Mindanao Conflict and Islamic Revivalism: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's Approach

The Moros, or Muslims in the southern part of the Philippines, have struggled for self-determination since the 16th century, when Spanish colonial domination arrived in the islands that came to be known as the Philippines. Centuries later, when “the Philippines” gained complete independence from an imperial United States, the newly independent nation inherited longstanding grievances of the Moro people, who continued their armed-struggle to regain their right for self-determination, through long and drawn out warfare that involved the whole population of the Philippines. This conflict was never simply about the Manila government and Moro rebel groups, but was always a complex, deep-rooted and multifaceted one that began during Spanish colonisation. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is today a mass-based organisation in Mindanao, having organised millions of people from all walks of life through a powerful social justice program with an emphasis on Islam as the ultimate goal. It advocates liberating the Moro homeland through establishing Islamic Sharia in the region. The MILF’s revivalist and Islamisation programs have shored up the notion of self-reliance among the “Bangsamoro” people and planted an Islamic way of life in their communities and religious, social, economic, and military structures, through schools, madrasah, mosques, sharia courts, and multi-purpose cooperatives. The way forward today lies in the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Moros for self-determination and, from the Moros, respect for the territorial integrity of the Philippines.