PEOPLES OF MINDANAO1

In general, the present peoples of Mindanao may be divided into two broad
categories in order to distinguish the indigenous inhabitants of Mindanao: indigenous and
migrant settlers.

The indigenous peoples may be further subdivided into three namely Bangsamoro
(Islamized groups), Lumad groups, and Indigenous “Christians” (Visayan/Cebuano speaking
and Christianized).

1. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

a. BANGSAMORO
They are generally Muslims. They were Islamized prior to the arrival of the
Spaniards. In a closer examination, some of the Moro groups are partly Islamized and partly not
such as the Palawani of Palawan and Badjao of Sulu Archipelago.

The term Bangsamoro comes from two words, bangsa, a Malay word which means
“nation” or “people” and Moro which was used by the Spaniards which refers to the Muslims.
The word Moro is not a new name. It was derived from ancient Mauri or Mauritania and was
later on applied on the Muslim Berbers of North Africa and those who came and controlled
Spain from 711 to 1492. The name, therefore, did not exclude Arabs themselves especially
those who founded the Muslim Dynasty in AlAndalusia (Spain). In a larger context, the name is
not confined to a group of people, or a nationality, but applied rather to a religious affiliation,
transcending the barriers of geography, race and time.

The name “Moro” has been much disliked by the Muslims in the Philippines (if not
all, many Muslims in the Philippines) since it was a name given by the Spaniards. However,
since the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) bannered it in its struggle, it has acquired new
meaning and has become a source of pride for the Muslims in the Philippines.

It should be noted that it was the Spanish who named the Muslims in the archipelago
Moros and the same true with the Christianized natives in the archipelago who were named
Filipinos. However, it doesn’t mean at all that if you are named you are controlled or conquered.
Out of the determined defiance of the Muslims in the archipelago in Spanish colonization and
Christianization, the Spaniards named them Moros. According to Salah Jubair, a writer, in his
book Bangsamoro Under Endless Tyranny, “If Filipino was the child of colonialism; Moro was
the offspring of anti-colonialism”.

THE THIRTEEN (13) BANGSAMORO GROUPS

MORO GROUPS FOUND IN SULU ARCHIPELAGO AND PALAWAN

1. BADJAW (SAMA DILAUT)

They are called “Sea gypsies”, they move with the wind and the tide in their
small house-boats (boat-dwelling). Badjaw is a Malay-Bornean word which connotes “man
of the seas” or “orang laut” in Bahasa Malayo. They are the least intensively Islamized of all

1
The discussion and presentation of data was taken from the lecture of Professor Inocente Havier in his History 3 class.
 the Bangsamoro Groups and their religious beliefs and customs are still largely animistic.
Their area of concentration is South Sulu.

2. SAMAL (SAMA)

“Sama-sama” which means “togetherness”; they are found in Sulu archipelago

specifically in Simunul and Sibutu Islands. They have an Arab blood. They possessed highly
developed boatbuilding techniques and sometimes practicing simple garden agriculture.
They are the most widely dispersed of all ethnolinguistic groups in the Sulu chain.

3. JAMA MAPUN

They are found in Cagayan de Sulu or Tawi-tawi (Mapun Island). Some are found
in Southern Palawan. On closer examination may not be a distinct group. They are another
sub-group of Samal.

4. YAKAN

They are found in Basilan Island; they were formerly known as Samales (coastal
dwellers). Francisco de Combes called them Sameacas, people who kept much to
themselves. They are engaged in making boats which they sell to the Tausugs. The word
Yakan denotes “Dayak origin”. They are descendants of both Dayak from Northeast Borneo
and Sama from Johore.

5. TAUSOG (JOLOANO)

They are the dominant ethnic group in the Sulu archipelago, are the sole
residents of Jolo, the historical seat of Sultanate of Sulu. They are known as the “people of
the sea/current”. However, there are many farmers among the Tausog, locally called
Tauguimba or Guimbahanon “inland people” by the shore-dwellers. They are found all over,
ranging even to distant Palawan and the East Malaysian State of Sabah.

6. MOLBOG

They are found in Balabac Island and Southern Palawan. The term is derived
from the word “Malubog” means “murky or turbid water”, probably they are migrant from
North Borneo. In past, they were ruled by the Sulu sultans, forming the outer periphery of
the Sulu sultanate. Intermarriage between Tausogs and Molbog hastened the Islamization
of the Molbog.

7. PALAWANI (MUSLIM PINALAWAN or PANIMUSAN)

They are found in Southern Palawan. They are still in the stage of being Islamized. “People
in scattered places” as the Tausogs called them. They closely resemble the Tagbanua.

MORO GROUPS FOUND IN MAINLAND MINDANAO

8. MAGINDANAON/MAGINDANAWN2

2
What are today identified as three groups –Maguindanaon, Iranun and Mranaw—came from same progenitor/ancestors not many
centuries back.
 They are the “people of the flooded plain”. They are found in Cotabato region,
known also asthe Pulangi River Valley. Their name derives from the fact that the river,
regularly over flows its banks, inundating the adjacent plains. They are commonly found
in the province of Magindanaw.

9. IRANUN (ILANUN)

Lanaw-en is a word of Magindanaw origin meaning “people from the lake”. The name
I-Lanaw-en is a clue to the origins of the Iranun marauders. It suggests that they were
originally I-Mranaw; “people of the lake” from the lofty tableland around Lake Lanao in
central Mindanao.

They are found from Buldon to Parang, along the shores of Ilana Bay. James Francis
Warren, a writer, called the Iranuns “Lords of the Eastern Seas” because of their
engagement in piracy and slave-raiding in Southeast Asia in 1768 to 1830. They are known
as the people of the Ilana Bay. Lanun is Malay term for “pirate”.

10. MRANAW3

They are found in Lanao region, “people of the lake”. The term is from the word Ranaw
means “lake”. They are walled in by mountains and isolated in their highland fastness,
Mranaw artisans developed arts of weaving, wood carving, and metal work. The Mranaws
remained little known to Spanish invaders, European travelers, and traders because of their
upland agricultural orientation.

11. KALIBUGAN (KOLIBUGAN)

They are found in Zamboanga peninsula. They are neither Muslims nor
Christians. They are close relatives of the Subanen, where there is Subanen, there is also
Kalibugan. Kolibugan or Kalibugan means “half-breed”.

12. KA’GAN (KALAGAN)

They are found in Davao Provinces, on the shores of Davao Gulf. They are also
relative of Tagakaolo.

13. SANGIL (SANGIR)

They are found in Sarangani Island group. The word Sangil is derived from
Sangihe, an archipelago in eastern Indonesia located between Sulawesi and Mindanao, it
was their original place. They were among the buccaneers who attacked the Spanish forts.
They had been Muslims prior to their arrival in Southern Philippines. Their migration
3
It is variously spelled as Meranao, Maranaw, Maranao and M’ranao. It refers to one of the Muslim groups in the Philippines.
Mranaw will be used throughout this module for consistency and clarity.
perhaps comes about as a result of Dutch colonial pressure and increasing Christianization
of their homeland.

❖ DIFFERENCES OF THE BANGSAMORO PEOPLE

1. Habitation- immediate environment
2. Mood of subsistence
3. Intensity of contact
4. Cultural differences
5. Historical experiences
6. Intensity of Islamization