BCPCH - Lanao del Sur

26/05/2026

𝐄𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐥-𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐤!

As we join the Muslim ummah in the celebration of this sacred occasion, may it strengthen our shared values of faith and unity, and renew our commitment to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Bangsamoro.

In this spirit of reflection and collective devotion, we honor the sacrifice exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and Prophet Ismail (AS), and pray that Allah (SWT) accepts our good deeds and grants peace, prosperity, and harmony to our communities across the Bangsamoro region and beyond.

Photo caption: Old mosque in Lanao (circa 1900s) from the collection of the Filipinas Heritage Library.

26/05/2026

𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐑-𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐖𝐄𝐁 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩

BCPCH-Lanao del Sur History Researcher II Sittie Ayena Caye presented her paper, entitled “An Analysis of Indigenous Manuscripts: The Diviner’s Handbook” during the Local History Writeshop: Mindanao History in the Making of a Nation, held on 20–21 May 2026 at the PRISM Hall, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).

The writeshop is a collaborative initiative of the NCCA - National Committee on Historical Research (NCHR) and Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits, Inc. (EcoWEB), in partnership with MSU-IIT, and forms part of the National Heritage Month 2026 commemoration. It convened students of history, historians, researchers, and cultural workers to advance scholarly engagement with Mindanao’s documentary heritage and historical narratives.

In her presentation, Caye examined indigenous Kirim manuscripts acquired by Dr. Richard W. Bulliet, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History at Columbia University, focusing on their possible meanings and functions as divinatory or knowledge-based texts. Her paper contributes to ongoing efforts to document and understand Meranaw manuscript traditions within Mindanao’s historical and cultural context.

The two-day writeshop underscored the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in strengthening local historiography and advancing the study of Mindanao’s written heritage.

Photocredits: MSU-IIT Department of History and Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits, Inc. (EcoWEB)

26/05/2026

𝐔𝐏 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐨𝐭𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐂𝐏𝐂𝐇-𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐫

On 18 May 2026, the UP School of Archaeology formally turned over the Kota Kalawi Archaeological Report to the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH) at the Bangsamoro Museum in Cotabato City. The report is the output of the Kota Kalawi Archaeological Project conducted from 31 July to 19 August 2024 in the Municipality of Bacolod-Kalawi, Lanao del Sur, undertaken through the collaboration of the BCPCH-LDS, UP School of Archaeology, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, Mindanao State University, the Provincial Government of Lanao del Sur, and the Municipality of Bacolod-Kalawi.

The project aimed to examine the archaeological and historical significance of the site. Findings indicate insufficient evidence to support the American colonial narrative that then Captain John J. Pershing attacked the kota in 1903. Instead, the artifacts recovered suggest a much older cultural horizon ranging from the Neolithic period to the Early Metal Age, pointing to long-term indigenous occupation and settlement. The study also recommends further comparative research on other kota in the region to deepen historical understanding.

The full report will be published soon.

22/05/2026

19/05/2026

13/05/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟐𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚 (𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐠) | 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Bismillah ar Rahman ar Rahiim.
Assalamo ‘alalaykom wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuho.

My courtesies to the Chief Minister thru his Representative, the Vice Mayor of Cotabato City; to the Honorable Mayor Andy Mamainte Balt, and the Vice Mayor and officials of Bayang; the Honorable former Lanao del Sur Governor and COMELEC Chairman Atty. Saidamen Pangarungan; the former Mayor of Bayang and his better half, who is my niece; and to all the esteemed guests and visitors gathered here today to commemorate the Battle of Bayang.

Further, on behalf of the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage- Lanao del Sur Office (BCPCH-LDS), and BCPCH- BARMM as a whole, let me convey our most profound felicitations to the good people of Bayang, and by and large, the Bangsamoro citizenry of Ranao.

Before I proceed, let me inform you that the Bangsamoro Commission on the Preservation of Cultural Heritage is mandated by the Bangsamoro Organnic Law (BOL) primarily to write Bangsamoro history from the perspective of the Bangsamoro at the back of which is cultural preservation.

On May 2, 1902, one hundred twenty-four years ago, this hallowed ground stood witness to a battle that laid bare the conquering intentions of American colonial forces vis-à-vis the Bangsamoro.
The Battle of Bayang stands as a defining moment in our collective history, underlining the clarity of a colonial ambition directed at the Bangsamoro people.

