If only for the vastness of verifiable history, Sulu may far outweigh all the other provinces in the Philippines. While most of the provinces in the country took the route of being pre-colonial polities turned to pueblos then into the modern-day provinces, Sulu had a different one. It was first a principality, then a vassal state and a sovereign nation afterwards, until its integration to the Philippine Islands as one of its provinces.

There, of course, could be no better place to understand the historical and cultural development of the islands of Sulu than the National Museum of the Philippines – Sulu. Located within a very short walkable distance from the provincial capitol, the Sulu branch of the National Museum houses different collections of preserved natural resources and ethnographic materials that form part of the identity of the Tausug, the people of the current.

The National Museum of the Philippines – Sulu flanked by sculptures created by National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao.

Sulu is not just a single island, but is in fact an archipelago. Called Lupah Sug until circa 1405, it was being ruled by three kings with the Principality of Maimbung being the oldest settlement. Trade had always been a part of the early Tausug society, exchanging goods with the Malays, the Yakans and the nomadic Sama–Bajau. Given its archipelagic geography, the sea was its major source of resources and its primary means of transportation and trade.

Following the Islamization of the Sulu Archipelago in 1380, Lupah Sug was succeeded by the Sultanate of Sulu in 1405 or 1457, depending on who you ask. The sultanate was founded by Sharif ul-Hashim, a Sunni religious scholar and explorer, who sealed his authority and power when he married Dayang–Dayang Paramisuli, the princess daughter of local chief Rajah Baguinda.

A vassal state to the Sultanate of Brunei until 1578, Sulu as a sovereign state was a maritime superpower, harnessing the richness of the sea and above-par nautical navigational knowledge to their advantage. At its peak, the sultanate expanded beyond the Sulu archipelago, encompassing the coastal parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula, certain parts of Palawan and the Northeast Borneo lowlands. Despite being an Islamic entity, the sultanate’s archipelagic expansion made it a highly diversified nation; hence its culture, while retaining its predominantly Islamic character, has traces of indigenous overtones.

The sultanate remained untouched by colonial powers until the twilight of the Spanish Empire when Spain attacked Sulu in the 1850s. Hostilities ended with the signing of a peace treaty in 1851 when Spain’s suzerainty was established over Sulu. When the Spanish Empire finally met its decline and ceded its Philippine territories to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1898, the sultanate together with the rest of the Moros held their ground, culminating in the bloody American raid of Bud Bagsak led by General John J. Pershing, ending the Moro Rebellion in 1913. In 1915, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II relinquished to the United States his power over the sultanate and its territories, effectively ending its sovereignty. Sulu then became part of the Moro Province and its successor entities, specifically the Department of Mindanao and Sulu in 1914.

The former Sultanate of Sulu was fully integrated to the Republic of the Philippines upon the end of the colonial era. In 1973, Tawi–Tawi  was carved from the territory of the province of Sulu to be its own independent province. Despite its inclusion in the Philippines, however, the fight for self-determination remained a very strong sentiment among the Moros of Mindanao, including the people of Sulu, hence its role to secessionist movements over the years. While no secession was ever successful, the movements paved the way to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It took an ironic twist though: Sulu was not included in the Bangsamoro.

Bud Tumantangis, the highest peak of Sulu, as seen from the museum balcony.

Our visit to the National Museum of the Philippines in Sulu was not only able to impart us with broader knowledge and deeper understanding of the history, culture and identity of the Tausug. More than that, it was an eye-opener that allowed us to gain an emphatic view of the Moro struggle for self-rule and determination. While the Moro struggle was not always peaceful as the history of glory also came with the history of bloodshed, that does not diminish the injustice that the Moro people, the Tausug included, suffered from. The rich land of Sulu is a wounded land, wounded by both colonial and local powers. As it is in painfully dark experiences, there could be no healing without recognition of the wounds inflicted.

While it may be deemed ironic that Sulu is not a part of the Bangsamoro Region, the Philippine Supreme Court aptly put it that such is the case exactly because of self-determination, when in 2019 the people of Sulu voted against the Bangsamoro Organic Law with a majority of 54.30%.

Not being part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region does not reduce the identity of the Tausug as Bangsamoro as much as a Filipino’s choice to reside abroad does not diminish their Filipino identity. It simply is a choice not to join the current political arrangement. Should the Tausugs in Sulu wish to rejoin, there are peaceful, legal processes allowed by the Constitution for them to do so.

G.R. No. 242255, 26 November 2024

The voice of the people was heard and upheld, and that is self-determination in action. The story of the Tausug and the Moro people is a testament to the enduring quest for dignity, identity and destiny, shaped by history yet not confined by it. Especially now that Sulu has started to open its gates again to the rest of the Philippines and to the rest of the world, one can cling tightly to the hope that true peace and prosperity will finally be achieved by the once mighty and glorious Sulu. Soon enough, the rich and resilient land of Sulu will fully rise from its long shadow of sorrow.