 ethnographic ^ The Sulu

by Austrian

map of Mindanao_

ethnographer Ferdinancl Blumentritt was rendered iecently into digital form by Dr. Sabino padilla, an ar.,thropolJgist of the University of the philippines, lrzlaiila !r*p.:r, The peoples of the-region were classi{ied into three: Cristianos, Moros and Infieles (infidels). T'he Cristianos cor-rsisting of nearly 200,000 people were stretched out

in thin strips of territory, a small area in whai Ciiy, a long stretch from Dav|l : lo- Pl"1o Oriental to Surigao del Norte to Aerrun ,r.-i

Norle, to M jsamrs Oriental to IIigan tJ iV i,,.*,.

Occidental to Dipolog_Dapitan-to Sindanean Day and /.amboanga City. From there ine

must take a leap to find a snrall co,rmutrrtu-,lt

Cristianos, also known lodav as o.

"1,rro"r,,,,.

Zamboanguefios irr what is now Zamboanga City. [See 1890 Map]

Heavy colt(:enlldtions oi Mt,ro communities were found in what is now

Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, Basilalr ani the Sulu Archipelago. 'fhere were also strips of \4oro communities along the coast from tire left side of the morrth of ihe I,uiangi, facing the sea, to Sultan Kudarat to Generil SantoJ City b Sarangani Islands, and then pockets of communities around Davao gulf.. in Davao

City, Davao del Norte and Divao C)riental.

From the r.ight side of the mouth of pulangi, there is a narrow strip of Moro communitils, presumably lranun, all the way to pagadian.

Zamboanga del Sur. And

a few

rn"ore in

Zamboanga_ del Sur and Zarnboanga Sibugay

o 1890

ln"l

l#

lpk*l I -\nLlR-,

i

I

I

*Y.'b,i).Sl( Lr",w#i,

I{'

I I

,rt{SI

I :'e-" 9' l'___i

I

Map a Ethnografc0 del Archipelago Filipino F Blum

enlritt

I890 Grupo

ElTeitoriodeh5

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Zatrhoarrga del Norte' west errel ot and the 3l

rhe :li''^i i;;;,1:':',":"i*:llr,'l:;

.t,'lffi[j*i,#]fri kn:l.i:: ll:;" iTi;lifl[l '.u"*"n': as traditional :: Jl;"it:lii.t' tts lhese crtne pe,pies' leading rl i5 80.,(r ro

ll],.11,,i', i' rltat lll ii]" .",,tJ'; ort

Ihese irrde ed ate thett

tradrtional dornatn'

Suttanate Dominance

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Sulu' Sulu Suitanate inr:luded Basilan'

southern Palawan ..a1d n91h T^*;;;; Zanrboanga ciitv' if the sultan ;1'", il;;; ;;; ;;," ;.;"rlul iha,ihar o1 Maguindanao were f6* l513,ri,z".l tribes in the terrilory Badiao (only attd in Sama Strltt: ,i- ,:r*r* jrr Tawi' hal scrrled on land) il;'.";;; arrd rle.Sulu ",r*t, fr*l un1,rn Cag'ayan 'rr Moll-'og and 1or l'alawanr t"r,'f,rJ* i,f "-an' Yakan in *"i"f."n'*rf rrt Soulhern Palawart; ;;til;;: ";i thc Kalibugan tn Zamboang'a' lhe Batak r.."r-i.i""tir"a tril'es included and the ol southertr Palawatt i;;;r,;;; No '*i u"ir""t"" "r-,,rF Zambo'rnBa l'eninsula have occuPlcu

to othe, tribe has been known ts no cleat'Tlrcre them be[ore .rti ,"tti",:r"t l'alawan norihern that .ri',.r*"':",t"vident e

f"ff'within lhe territory "t tl"to ?:]: have "r", .oi*,-r", Muslirn settletnettts in5eem the southern

domains *rtile already only At iheir peak' the sultanates' t;'"il;''3"i Aborlan southward to "-iti"Iirt ^ *:I. a' u'"* ;;.tir"-;;"iing from ma J;l::I "n.o,,.'puu'" Balabac. boullrlaries The same "t).""r-r""g ko Ranaw lSee map of corrrbirred covered The Maguintlanao sultanate iil,i+rre,' ia.,nao Sr'r Itana tesl

24 a

State Domain vs. Ancestral Domainin l{indanao'Sulu

Rudy B. Rodil

the present provinces of

Maguindanaq Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabatq Sarangani, Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental; also the provinces ol Zamboanga del Nortealmost in its entirety, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga City would also belong to Sulu when its Sultan was more powerful than that of Maguindanao. Islamized tribes that may

program, settlers from Luzon and the Visayas came in droves, all of whom operated within the {ramework and protection of state laws.