To put it succinctly, in 1898 our forebears were rid of the Spanish ‘Castillian’ conquistadores from the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, but only to be replaced by the American ‘Gringo’ cowboys in 1902 from the ‘Wild, Wild West’ of the United States of America.

The arrival of these Gringos purportedly to ‘civilize’ the Moro people with the Krag rifle opened another pivotal chapter in Bangsamoro history – the Moro-American War that lasted for 4 decades.

Take note that the Battle of Bayang was the inaugural battle that ignited the Moro-American War.

Under the pretext of establishing security and order in what was framed as a wild frontier, about a thousand American soldiers marched from Malabang to Bayang. Their objective was unmistakable: to assert the force and authority of a new power on the people of Ranao – the new American power that was the successor-in-interest, so to speak, to Spanish colonialism. Yet that assertion of power was met with resolute defiance by the same people whose resistance stands as a testament to the unyielding, freedom-loving spirit of the Moro inhabitants of the Lake.

Equally significant, this was a resistance whose impact was felt throughout the length and breadth of Moroland in that Bayang awakened the same robust spirit of defiance among the Moro people against an intruding foreign power. A foreign power that came from thousands of miles away to impose its alien way of life and governance by virtue of its delusional ‘Manifest Destiny’ ideology and thus recreate the Moro Muslim in the image of what it calls ‘American democracy’.

Therefore today, we come together, inspired by the enduring memory of our people to honor the martyrs of that historic resistance who stood their ground on May 2, 1902, in what we reverently refer to as Padang Karbala – ‘padang’ meaning open field or plain in Bahasa Melayu - which resonates with the poignant martyrdom of Imam Husayn (ra), the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) who resisted tyranny and was martyred together with several members of his family in the open desert of Karbala, Iraq, in 680 AD.

We do not approach the narrative of Bayang as a distant episode confined to the past, but as part of a continuing narrative in the Bangsamoro quest for self-determination. Simply put, this struggle did not begin within modern political frameworks, nor was it concluded within said frameworks. For the events in Bayang unfolded during a moment of profound transition in Mindanao and Sulu – or what the Spaniards referred to as Tierra del Moro (Land of the Moro) and translated by the Americans as Moroland - when foreign sovereignty was imposed upon societies long governed by indigenous and evolving Muslim political systems.

In Ranaw, authority resided in our datus and sultans, in the social fabric of the Pat-a- Pungampung ko Ranaw, and in systems of law rooted in faith, kinship, and customary governance.Within this context, the martyrs of Bayang must be understood not simply as participants in a battle, but as defenders of a political order that embodied the right of the Bangsamoro to govern itself according to its own institutions, values, and historical consciousness.

That being so, the Sultanate of Bayang’s resistance was an early and decisive articulation and assertion of self-determination in the face of colonial domination that was imposed by brute force. It affirmed a principle that remains enduring: That governance cannot be legitimately imposed without regard for the identity, culture and established belief system of a people.

In a very real sense, Bayang not only inaugurated the Moro war of resistance against American colonialism; it kept alive the culture of martyrdom of the M’ranaw people of Ranao and the Bangsamoro in general.

The Battle of Bayang is therefore not an isolated event, but part of a long continuum of struggle that stretches from the 321-year-long Moro-Spanish wars to the 44 years or so of the Moro-American War, and on to the present conflict resolution of the Bangsamoro Question that has animated the process of evolving self-rule legitimized by international law that confers on a captive nation the right to self-determination.

To remember the martyrs or shuhada of Bayang is to recognize that self-determination is not a concession granted by fate, but a right sustained through generations of resistance. The people of Bayang’s sacrifice reveals the cost of defending that principle at a time when political orders were being forcibly reshaped.

Thus today, we honor them not only for their courage, but for what they represent: the refusal to allow a foreign hegemonic entity to define the political destiny of the Bangsamoro people. Their act of resistance reminds us that self-determination or freedom is not an abstraction. It is not just rhetoric confined to speeches. It is lived, defended, and, more often than not, paid for in real time with the highest sacrifice.

