Scribd
Upload
94 views1 page

Mindanao's Interreligious Dialogue Insights

The document discusses the history of conflict between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao, Philippines. It explains that the conflicts were exploited and exacerbated by Spanish colonizers for political and economic gain, by changing the demographic profile to favor Christian settlers and using Christian converts to suppress the Muslims. While religious differences have been exploited to incite conflict, the author argues that the root cause is the selfish interests of colonizers, and that both Muslims and Christians were victims of colonial oppression. The document calls for educating Filipinos about this true history to promote meaningful interreligious dialogue and cooperation in tackling shared problems like poverty and the environment.

Uploaded by

Litz Losantos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
94 views1 page

Mindanao's Interreligious Dialogue Insights

The document discusses the history of conflict between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao, Philippines. It explains that the conflicts were exploited and exacerbated by Spanish colonizers for political and economic gain, by changing the demographic profile to favor Christian settlers and using Christian converts to suppress the Muslims. While religious differences have been exploited to incite conflict, the author argues that the root cause is the selfish interests of colonizers, and that both Muslims and Christians were victims of colonial oppression. The document calls for educating Filipinos about this true history to promote meaningful interreligious dialogue and cooperation in tackling shared problems like poverty and the environment.

Uploaded by

Litz Losantos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

ON INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Alito B. Delos Santos

I grew up and spent most of my life in Mindanao. Ever since I became aware
about my local community, I already sensed that people were apprehensive of Muslims
or the Moros. Many Christian adults used the word Moros to frighten children. They also
inculcated in their minds that the Moros are the real culprits of the maladies in
Mindanao.

It was only when I took the course “History of Muslims and Lumads in the
Philippines” that I started to discover the real history of Mindanao. Unfortunately, the
colonizers were the ones who wrote our history since Magellan came to our land. Only a
few years ago did some of our Filipino historians try to present our history from the
perspective of the Filipinos.

This retelling of our history has led me to understand how the conflict in
Mindanao really began. Despite the fact that there were already real conflicts between
and among the tribes in pre-colonial Mindanao, it was the Spaniards who took
advantage of this situation to further their cause in exploiting the natives and the natural
resources of Mindanao. And so, the Spaniards used their Christian converts from the
tribes of Luzon, Visayas, and even in Mindanao to suppress the Moros of Mindanao.
Furthermore, another tactic the Spaniards employed in order to control the Muslims was
to dilute the population of the indigenous Mindanao. Thousands of people from Luzon
and the Visayas were sent by the Spanish authorities to settle in Mindanao. Soon after,
the demographic profile in Mindanao was changed in favor of the Christian settlers.

This realization only explains that religion has nothing to do with this conflict
although it is true that religious differences are often exploited and instrumentalized to
incite hatred, wars, and division for the political and/or economic gains of the few. This
conflict exists rather out of the selfish interests of the colonizers when they invaded the
Philippines. This means that the Muslims and Christians in Mindanao are mere victims
of the cruel and oppressive actions of their conquerors although some of them had
collaborated with the latter in order to gain personal advantage.

This is the truth that is not revealed in many of our history books. Thus, there is
really a need for us as teachers either by profession or by necessity to help increase the
awareness of the Filipinos about the true history of our country. We need to have the
courage to preach this truth to others especially our young students. We also need to
help each one of our communities to acquire the skills of promoting a more meaningful
and authentic dialogue—a dialogue that can mobilize the goodwill and optimism of the
Christians, Moros and the Lumads, particularly in tackling the problems of poverty,
health, food security, environmental destruction, globalization, etc. Then, and only then,
can we develop fully together as Mindanaoans, in a truly peaceful and progressive
Mindanao.

You might also like