In today's political structure, the Moro Province encompassed the 17 provinces of Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur; Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sarangani, South Cotabatq Sultan Kudara!

Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur; Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga

be categorized.as subject of the Maguindanao

Sibugay; Basilan, SuIu, Tawi-Tawi.

sultanate included the Maguindanao, Iranun and Sangil. Also the Kalagans of the Davao Gulf area who reportedly became Muslims only in the 19th Century. The non-Muslim tribes were the Subanen in Zamboanga; the Teduray, Ubo, T'boli, Bla-an, Manobo in the Cotabato area; the Bagobo, Bla-an"'again, Tagakaolo, Ata, Mangguangaru Mandaya

and Mansaka, and Manobo in the Davao region, and the Bukidnon and Higaunon in the Bukidnon border, as well as in Iligan City in Lanao del Norte. It is extremely difficult to determine from historical sources to what extent and under what terms the latter group of people (the non-Muslims) were subjects

of the sultanates. Also, in the specific case

of

Zamboanga peninsula, no study has yet been made specifying where the Sulu

sultanate's suzerainty ended and where the Maguindanao's influence begun.

Pat a Pongampong ko Ranaw had both Lanao del Norte, Iligan City and Lanao del Sur.

In Maranao traditioru Pongampong a Balo' i was supposed to extend as far as Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental but this is

contested by

tl're Higaunons who admit that they and the Maranaos share a common ancestry but an accord had been entered into in the past called tampuda hu balagury a peace pact in which they agreed on certain territorial borders between them.

When the American coionizers came, they cornbined the Suhl Maguindanao and Ranaw territories together, minus Palawan, and formed the special Moro Province, officially composed of the five provincial districts of Davaq Cotabato, Lanao, Zamboanga and Sulu.

With the instituti on alization of the resettlernent

After its lifespan of ten years, the Moro province was abolished, its five provincial districts graduated to regular status m popular election of officials" The same th happened to Agusan, its components tu

into the regular provinces of Agusan a Bukidnon. New administrative struc were born: Department of Mindanao and Sulu,

Bureau of non-Christian Tribes, Commission on National Integration (CNI), and so on. Both

mainstreaming and marginaiization were happening at the same time, acculturation and deculturation, expanding operationalization of the modern form o{ governance and the defanging of traditional customary laws. Both Moro and Lumad were severely hit by this.

Lumad Assertion Lumad articulation of their right to selfdetermination was iniiially made through the founding congress of Lumad Mindanaw in June 1986. Bisaya being their lingua franca, representatives from 15 tribes agreed to adopt Lumad, a Visayan word meaning "na!ive," as their common name. Then they declared their right to self-governance within their respective ancestral domains. In 2001 they started to view themselves as "first nations"

after the fashion of indigenous tribes in Canada and other indigenous communities of the world; they also started to explore the concept of one day having their own Lumad autonomous region in Mindanao. These self-

determination-related concepts found their way into the Indigenous Feoples R.ights Act (IPRA) which all:ws indigenous communities among others to file for and obtain titles to their ancestral domains. This is the first time

Act of 1903 recognizing ancestral

Commission qince the Philippine -passed

ilji'"'i^*

wui

ll:in:

;l,i: liJl:in lf *{*rnxi}r never been Public domain' has ;; ;;;""

or

public land

in volume and Their articulation increased in reaction to the dimensions new ,"orir"J [,ip-fr4nf peace negotiations where, among titled ancestral domains were Itfor., "u"r-tt'"ir ancestral domain claim' MILF the t".i"J"a in learned their lessons from the GRPthey nriVJilr.r." talks,1975 to 1996, where iheir found yet participation no i.rJ uUtirf"r"ty i"raiiir"rf domains included in the territory of lr[indanao it'r" artono*oos Region in Muslim

