‘Lumad,’ true natives

Prof. Abraham P. Sakili’s article, “Historical truth and Bangsamoro autonomy” (Talk of the Town, 3/15/15), certainly gives readers ideas about the nation-state, sovereignty and cultural identity.

Since he stresses the importance of historical truth, let me bring up a couple of points.

First, the identity of Bangsamoro is defined as “those who at the time of conquest and colonization were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands.” This signifies that those who came with conquest and colonization were not natives or original inhabitants.

But there was more than one conquest and colonization. Besides the western colonization of the 16th century, there was the Johorean conquest of the 14th century, as we read in Saleeby and Majul. So only those who were there when the Johoreans invaded were natives. These would be the lumad who were pushed away from the coasts by the Johoreans who preferred maritime pursuits, including trade and piracy. (I believe Mindanaoan Patricio Abinales has written on this.)

Among the historical truths, Sakili omits mention of slave-raiding. Historian William Henry Scott (citing James Warren) wrote that in the century between 1780 and 1880, between 200,000 and 300,000 Christians were abducted in slave raids. If we multiply that by the three centuries of Spanish rule, it would mean between 600,000 and 900,000 Christians enslaved in the south. If the Moros were so eager to have that many Christians go there, surely Sakili should not complain about settlers who go there as free men, saving the Moros the trouble of transporting them in slave ships. It is not land-grabbing where open lands are applied for.

Besides, the descendants of Johorean conquerors have no claim to ancestral domain. That properly belongs to the lumad who are being offered only vague assurances. The peace process is important to the whole country, and the lumad with their ancestral domain are central to the process. Let them assert their rights.

—BENITO LEGARDA JR., former deputy governor, Central Bank of the Philippines; former alternate executive director, International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC); former trustee, National Museum; former member, National Historical Institute; [email protected]