October 2009 Newsletter Media
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is the region the Philippine government has turned over to the Muslim minority in southern Philippines. These provinces follow Shariah law. However, the Muslims lay ancestral domain claims to 14 provinces on the island of Mindanao. The map shows the areas controlled by Christians in green and the official ARMM provinces in orange. You can see from the map, the Philippine Muslims claim a significant amount of territory that is occupied by Christians. These areas are where many terrorist attacks happen.
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A Timeline of Terrorism
1380: Arab trader and Muslim missionary Makhdum Karim build the first mosque in the Philippines on the island of Mindanao.
1457: Islamic converts establish Sultanates – rulers who were in charge of territory ruled under Shariah law.
1521: The Spanish arrive in the Philippines, bringing Christianity with them.
1565: The Philippines officially becomes part of the Spanish Empire.
1754: To neutralize the Spanish colonists resolve to colonize the island of Mindanao, Islamic Moros begin raiding Christian settlements. The Muslims have been fighting against the Christians since that time.
1898: At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, the Spanish ceded the Philippines to the United States.
1899: The Philippine-American War begins as the U.S. seeks to claim the islands for itself. Although the war officially ended with America colonizing the islands on July 4, 1902, Muslim separatists such as the Moros kept fighting until 1913.
1935: The Philippines becomes a commonwealth electing its first president – Manuel L. Quezon. About this time the Communist Party shows up in the Philippines. The communists would later orchestrate an armed insurrection on the island of Mindanao in 1948. They solidified their armed resistance in 1968 when they formed The New People’s Army (NPA). The NPA continues its armed insurgency on Mindanao today.
1941: The Japanese invade the Philippines during World War II.
1946: The Philippines finally becomes an independent nation despite Japanese occupation and colonizing by the United States.
1950s: The Philippine government, in an attempt to unify the country, creates a resettlement policy encouraging Christians to move from neighboring islands, including Luzon, to the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Relations between Muslims and Christians are strained. Christians are moved to what is considered “inhospitable” land areas, but manage to eke out a living as farmers.
1960s: Resentment about resettlement policies, growing poverty and general unrest among Muslims on Mindanao fuel a violent separatist movement. University of Philippines political science professor Nuir Misauri establishes the Mindanao Independence Movement to help create a separatist Islamic state in the southern Philippines. In 1968, 28 Muslims, who were recruited by the Philippine Army in an attempt to quell Muslim insurrection, were shot dead by Army personnel while on a training exercise. The incident, later dubbed the “Jabidah Massacre,” serves as a unifying event for Islamic anger and ignites insurgency throughout southern Mindanao.
1972: Nuir’s group evolves into the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Nuir travels to Libya to seek support for a separatist war. President Mohmmar Qaddifi agrees to provide money. The MNLF creates ties in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. MNLF members become soldiers and are trained in camps in such Islamic terrorist strongholds as Libya, Syria, Egypt and Palestine. That same year, Ferdinand Marcos, president of the Philippines, cracks down on Muslim insurgency and takes a hard-line stance against Muslims advocating violence. Muslims cry “martial law,” and responds with “jihad” against the Philippine government. The MNLF declares war and a large-scale violent insurgency ignites in southern Philippines. More than 30,000 Muslims join the MNLF and reign war throughout Mindanao. It is estimated the war costs more than $3 billion and more than 120,000 lives. Christians are massacred in large numbers.
1981: A more violent faction of the MNLF, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is formed. They declare jihad on the Philippine Army and engage in terrorism against the Philippine government including beheadings, bombings and burning of villages. They also target Christians living on Mindanao and southern islands in the Philippines.
1986: Misauri negotiates with the Philippines government for a cease-fire and limited self-rule by Muslims on Mindanao.
1996: A peace settlement gives Mindanao Muslims provincial control of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This area includes five provinces. Tension is not dissolved because the Muslims lay claim to more than 13 provinces. More radical Muslim separatist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, which has links to Al Qaeda, make the MNLF seem less strident and more reasonable.
2001: Misauri is ousted as MNLF leader. Muslim separatists continue to fight the Philippine Army. Christians continue to be slaughtered. In May, Abu Sayyaf members kidnap 20 people, including Christian missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham, from Dos Palmas in southern Philippines. President Gloria Arroyo signs a cease-fire agreement with all but the most vicious Islamic separatist groups.
2002: The United States launches Operations Enduring Freedom-Philippines sending more than 1,200 U.S. troops and millions of dollars to help train the Philippine Army on how to fight Islamic insurgents. This operation is ongoing.
2004: Muslim terrorists commit a ferry bombing on Feb. 27. More than 116 people were killed or presumed dead. It is called the "world’s deadliest terrorist attack at sea.”
2008: Four Christian men are killed after armed rebels from the MILF attacked a mini-bus. A Philippine Supreme Court halts the signing of a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF after Christians protest the agreement could spur land grabs by Muslims and oust them from their property. Peace talks break down. MILF rebels stage a series of attacks on civilians and fighting with the Philippine Army is escalated.
2009: May 3, MILF rebels stage a simultaneous attack on three Christian villages; seven people were killed or injured, including a 9-year-old girl who was shot in the foot. July 5, a church is bombed, a 2-year-old dies the next day. Islamic extremists are said to have set the blast. Sept. 8, a priest is killed during an ambush by 30 men wearing ski masks in northern Philippines.
Source: BBC, Wikipedia and news reports