;;;t;.

ilnrr{fr4f, this time they insisted on their

ir^rticipation during the GRP-MILF talks True'

ir., had one Lumad member in the Government riitle nep"tti. of the Philippines (CRP) Panel Group' and three in the GRP Technical Working u.J uttott',", one in the MILF Panel's Technical Workinx Group. But they were not content with this for"ihe MILF took the position that the Lumad are part of the Bangsamoro, so is their territory, although they conceded "free choice" to them on whether they wished or not to be part of Bangsamoro. This triggered a strongly worded position paper from Lumad leaders' More than 200 Lumad leader-participants,

in their August 2008 meeting in Cagayan de Oro that while they recognize ani iespect the Bangsamoro identity and right to self-determination, they, too, have declared

th-eir own distinct

identity and right to self-

determination. Calling them Bangsamoro and

inciuding their domains in the Bangsamoro ancestral domain is a violation of traditional peace pacts variously named pakang'"?P", dyandi, tampuda hu balagury or khandugo entered into by their ancestors in the pas! these have not expired and are still very much in effect today. On the other hand, the Tedurays, Lambangian and Dulangan Manobo

tribes, already inhabitants in Maguindanao, within ARMM, do not oPpose their inclusion in the Bangsarnoro ancestral domain but ask that the Bangsamoro respect their right to selfdetermination, traditional governance and

J

75

tribal justice system, their right to ancestral domain and to the natqlal r.gqgurgel -wlthin, and their right to their own distinct identity and culture. They felt this as necessary because in the present ARMM, the Regional Legislative Assembly has yet to enact an ancestral domain law since its inception in 1989 to protect the interest of the indigenous peoples within the Autonomy. The Indigmous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) which is designed to enable the indigenous people to pursue and protect their

inteiests is not operative within the ARMM. Without an ancestral domain law within the ARMM, there is no way that the indigenous communities will feel see ure-u,nder the.law-

Native Titte vs Torrens Title There is no denying that there exists an

inherent contradiction between native title and torrens title. Both are deemed private though one is communal and the other individual. Although lhie L987 Constitution recognizes the ancestral domain rights of indi[enous communities there is as well the inheient contradiction between state domain

and ancestral domain; which is why at the same time that there is IPRA, there is also.the

mining law and other laws which allow or

enablJcorporations to intrude into indigenous ancestral domains. Thougtu the negotiation wiih the MILF leaves the ground wide open for claims and counter-claims.

Ancestral domain is one of three agenda items in the GRP-MILF peace talks in 2001' the first time it became a major agenda item' If under IPRA" claim to ancestral domain is anchored on occupancy and possession since time immemorial, in the GRP-MILF nesotiation, the MILF definition of ancestral doirain is rooted on two fundamental factors:

tribal land and territorial domain of

the

sultanates. Both do not form pari of public domain. The claim therefore is not tenurial

but political. The MILF is not just after a ,1".,i land, they plainly want recovery of

"f territory. The Lumad have reason a oolitical io-bu u.t.o*fortable; they had cited in their wltn statements some negative experlences Moro abuses in the Past.

Dontainin Minclanao'sdlu State Dornainvs An(estro{

26 a

RudY B. Rodil

The government resettlement Program in the whole country proceeded on the

fundamental assumption that the state owns the entire territory, that the state reserves the right to classify and dispose of the land u..orJing io law, that lands classified as public domain are alienable and disposable. These were the very same lands declared open for resettlement or homesteading.

Now, we are not only confronted with Bangsamoro ancestral domain ciairn amidst or alongside with private lands covered by the

torrens titles, they must also reckon with a political twist born out of the formation of the Republic of the PhiliPPines.

The PoliticalTwists and Unsettled lssues

There is no single communitY

todaY,

indigenous or otherwise that does not fall within the jurisdiction of a local political unit' The inhabitants are viewed therein as citizens,

not as belonging to this or that tribe ol this or ttral family but as individuai citizens. When the constiiution says sovereignty resides in

the people, the reference is to the individual citizens, not to their tribal or family affiliation Now, there is a prescription in the constitution and the local government code that in the event that a political unit, whether province, municipality or barangay is created, rnodified,

merged with another, or abolished, the people of the affected units will have to express their decisions, to agree or not io agree, in a plebiscite called for the purPose.

