THE ETHNIC DIFFERENCES AS A STUMBLING BLOCK TO THE FORMATION OF A WELL-ORGANIZED BANGSAMORO

The Bangsamoro, being comprised of eleven major ethnic groups, has gone certain stumbles to attain their vision. According to Prof. Julkipli Wadi of the University of the Philippines Institute of Islamic Studies, some of the lines dividing the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), are tribal issues and secularism considering that the MNLF are mostly associated with the Tausugs while the MILF are with the Maguindanaos. (see sidebar/insert link if any for the full article). Certain aspects of the traditions, beliefs, and religion among the various ethnic tribes might have caused such internal conflicts. To prove that, let us first look into the eleven major ethnic groups belonging to the Bangsamoro.