ASSESSMENT

At the beginning of Spain's conquest of the Philippines, it was surprising that the relationship between the
native Filipinos and the Spanish conquerors was very good. Spain mediated in improving tribal relations by
spreading Catholic religion and unifying more than 3,000 islands in the Philippines. Spain also used the
Philippines as a geographical hub for trade with China and Europe, serving as a long-term shipping and dis-
tribution center on the island of the Philippines. It is clear that this action by Spain in power is in its own in-
terest. Spain also began to report the Philippines from being looted by Chinese pirates. Through this friendly
method, the two countries formed good ties, and the Filipinos also lost their dissatisfaction with the Spanish
conquest. I think that Filipinos still build and commemorate the statue of the Spanish conqueror because the
two countries had such a relationship in the past.

After listening to PPT material explanations with help from my Filipino mother, I felt that I had inherited the
blood of a really funny and attractive country. And ironically, I know more about the Philippines than my
Filipino mother. My mother is completely Korean.

In other words, I thought my mother's first language was Tagalog, of course, but I was very surprised when I
found out it wasn't. Her mother is from Canawan, Mindanao Island, and uses Cebuano. And I remembered
that time by looking at a map showing the distribution of languages in the Philippines in the PPT data. Since
the Philippines is an island country, I know that each region uses different languages because it is an inde-
pendent and isolated community rather than regional exchanges. But I never thought there would be so many
languages. The languages I heard when I visited my mother's house were Cebuano and Chabacano.

When I looked at the map of the Philippines divided by region, I remembered the tourism classes I learned
when I entered the University of San Carlos. Now I know that my Cebu belongs to Region 7.

After reading all the materials, I felt the importance of studying history deeply. I think Filipinos should be
more actively aware of the current religious and cultural and economic conflicts between the Philippine gov-
ernment and the people of Mindanao Island. If you don't know, you just need to know. In a modern society
where individualism is intensified, it will be difficult to say that we should live thinking about others, but in
the end, we should learn history as long as we are citizens of a country. It is to re-examine the past, face the
present, and make the future safer and more hopeful.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EFFECT OF THIS FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT WHICH STARTED
IN THE SPAIN PERIOD LASTING INTO THE MARTIAL LAW PERIOD OF THE 70S?

- This form of popular entertainment reminded us of the perception of Cebuanos in the past. It is to reaffirm
the secular and spiritual identity of the community. In the Philippines, where Catholic faith was established
from the time of its occupation from Spain, such entertainment transcended not only Catholic doctrine but
also age, gender, and social class, and further homogenized the natives through a psychological process of
justifying and verifying Christian common values.

WHAT REALIZATION DID THE AUTHOR DISCOVER WHEN THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ONE
THE MID 2000S?

- What the author realized when he started the study was that Muslim history education in the Philippines
was not properly conducted. Cebu, where the schools surveyed are located, is a geographical hub, and many
students from other countries as well as Mindanao and Luzon regions come. This is where different faith and
cultures converge, and the survey found that the majority of students were unaware of the Muslim history of
Mindanao and Sulu or had a narrow view. As citizens of a country, in order to understand each other, the ed-
ucation system, especially history, must be established properly, but at the time of the study, the Philippines
did not.

WHAT IMPORTANT REALIZATION DID YOU SEE IN THE WRITE UP? (5)
I realized that people's perception of newspapers is not good in the Philippines either. British writer Rebecca
West argued for the need for newspapers, saying, "As people need eyes, society needs news," while Ameri-
can newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hurst stressed the commerciality of newspapers, saying, "News are
about preventing anyone from being published. My opinion is close to William's, but not limited to newspa-
pers.
As soon as the media comes up with an article that "demonizes" a certain minority group, the identity of the
group is already recognized as an evil group in the minds of the people who have encountered the media.
The media should always be aware of its own influence, and always remain neutral.

WHAT LED TO THE OUTBREAK OF THIS CONFLICT?

- Islam was spread in the Philippines in the 14th century by southern Malay people. Islam spread throughout
the Philippines, starting with Mindanao Island around 1380, but was a Spanish Catholicization policy that
dominated the Philippines from the 16th to the late 19th century, and is now only in Mindanao.

Catholicism was spread by Spain during 327 years of colonial rule in the Philippines, and it began to settle
among its inhabitants in the mid-17th century. In the case of Protestantism, missionary work began in earnest
after the U.S. colonized the Philippines following Spain.

Religious conflicts have intensified on Mindanao Island since Islam's "Moro" (Muslim's in the meaning of
"moor") demanded by force that the majority of them be separated from the Catholic Philippines.
The causes of the conflict are discriminatory government policies and ethnic resistance to them. In particular,
the inequality structure within ethnic minorities is also a cause of conflict. In other words, when there are
rich people within minorities who can provide the material resources needed to fight, and the economic situa-
tion is hopeless, there are many poor people who will jump into the battlefield, the connection between them
makes it possible.
In the early 1970s, Nur Misuari, a former political lecturer at the University of the Philippines, formed the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and launched an anti-government struggle calling for Mindanao's
independence.
Four major Islamic insurgents were formed, including the establishment of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF), following internal strife between the MNLF forces.
Since a few years ago, the negotiating route has been changed to expand autonomy, but rebels against it have
continued to terrorize.