'Ihe establishment of the ARMM weni precisely through this process. Should there arise a new GRP-MILF peace agreement caiiing for a<ljustments in the ARMM territory, there is so far no way to get arour"rd this prescription

except by a constitutional atrendment. Nr-'vr the question has been asked-which has nevel been asked irr ear'lier peace negotiations: what if the territory in questiort is ancestral dor-nain, a territory that is presur:ied to have never been public, a territory that is covered not only by a native title brrt was also part ol state terlitories that were taken and integrated irrto a r:olonial

^-r

aPProvat

r"ntutiv"

that requires alr

answer in the resolution of the Bangsamoro conflict. No less than thirteen provinces will be affected, and if we bring the Lumad into the picture, the issue of ancestral domain and right tc self'detenninatiorL will encolrlpass practically all o{ Mindanao-Su1u'

]i

The IPRA is perhaps one of the most historic pieces of iegislation in Philippine political history. There was reference earlier to the Philippine Commission Act of 1903 declaring as null and void all iand grants made by traditional leaders without the consent of government. IPRA abolished and

lf:]

,i/ 8,,

on Indigenous Peoples (|JCIP) reports that fronr 2002 to 2008, titles to 71 ancestlal dorr-ains iotaling 1,635,977- hectares have been awarded

nationwide, bene{iting 333,848 individuals; while iitles have been issued to 180 ancesiral lands totaling 5,628 hectares and benefit.ing 2,947 individuals. In terms oI hectarage, Mindanao's toial CADT is 829,42-4 her:tares or 50.69

per cent of tota! mational. [-umad leaders seem ir.npressed with

in Mindanao do not

I

seem

that

*:Xll*f't'[::ffiX""::l::*T[ilH: t]reir CADTs. wait for

.

:t!

.,orns that those segmen

;lt iljl,"ff i';"'::.il?,"i" J,J: 1:#x Xilr}ili minorities :I}fla'iffil;;P;;1""''"" their articulation for

:r,:r:

.sr

,

1i

;.

afl

t

"

r-u, n,

a,,,a,j:,':'Iilifr

r-or the Lumad'

l!:'

:H.l;*

self-

progressing to niore refined rietermination is

,t :!i.

l:

it, ''L

il

::i.

ta

'|

As of May 1, 2008 the NationaJ. Comrrtission

rirra

-#**ffi'*tr#-tr-**,#ffi

;:. r{.:

ask, is the status of Lumad claims to ancestral domain, whether at the levei of the Certilicate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) or the Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT)? The question must be asked because IPRA in the last one hundred years is the most prorr'.ising legislation by Congress for the Indigenous Peoples Is the government delivering?

n rhe

*or".o b""use theit nu*rber :l*";;;;;; lnthe ilff'l:J;1".il"'u"nu"a""'vdispersed

I

rS

After slightly more than ten years of implementation of IPR,\ what, if one rnay

conc{usion

ll, lyjl,;il"X"urd arr-."-' hard work lres plerrty of r

eADT-CALT among the Lumad

reversed this .Act, after nearly one century in operation, and after ihe Lumad and the Moros had been reduced to approximateiy a quarter of the Mindanao-Sulu population. IPRA cloes not only recognize ancestral domain, it also aliows their titling"

self 'gr:vernancc

ffi ,.**,.,r

ciaim? This question has yet to be answered.

It is important at this point to realize that this cluestiorr

27

Ji I Ij : i' iltift:*fl "*:: tli [**, * h*lli[:";l,,"i fu ;:; *':-:',:,i;';"*.i,,ra,,*,i''titt"' ('r 'tr"!.-' il:::ffi;J;.'un69rransratedintomore

territory without the plebiscitary consent of its people? Can the vote of non-traditional residents invalidate the ancestral dornain

is a lundamental

'Amonv'

corlce['ts' frorn iI'err demands rrr Iheir Pt]ll:::'l

I

1i

1:

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tl. il

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