THE Philippines is peopled by some 111 ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups speaking 70 major languages and dialects. Despite variations in cultural and religious practices, it is one coherent nation, organized into one secular and democratic state, with 100 million people (2010 official census), who share a common racial identity, moral concepts, and historical experiences, better known as Filipinos.
These Filipinos, of whatever religious persuasions, enjoy equal rights and privileges under the Philippine Constitution. The separation of Church and State is part of its national policies.
Geographically, the Philippines, with a total land area of 115,800 square miles, is divided into 17 regions comprising 80 provinces, 136 cities and 1,476 towns scattered in 7,150 islands from the Northern tip of Luzon, the central plains, and mountainous areas of the Visayas, and up to the Southwestern tip of Tawi-Tawi Province in Mindanao.
Luzon, with a contiguous land area of 41,754 square miles, is the biggest of the islands followed by landlocked Mindanao with 36,372 square miles, and the Visayas, with 37,674 uncontigous land area.
The people of Luzon are known by their ethnic identities. For example, those from the high and lowland provinces of Kalinga, Apayao, Abra, Mountain Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Cagayan Valley are called Ilocanos and those from the central plains of the provinces of Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan are respectively called Pangasinenses, TarlakeĖos, PampangeĖos and BulakeĖos.
Those from the Greater Manila Area are called Manilans; those from Bicol Region are called Bicolanos; and those from the Visayas are called Warays, Ilongos and Cebuanos. While those from the provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Maguindanao, South Cotabato and Lanao provinces in Southwestern and Central Mindanao are called Samals, Tausogs, Bilaans, Chabacanos, Maguinadanaoans and Maranaos.
Mindanao has a population of 21 million. This population is commonly classified into three ethnic-linguistic cultural minorities:
• The internal migrants, whose cultural origins lie in the northern islands of Luzon and the Visayas, number about 12.5 million. They are commonly known as “Christians” not because of religion, but because of their relative modern lifestyles.
• The indigenous cultural minorities, better known as “hill-tribes”, or “Lumads”, have their distinctive way of life, manner of dressing (with their women commonly known as “bare-breasted”), and a definite hierarchy of values. They number roughly 3.5 million.
• The Filipino communities who mostly live in coastal areas and follow Islam. These are divided into more than 15 communal groups with an estimated population of 5 million. They make up majority in four (Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur) of the 24 provinces and nine cities in Mindanao.
Islam came to the Philippines in the late 13th century and became a heritage of the entire Filipino nation. In fact, its preservation and enhancement, like the other minorities, constitute a national policy.
No moral, legal and religious justification
VIEWED from these demographic realities, there is no moral, legal and religious justification in calling these Filipinos as Muslims. Besides the conflict in Southwestern Mindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi is the result of historical inequities and misunderstandings. Colonization by Spain severed the basic unity of Filipinos and drove a serious wedge between the Filipinos of the North and the Filipinos of the South.
Colonization and the subsequent protracted struggle against it left a legacy of social, cultural, political, and economic iniquities. Colonial administrators and post-World War II politicians accorded a low priority to the development of Mindanao. This neglect prevented local citizens from learning the skill and acquiring the habits and frame of thought necessary for their personal upliftment and the region’s economic growth and development.
It is from this context that the conflict in Mindanao must be viewed with a high degree of fairness, accuracy and understanding.
(Next Week: “The Mindanao Problem: Complex problems; experimental solutions”)