As the Bangsamoro continues to shape its political future, the legacy of the Bayang martyrs endures. The institutions we build, the narratives we preserve, and the policies we pursue carry echoes of that earlier assertion of dignity, freedom and political will. Or so it must.

Our memory of the martyrs of Bayang shall thus constantly remind us that self-determination is both an inheritance and a collective responsibility. It is inherited from the martyrs and heroes who resisted foreign domination before our time, and it is entrusted to us to deepen, strengthen, and sustain for generations to come.
Indeed, the story of Bayang will continue to guide the Bangsamoro in its pursuit of meaningful liberation through genuine self-rule, historical truth and lasting peace anchored on justice.

To put it in perspective: Padang Karbala is not a myth. It is not a legend. It is history paying tribute to the noble people of Bayang who would rather be martyred than live on bended knees before an oppressive foreign power.

Shukraan.
Wa billah tawfiq wa’l hidaya,
Wa as salaamo ‘alaykom wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuho.

𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗠. 𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗢
ᴄʜᴀɪʀᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ
ʙᴀɴɢꜱᴀᴍᴏʀᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴜʟᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ʜᴇʀɪᴛᴀɢᴇ

13/05/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨 𝐓𝐋𝐎 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 | 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 | 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲

Bismillah ar Rahman ar Rahiim.
Assalamo ‘alalaykom wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuho.

In behalf of the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage Lanao del Sur Office (BCPCH-LDS) may I take this opportunity to pay my profound courtesies to our traditional leaders’ organizations from the Royal Sultanates of the Pat-a-Pungampong ko Ranaw that are assembled today in connection with Voter’s Education. My apologies, sirs, for not mentioning your names for lack of time.

May I also convey my welcome greetings to the officials and staff of the BCPCH-Region led by Atty. Alicain Karim, legal officer, and Dr. Abubacar Datumanong, TLO Consultant, who are likewise here in Marawi to facilitate this important gathering, as well as the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), in the person of its Executive Director, Atty. Ona Carlitos, who is tasked to help inform and educate our traditional leaders and our electorate at large on the processes and rules attendant to the coming Parliamentary electoral exercise in BARMM in September of this year.

The traditional leadership of the Bangsamoro had always played a central role in the history of the Bangsamoro nation. For needless to say, it was the traditional leadership that was at the helm of the Moro Sultanate states that had been at the forefront of the Moro people’s struggle against foreign colonialism whether in Ranao , Magindanaw, Buayan, or Sulu.

For those who are not yet familiar with the BCPCH, its primary mandate, apart from cultural heritage preservation, is to write the history of the Bangsamoro people from Bangsamoro experiential perspective. Therefore at this juncture, with your indulgence let me wax a little bit of Bangsamoro history to provide context to why our traditional leaders played a central role in Bangsamoro history.

The first documented defeat of the Spanish colonialists in Mindanao and Sulu in the 320-year Moro-Spanish Wars was in Buayan in February 1596 when Datu Silongan, the Rajah of the Kerajaan of Buayan achieved a decisive victory over the Spanish colonial expedition to Cotabato led by Captain Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa. This was the Battle of Tampakan in Buayan. It was Figueroa who was given the egregious mission by Spanish Governor General Francisco de Sande in 1578, which inaugurated the Moro-Spanish Wars, to eradicate Islam in Mindanao and Sulu and subjugate the Moro people.

Fifty-one years after the Battle of Tampakan, Ramitan, the capital of Magindanaw Sultan Muhammed Dipatuan Qudarat, fell to the Spanish forces in 1637 led by Spanish Governor General Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuerra. But afterwards the Spaniards met another major defeat this time in Ranao, which they invaded in 1640, four years after the fall of Ramitan. This defeat was inflicted on the Spaniards by the sultans and datus of the Pungampung ko Ranao – an unprecedented defeat of epic proportion in that it extremely traumatized the Spaniards to the extent that they did not attempt to invade Ranao for 251 years or until 1891 when Spanish Governor General Valeriano Weyler, the notorious ‘Butcher of Cuba’, decided to lay siege to Kuta Marahui and eliminate Datu Akobar Akadir aka Amai Pakpak .

