What is Moro?
Moros is a Spanish term given to the Muslim community in the Philippines. The struggle of the Moros can be broken down into three phases: • Moros vs. Spanish Colonization • Moros vs. American Imperialism • Moros vs. Philippine Industrialization (i.) Around 1280 A.D., before Spanish settlement in the Philippines, commercial expansion between China and Arab lands brought about the presence of Muslim traders to southern region of the Philippines Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Thus, the Islamic teachings expanded to these parts of the islands as well. Then, in 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, lands and claims the Philippines for Spain. For more than 300 years, the Spanish ruled over islands of the Philippines, especially Luzon and the Visayas. However, colonists failed to conquer Muslim areas in the South. During Spanish rule, there has been movements and continued resistance against colonization among the Moros. Ever since those times, tension has existed and grown be
