*FILIPINO IS NOT TAUSUG!

Neldy Jolo

Overview

Sulu people or Tausug have been put as one of the tribes of the Philippines, hence they are now called Filipino per legal document of the Republic of the Philippines.

Filipino was coined during the invasion of the Spanish to group of Islands that were known as Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago. The known “FILIPINO” was address to the Christianized people of Luzon and Visayas which were known as INDIOS – natives of the islands.

Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago people were called MORO by Spanish before their religion - ISLAM. The real identity of the Sulu People is called Tausug, thus made them distinguished from FILIPINO and Tausug were never Christianized as Indios do.

Tausug already exists before Spanish set foot to the Sulu Archipelago in 1578. They have their own government and system, the Sultanate of Sulu that was established in 1405 led by Ahlul Bait, Sultan Syariful Hashim Sayyid Abubakar.

The inclusion was started after the “mock battle” between America and Spain then signed the Treaty of Peace in Paris, France in 20 December 1898, known today as Treaty Paris. Through this treaty that Sultanate of Sulu was included as part of the Philippine Islands. After around nine months America and Sulu signed treaty called Bates Treaty in 20 August 1899.

Sultanate of Sulu started forcibly became part of the Republic of the Philippines when the United States of America gave independence to the Philippine Islands (that is Luzon and Visayas only) in 1946, without the consent of the citizens or people of Sulu, the TAUSUG.

Present Endeavour

After four decades of movement for independence in Mindanao and Sulu brought about by MNLF for Bangsamoro Republik of which ended to “autonomy” and now MILF is on the table bargaining the “sub-state” for Bangsamoro Homeland that is previously also wanting independence.

Every human heart in Mindanao and Sulu is put in vain and frustrations with the directional changed of these two big fronts from independence to something else – autonomy and sub-state.

Since Tausug has separate history and government from Mindanao, they moved to reassert their independence last 17 November 2010 by bringing the issue of citizenship and sovereignty rights aside from religious right as Muslim.

That is because sovereignty is permanent and perpetual and citizenship or nationality movement is one of the peaceful or the alternative movement other that armed movement.

It is according the legal rights and basic human rights – as mention in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – The Rights to Nationality.

Tausug still own the de jure government (sovereign government) and right now running their de facto government (government of the fact) even though Philippine de facto government is still in the playing in the Sulu Archipelago.

The Sultanate of Sulu flag are now hoisted in the different towns and cities of Sulu Archipelago that Philippine de facto government cannot stop!

In this movement, the Tausug was asking the Philippine de facto government to withdraw from the territory of the de jure Sultanate of Sulu government thus FILIPINO IS NOT TAUSUG! 

*This article was written for the “Critical Writing Workshop” at Yan, Kedah, Malaysia on 13- 18 May 2011.