Go on... show us your Barung!!!

[Ian]

Originally Posted by ariel

Years ago I saw a TV program dealing with the situation in Moro lands. Political violence was still in full blast. It was led by Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF), Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Liberation Front with ~12,000 fighters. We are not talking about isolated incidents. Many Moros joined ISIS.

And they apparently won: in 2014 they signed a peace agreement with the central government and their elected government is planned to be established in 2022.

What social/political course will it take is still unknown, but a big cause for concern for the entire SE Asia.

I visited southern Mindanao, Zamboanga, and Basilan in the late 1990s. I was accompanied by locals and only went where I was told I could go safely. Westerners were being kidnapped at that time and held for ransom. Some did not make it out. On a couple of ventures into the rural areas around Davao City I had an escort of Philippine soldiers. In the early 2000s there was the added concern about Abu Sayyaf, a group loosely linked to Al Quaeda.

Quite apart from the long time practice of piracy in the South China Sea, the Bangsamoro region has always been a tense and dangerous area for outsiders. The local politics are diverse, with internal conflicts, but are unified in opposition to outside interference. The struggle for self rule has played out for centuries, with increasing emphasis in the last 120 years and especially since WWII.