This should explain why in 1652, Sultan Qudarat, the greatest Moro hero who is the only Muslim Moro installed in the pantheon of Philippine national heroes, traveled to Ranao from his new capital in Simuay to enroll the M’ranaw victors of the 1640 Ranao battles – the sultans and datus of the Pungampung ko Ranao – many of whom were his kinsmen, in his war to drive the Spaniards out of the Moro homeland.

The Ranao sultans and datus were at first reluctant to join Sultan Qudarat’s proposition for war against Spain because they said there were no Spaniards in Ranao after their humiliating defeat by the M’ranaw leaders in 1640. But when Sultan Qudarat delivered his famous speech in that historic 1652 meeting in Ranao, which is now recorded for posterity by history, the sultans and datus of the Pungampung ko Ranao were eventually convinced to join Sultan Qudarat in his jihad against Spanish colonialism. Thus, with burning fervor and passion they led their followers down to the coastal areas where they figured prominently in the Moro maritime raids against the Spaniards and Spanish colonial settlements in Luzon, the Visayas and Northern Mindanao and even against the Dutch, the Portuguese and the British colonialists in the length and breadth of the Malay Nusantara.

The maritime raids were demonized by the Spaniards as ‘Moro piracy’ and thus the Moro-Spanish Wars in general as ‘Guerras Piraticas’ or ‘Wars against the Moro Pirates’. But modern writer, researcher, and historian James Warren extolled these acts of anti-colonial resistance as “The Iranun Age” referring collectively to M’ranaws, Coastal Iranuns and Magindanawns as ‘Iranun’, which, according to etnno-linguistic scholarship, they really are.
History further tells us that the noblemen of the Pungampung ko Ranao relentlessly fought the Spaniards even after the fall of Kuta Marahui to Spanish Governor General Ramon Blanco and the subsequent martyrdom of Datu Amai Pakpak in 1895.

Overall, Ranao anti-colonial resistance was an unflagging and uninterrupted struggle that our noble ancestors of the Pungampung ko Ranao kept on waging inside or outside Ranao until the withdrawal of the Spaniards from Mindanao in 1898.

In fact, the last major battles of the Moro-Spanish Wars were fought in Ranao on land, river waterways, sea lanes and in Lake Lanao and they were fought by the sultans and datus of the Pungampung ko Ranao. Among them was the legendary Sultan Badrudin or Rajah Palawan of Raya in Wato also known as Sabir sa Radapan who earlier fought the Spaniards in what is now Lanao del Norte and Northern Mindanao, and was martyred in 1759.

Another example: In 1896, the year the Katipunan openly declared the Philippine Revolution against Spain, the Sultan of Ramain and his wife were killed in a naval battle against the Spanish gunboats in Lake Lanao. This event was published in more than twenty periodicals in Spain such as ‘El Heraldo de Madrid’, ‘Diario delas Palmas, etc., in the aforesaid year 1896.

What this tells us is that our sultans and datus of the Pungampung ko Ranao did not command their warriors from behind the war front but were right in front leading them in battle.

At any rate, we saw the same lead role, the same self-sacrifice, the same indomitable spirit of Resistance that our traditional leaders acted out in the Moro struggle against the American occupation of Moroland.

On May 2, 1902, the Sultan of Bayang was martyred in the epochal Battle of Bayang, aka Padang Karbala, against American forces. This was the renowned battle that was highly publicized in the US because it inaugurated the American-Moro War, and which, to the M’ranaw people of Ranao and Moroland as a whole re-ignited the inspiration for anti-colonialist resistance.

Thereafter, we saw more of our sultans and datus in the Pungampung leading the struggle against the Americans during and after the so-called US Pacification Campaign in Ranao in 1902 and even beyond, which resulted in the martyrdom of many leaders of Ranao such as the martyrdom of the Sultan of Masiu in the so-called US Expedition in Masiu also in September 1902; the martyrdom of Sultan Uali of Butig also in 1902; the martyrdom of the Sultan of Bacolod in the Battle of Bacolod in 1903; the martyrdom of the Sultan of Pidtakes and Kabugatan sa Masiu and datus in the Battles of Pidtakes and Taraka in 1903 and 1904 respectively. History further informs us that the longest resistance posed by an individual Moro leader against the American occupation of Moroland was by Datu Ampauan-a-Gaus of Taraka and Ramain, a survivor of the Battle of Taraka and a member of the nobility of the Ranao Pungampung who fought the Americans from 1906 to 1916.

