The Geo-History of a Proto-State: Nusa Island as the Operational and Ideological Kota of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Lanao del Sur

Abstract

This paper uses a geo-historical approach to explain the enduring processes of Nusa Island, Lanao del Sur as the main Kota (fortified camp) and power center of radiation of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The island, being in the strategic location in Lake Lanao, the geographical peculiarities of the island, such as its size, stability in year-round conditions, and isolation gave the MILF a stronghold against the forces of the state across decades of the armed clash. In the study, the researcher explains how the island evolved between 1969 and 2010 as it evolved into a formal training base of the Mujahideen into the Nusa Base Command. Additionally, the article gives an exhaustive analysis of the proto-state system of governance of MILF, the application of the rigid four points program (Islamization, organizational strengthening, military build-up as well as self-reliance) and the functional effectiveness of the Al Mahakim Al-Shari’yyah (Islamic Court) which has been settling local conflict including Rido (family feuds). Although confining that the island plays a geopolitical role in the stability of the MILF and that it possesses the attributes to govern itself in an orderly manner, the results also underscore the inherent contradiction to the same in that the continued existence and the ability to extract resources of the movement play a direct role in destruction of the environment including deforestation to the sustainability of the Kota (Ariong, 2000).