Report - Social Watch Philippines

Appendix A
The Bangsamoro Outlook on MDGs –
Brief Moro History
The Moro People
The term Moro refl ects the identity of 13 ethnolinguistic
tribes in Mindanao who are basically Muslims.
Long before the coming of Spaniards in the 16th
century, sovereign Moro political structures dynamically
governing Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan which were
already in place and expanding control over the Visayas
and Luzon Islands as early as the 14th century. The Sultanates
being the popular form of government then also
started enjoying fl ourishing trade with Asian neighbors
like China and other southeast Asian countries.
It is worth to note that the sovereign Moro Sultanates
withstood against Spanish attempts of conquest.
For 377 years of war against Spanish invasion the Moros
prevailed, unconquered and remained a sovereign
nation.
Sultan Mangigin, ruler of the Sultanate of Maguindanao,
and his retainers. Photo was taken circa 1899-1901.
Sultan Jamal ul-Azam, ruler of Sulu and North Borneo/Sabah
from 1862 to 1881, receiving a French offi cial delegation.
The chied qadi, an Afghan, sits behind the Sultan.
Source: J. Montano, Voyage aux Philippines et n Malaisie (Paris, 1886)
Visiting Spanish Royal Family in Sulu (1892)
1892: The Countess of Caspe, the wife of Spanish
Governor-General Eugenio Despujol y Dussay, Count
of Caspe, visiting Siasi Island, Sulu Archipelago.
Photo probably taken in June 1892.
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