In any case, the Sultan of Masiu is worth mentioning because of the inimitable manner of his sacrifice and martyrdom. He ordered his warriors to leave the kuta and withdraw to safety in the face of the overwhelming force of the American army equipped with the most sophisticated weaponry at that time. After having withdrawn his men from the kuta on the night before the American siege, the following morning the Sultan of Masiu, alone, sallied forth from the kuta and attacked in the tradition of ‘prang sabil’ the American troops who surrounded his kuta. Consequently, under the hail of American bullets, he died a martyr’s death. Upon learning that he was the Sultan of Masiu, one of the Ranao Pungampungs, the American troops, including Gen. John ‘Black Jack’ Pershing himself, as a tribute to this Sultan’s bravery and concern for the welfare of his warriors, stood over his dead body and saluted him. This poignant event in Moro history never found a space in mainstream history but it was recorded for posterity by Gen. Pershing in his memoir published long after his death.

Interestingly enough, statistics reveal that Ranao has the most number of sultans and datus martyred or killed in the defense of Moroland in the Spanish and American historical timelines.

Be that as it may, in these swirling events of history that testify to our traditional leaders’ extraordinary heroism and resistance struggle against foreign colonialism, one episode of far reaching implications stands out whose result is before us today.

On February 2, 1924, Moro traditional leaders from the thirteen Muslim Moro Malay ethno-linguistic groups of Mindanao and Sulu gathered in Zamboanga City. The royal representatives of Ranao were there, the Wazir of the Sultan of Sulu was there, the Buayan datus were there, the Zamboanga nobles were there, as well as the different datus from other areas of Mindanao and adjacent islands like Basilan. They were led by Sultan Mangigin of Magindanaw. In that large united Moro assembly in Zamboanga City, the Moro leaders issued the now historic ‘Declaration of Intent and Purposes’ better known as the ‘Zamboanga Declaration of 1924’ addressed to the US Government wherein 1) they expressed their opposition to Moroland’s inclusion in the creation of the Philippine State, 2) they conveyed their desire for political independence after a transition period of 50 years, and, most importantly, 3) that their nation be called the ‘Moro Nation’, which, in Bahasa Melayu, is ‘Bangsa Moro’.

By explicitly and unequivocally naming us as the Moro Nation or Bangsamoro in the 1924 Zamboanga Declaration, our traditional leaders, for the first time, not only institutionalized our identity as Bangsamoro and proclaimed it as such to all and sundry, but anticipated in advance, albeit inadvertently, the application of international law through the founding principles of the United Nations established in 1945 that confers on peoples and nations the right to self-determination.
I’ve been a member of the M**F Peace Negotiating Panel for 17 years, and before that I was in the Moro armed struggle and served in the MNLF Northern Mindanao Revolutionary Command as its Propaganda Committee Chairman in the 70s until I was inducted into the M**F Central Committee and afterwards the Peace Panel. This Zamboanga Declaration issued by our traditional leaders in 1924 became the solid ground on which stood our argument lfor demanding Bangsamoro as our national identity, and, concomitant thereto, our right to self-determination as a distinct people and nation under international law.

Today, we have the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or BARMM as the result of that peace negotiation and the signed political agreements it had birthed – the pivotal Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) of 2012 and the consolidated Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) of 2014. The CAB is the basis of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) or Republic Act 11054 from which the BARMM draws its constitutional mandate.

So, what is the point of all this historical recital?

The point is that our Moro traditional leaders in the past, as I posited earlier, occupied a central role in Bangsamoro history in that they not only figured prominently in the struggle of our people in the defense of Islam, homeland and freedom but they gifted us with the identity ‘Bangsamoro’, which we now proudly wear akin to a badge of honor as we exercise self-rule and self-determination no matter how imperfect it still is.

Therefore, to honor their sacred legacy, we, in the peace negotiation, arrived at the consensus that our traditional leaders deserved a fitting place in the Bangsamoro Parliament not just as a sector but a living institution that resonates our historical heritage. This is the least honor we could bestow on them for the crucial role they played in the history of our people and the struggle to preserve Moro freedom.

