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.
Military history of the Philippines
The Spanish–American War was formally concluded on December 10, 1898 by the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain. In that treaty, Spain ceded the Philippine Archipelago to the United States, and the United States agreed to pay US$20,000,000 to the Spanish government. The United States then exercised sovereignty over the Philippines. The insurgent First Philippine Republic was formally established with the proclamation of the Malolos Constitution on January 23, 1899.