ABSTRACT
Such developments have already progressed to quite an extent in the contemporary Philippines with the establishment of the Auto nomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the formation of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Whether these mea sures are ultimately successful in containing more strident demands for autonomy will partly depend upon the Manila government’s readiness to cease inserting minority groups into historical agenda not of their own fashioning and on its willingness to negotiate a more meaningful sense of national identity. In particular, it will need to convince all of its citizens that the designation of Muslim Filipino, Cordilleran Filipino or Chinese Filipino means something more substantial than merely a descriptive ethnic label. (This question is
discussed more fully in chapter five.) In the meantime, however, the outpouring of centennially inspired literature provides a unique opportunity to explore the manner in which contending ethnic and social groups compete for influence and patronage over the past and the degree to which historiography has become a contested discourse in today’s Philippines.