That said, in this generation, the legacy that has been passed on to you, our traditional leaders today, by our traditional leaders in the past should not perish and vanish with the ever-changing political climate or with the incursions of corrosive foreign influence.
You represent that role our traditional leaders in the past had pivotally played in our history. In a very real sense, you, yourselves, represent history.

As such, you must be the catalyst and rallying point for unity, not the contributor to, let alone the reason for disunity. Neither should you stay at the sideline and remain silent spectators as our Bangsamoro homeland faces challenging situations that threaten even to fragment it.

And while you aspire and work for peace, which you should, remember that peace is not just the absence of conflict but the preponderance and reign of justice.

To put it in perspective, our traditional leaders in the past left this compelling legacy of leadership characterized by the maxim ‘first to give and the last to receive’. It is this legacy you inherited from them that you must nourish, defend and apply whether in better times or in times of adversity.

It is this legacy that you must carry constantly for as long as you wear the title of a traditional leader. The allurements of political power, the glitter of material wealth and the temptation of corruption and unlawful practices that go with these mundane pursuits should not prevent you from doing so. These venalities in fact should be spurned because as traditional leaders who carry the legacy of the past, you are expected to mirror the moral values of our Bangsamoro society and perform the Islamic obligation of commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

As you, therefore, participate in the Parliamentary electoral exercise in keeping with the inherent right of suffrage of the Bangsamoro and the concomitant right to be elected within the comprehensive ambit of the right to self-determination that we gained in the Bangsamoro struggle - lead with compassion, magnanimity, wisdom, honesty, humility and courage like what our traditional leaders of yore illustrated, and as epitomized by Sultan Muhammed Dipatuan Qudarat and the martyred leaders and notable figures of the Pumgampung ko Ranao who were the first to sacrifice and the last to benefit.

We cannot bring back the past, but this is the way by which you can memorialize, in fact restore in real time, this legacy of service-driven and altruistic leadership left to you and to all of us by our traditional leaders from generations back who wrote Bangsamoro history and entrenched Bangsamoro identity with their blood and sacrifice.

Shukraan.
Wa billahi tawfiq wa’l hidaya.
Wa assalaamo alaykom wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuho.

𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗠. 𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗢
ᴄʜᴀɪʀᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ
ʙᴀɴɢꜱᴀᴍᴏʀᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴜʟᴛᴜʀᴀʟ ʜᴇʀɪᴛᴀɢᴇ

06/05/2026

𝐁𝐂𝐏𝐂𝐇 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH) formally welcomed its new chairperson, Robert Alonto, during an assumption of office ceremony on May 6, at the Bangsamoro Museum.

Alonto succeeds the outgoing leadership as he takes on the role of heading the commission tasked with safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Bangsamoro people.

Before his appointment, Alonto served as commissioner for BCPCH Lanao del Sur, where he played a key role in advancing cultural preservation initiatives in the province. He will continue to hold his post as Lanao del Sur commissioner alongside his new responsibilities. Meanwhile, Commissioner Lingasa remains in his post for BCPCH Maguindanao.

During the ceremony, Lingasa presented an overview of the commission’s journey, mandate, and accomplishments. He traced its roots from early cultural advocacy efforts during the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to its formal establishment under the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

In his acceptance speech, Alonto underscored the significance of the commission’s role beyond administration.

“The BCPCH, as an institution, stands as a garden of memory, identity and continuity for the Bangsamoro people,” Alonto said. “To lead it is not merely an administrative task; it is a solemn task.”

He emphasized the need to make cultural heritage relevant to future generations.
“Our task is to ensure that the historical and cultural heritage of the Bangsamoro is not only preserved, but made meaningful, inspirational, instructive, and accessible for generations to come,” he added.

The ceremony also featured messages from commissioners representing provincial offices, a symbolic handover of leadership, and the awarding of a plaque of appreciation to the outgoing chairperson.

05/05/2026

𝐁𝐂𝐏𝐂𝐇-𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐌 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘| Isang malaking hamon sa BCPCH-BARMM ang pagsasalin ng mga kasaysayan, tradisyon at kultura ng Bangsamoro sa mga kabataan lalo sa makabagong panahon.