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When Islam came to the Philippines with traders during the 15th Century from Malaysia, it first took root in the islands of the Sulu archipelago and from there it spread to the main island of the South, Mindanao. In subsequent years it continued northward with the establishment of trading posts until the whole of Luzon, the main island of the North, was occupied and by the mid-16th century two sultanates were established. Many of the tribes throughout the Philippines willingly accepted Islaam. A powerful Datu as far north as Manila embraced Islaam. However, some chose not to and fled into the interior. Among them were the T’boli, B’laan and Ubo tribes of Mindanao who continued to practise animism in the interior of Mindanao Island.


THE ARRIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY

Christian conquistadors, led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, arrived in the Philippines during the 16th Century landing in Cebu in March 1521. During the subsequent decades, they attacked the Muslim Sultanates and other pagan settlements following the same pattern of plunder and destruction used in Central and South America. Eventually, they succeeded in conquering most of the North and Central Philippines. They subsequently forced the inhabitants to convert to Christianity and destroyed all traces of Islam in the Northern region. But the Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu, whom the Spanish called Moros, were never completely subdued by Spain.
During the late 19th Century, war broke out between the United States of America and Spain. After a U.S. naval victory in Manila Bay in May 1898, U.S. troops landed and with Filipino help occupied the Philippines. The cession of the Philippines to the United States took place during peace negotiations in Paris in Dec. 10, 1898. A Filipino revolutionary movement fought against American rule for three years until its leader, Aguinaldo was captured and shortly thereafter appealed to his countrymen to accept U.S. rule. The Moros in the south continued to resist until a 20th-century U.S. army finally subdued them.
Some of the indigenous tribes of the South, like the T’boli, B’laan and Ubo, remained untouched by these developments as their settlements were in the interior, away from the costal cities and towns. They believed in Fun Koyu, the spirit of the trees, Funel, the spirit of water and Fun Bulol, the spirit of the mountains. They considered these spirits gods who showered blessings on them through food and the other luxurious gifts of nature. They led a very simple, happy and contented life.


THE UNEXPECTED OCCUPIERS

During the population explosion in the North of the Philippines in the early 1950’s, waves of Christian settlers from Luzon and the Visayas came South to Koronadal and from there they rapidly spread into the areas occupied by the indigenous tribes, the T’bolis, B’laan and the Ubo. These settlers claimed all the vacant land adjacent to settlements of the aboriginal tribes, who at that time were uninformed about the legal concept of owning property as their ancestral domains. The indigenous tribes willingly allowed the Christian settlers to occupy their vacant ancestral lands, as they were completely unaware of the intention of these settlers.
Slowly but surely the aboriginals became a minority in their own areas and many were driven further inland as land-hungry settlers crowded them out.


THE ADVENT OF THE MISSIONARIES

Father Arroz, a Protestant priest, was the first to introduce Christianity to the people of Lake Sebu and the town of T’boli in the 1950’s. In 1960, Datus (nobles) of the T’boli tribe, namely Datu Ungoy Kawig, Datu Baay, Datu Fikan, Datu Bebing Siob and their interpreter Datu Samuel Undan invited Rev. Father George Nolan and Rev. Father Rex Mansmann to introduce the Catholic interpretation of Christianity to the T’bolis.

Since then, these missionaries established schools, churches and clinics to serve the people. They also introduced and financed livelihood projects; the raising of cattle. Farm implements were supplied free of cost to the people and most importantly; free education was provided to the children of the T’bolis. The Santa Cruz Mission School Inc. established 19 primary schools, 3 high schools and one college. Initially there was a great wave of conversions to Christianity. However, in spite of the benefits provided by the Church, the Church managed to take control of virtually all the T’boli lands leaving the majority landless.
Added to this, a series of corrupt activities by some of the priests led to a collapse of the provision of the facilities and a gradual decline the number of T’bolis joining the Catholic religion.


THE ACCEPTANCE OF ISLAM

In the early 90’s, Ali Akbar Salam, a Muslim T’boli, invited Brother Ismael Abubakar and his wife Bay Cabaybay Abubakar, the President of the Shariff Kabunsuan College in Cotabato City, to his place to introduce the religion of Islam to his people. Since then, Islam gradually crept into the hearts and minds of the T’bolis and the number of conversions have been continually increasing by the hundreds.
Two concrete mosques have been built; one on Lake Sebu and the other in the town of T’boli. An Imaam has also been appointed for each mosque to lead the prayers and teach the congregation the basics of Islaam. The Barangays (villages) also have temporary mosques made of bamboo and wood. However, the needs of the new community were great. Economic as well as educational projects were needed to help the budding community survive and grow.
In 1992, Dr. Bilal Philips visited Lake Sebu and proposed that academic scholarships be set up to further the education the T’boli converts in various academic fields. Shariff Kabunsuan College (SKC) was chosen as their place of study because Dr. Bilal had already Islamized their curriculum and was himself teaching M.A. level Islamic Studies courses at the college.

Download the entire Project in PDF :http://www.bilalphilips.com/pdf/Tboli%20Project%20Complete.pdf