Persecution of Muslims
The Philippines is predominantly a Christian society with a complicated history of relations between Islam and Christianity. Despite historic evidence of Islamization spreading throughout the islands in the 13th–16th centuries, the archipelago came under Spanish rule in the 16th century. The Spanish proselytized many natives, and labelled those who remained Muslims as "Moro", a derogatory term recalling the Moors, an Islamic people of North Africa who occupied parts of Spain for several centuries. Today, this term "Moro" is used to refer to the indigenous Muslim tribes and ethnic groups of the country. When the Spanish came to the Philippine islands, most of the natives in Luzon and Visayas were pagans with Muslim minorities, and while Spanish proselytized many natives, many Muslims in Luzon and Visayas were not exempted by the Spaniards from the Spanish Inquisition, wherein Muslims to become Catholics or die for their faith. Those who remained Muslims are only the natives of Mindanao and Sulu which the Spaniards did not invade or had control of only briefly and partially.
When the Elephants Dance
The Philippines is an archipelago located southeast of China and north of Indonesia. In the late 13th century, Arab traders introduced Islam the Philippines and the religion spread throughout the country between the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1521, Spanish colonizers led by Ferdinand Magellan “discovered” the Philippines while trying to circumvent the world and named it after King Philip II. However, it was not formally colonized until forty-four years later when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi began settling in Cebu. Spain sent missionaries, including the Jesuits, to spread Catholicism and used the country as a strategic refueling stop for trading with Mexico and China. The Spanish pushed Muslims to the southern region of the country, known as Mindanao.