| Summary/Abstract |
The year 2014 will be commemorated in the history of Southeast Asia in general and the Philippines in particular as the year marking the almostpenultimate step towards the finale of a protracted separatist movement in the southern island of Mindanao, since the “Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro” was signed in Manila in March. Conceived as a nationalist struggle, aimed at the establishment of an autonomous homeland for the thirteen ethno-linguistic groups comprising the Philippine Muslims (‘Moros’), the historical roots of this movement run deep into the labyrinths of the colonial era. As a dominant group with a five-century old civilizational heritage, the Moros account for about 20% of the entire population of the Philippines and were originally concentrated in the southern provinces of the country.
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