Visiting a museum is another way of learning more about a place, which is why I look forward to stepping into one every time I travel to a new destination. Having been to the biggest museums in the country, such as the National Gallery, the National Museum of Natural History, and other National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) sites, I usually taper my expectations when I stumble upon smaller ones.
Cotabato City’s Bangsamoro Museum: A Treasure Trove of Historical Artifacts
Upon our visit to the Bangsamoro Museum in Cotabato City, I found myself arriving with modest expectations regarding what lay ahead. To my astonishment, just moments after stepping inside, I was welcomed by a rich array of artifacts that spoke volumes of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region's remarkable history.
The first section of the Bangsamoro Museum to which our guide ushered us was the gallery displaying a collection of burial jars. I was immediately intrigued by the sight of these jars, which date back centuries, because they seemed eerily similar to burial jars I had seen in the Cairo Museum a few years prior.
Burial Jars Made of Limestone
The limestone jars, which number twenty-one in all, are called “secondary burial jars” because the body is typically left to decompose until it is stripped to the bones and placed inside.
The jars were discovered on the Kulamana Plateau in South Cotabato and in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, by researchers from the University of San Carlos (USC) during the early 1960s. Not long after, international experts arrived to analyze the artifacts and eventually estimated them to date back 2,000 to 2,500 years after carbon dating was administered.
Examination of the jars and further excavation in the area where they were discovered continued until the early 1970s, when work was halted after President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the bombing of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) camps in the region following the declaration of martial law.
The older burial jars came in quadrilateral shapes with cylindrical lids. The bodies of the jars are decorated with various geometric designs, and the lids are adorned with depictions of human features that hint at the gender of the deceased—often phallic for males and mammary for females.
“I believe there would have been more of these if it weren’t for treasure hunters who discovered the other burial jars before they could be unearthed by scholars,” our guide told us.
The abundance and age of the jars, which span over two millennia, provide compelling evidence of a vibrant and dynamic culture in the Philippines well before the arrival of the Spaniards in the early sixteenth century. So, even if you thought you had delved deep into our nation's past, know that there is still a great deal of narrative to discover.
A Showcase of Bangsamoro’s Culture, History and People
Located inside the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City, the museum was founded in 2019 on the initiative of Mujiv Hataman, the last Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor before the BARMM law took effect. Managed by the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH–BARMM), the museum maintains the collection of artworks, textual and iconographic documents, as well as cultural and historical relics from the region.
Another feature of the museum that one shouldn’t miss is the thousand-year chronicle of Islam in the Philippines and the modern history timeline, composed of a lengthy written narrative displayed on one of the walls—a key section details the horrors committed against Muslims during the martial law years. Along with other interesting exhibits, such as textiles made by the Sinagtala weavers during the Marawi siege and other remainders from its battleground’s Ground Zero, documents about the Peace Process and the Bangsamoro Organic Law, a recording of the Tausug Kissa chant that recreates the prayer chant of the victims of the Bud Dajo massacre of 1906, and a collection belonging to Moro Islamic Liberation Front founder Hashim Salamat, the museum also houses a collection of traditional clothing and musical instruments.
Quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Marian Pastor Roces, the commissioned curator of the museum, said that the museum's “ambition is to affirm the experience of Muslim Filipinos at besting the odds—to hold a mirror to the Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Tausug, Sama and other Islamicized peoples.”
As we ended our tour of the Bangsamoro Museum, my tapered expectations were replaced by a feeling of euphoria akin to someone who discovered something significant. Mine didn’t come in material treasure but through a new set of knowledge and a better understanding of the history of the Bangsamoro people. I couldn’t be happier about the new things I learned that day.
