ALMORADO, Julia Marie C.

Gec109 Life and Works of Rizal

Section Vv3
Prof. Noralia U. Ibrahim
Reflection Paper on Webinar ng Kasaysayan
The webinar started as speaker; Prof. Caballero, welcomed with a history of the

Moros—the events that triggered for the organization of the foundations of the Moro

community, the factionalisms, the inner conflicts inside the community, and the plebiscite.

These were crucial information that need to be addressed as a member of the community.

On the beginning, the strive for self-determination of the Moros was something that needed

to take pride on—their fight for the defense of their own land. What fueled their strive for

self-determination was the Jabidah massacre which reminded me of how Rizal’s desire for

revolution was also fueled after the execution of GOMBURZA. This type of phenomenon is

observed in different aspects of our life, when a person close to us or has a same ground

with us gets in trouble, we extend our sentiments. It was realized how the pride of the

Moros have brought us to where we are now. Though the success for self-determination was

achieved, internal conflicts started to arise. For this section, I want to quote what Prof.

Juvanni mentioned “the splintering of the original MNLF into three groups was not only a

manifestation of ethnic divides that remain strong in the Bangsamoro communities; it

reflects personalized and personality-based loyalty”. There is beauty in diversity yet,

personality-based loyalty is what creates divides or discord in a community trying to coexist

despite the differences. This is a two-sided ideology; it promotes a stand or pride for one’s

identity and ethnicity yet, also divide a greater circle. The dream of becoming a nation is

hindered by the strive of superiority over the other and lack of discussion for issues of each

subgroup to coexist with each other accordingly. Basically, the strive to become one nation
of the Bangsamoro is far from reach if the subgroups continue to prioritize their personal

loyalty and set aside the fact that even in one nation, diversity can exist only if one

subgroup does not think that they are superior to the other. The principle of oneness is

subdued by tribalism, regionalism, and personal interest. The webinar also tackled about the

importance of the indigenous people. It is important to note the importance of history in our

lives which can serve as a foundation to our progress. There are information in the past that

should not be ignored in order for history not to repeat itself especially if it was tragic. The

past would also remind one of their identity and the pride that they could hold on to which

was either preserved or fought for by the ancestors. Most importantly, it is important to hold

on to the truth and never forget about what had happened from the past to not put the deaths

of the ones who had sacrificed their lives in order to achieve what we are standing in today.

Being knowledgeable about the truth and the right information gives one a defense

to misinformation and historical distortion. Historical distortion may lead to putting up the

deaths of those who had sacrificed themselves, to vain. I have learned so much about the

history of the Moros in the webinar which would probably serve as lifelong information I

can hold on to about the misconceptions of the Moros. If encountered with people who has

prejudice about the Moro people, I can share them my knowledge and help fight the

misconception that is still continuously spreading about the Moros and the Muslims.

Growing up in Marawi, I had developed a love for the city and the people, so I would

proudly speak up for my fellows whom I had grown up with and helped in my personality

building. If spreading information is one way to help allay misconceptions about the Moros

and Muslim, then this webinar helped a lot.