Some years back, a Manila columnist said that the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)is the most expensive real estate in the Philippines. Close to 2/3 of the Armed Forces are deployed in Mindanao, mostly fighting a secessionist war. I would argue that the situation in Mindanao might be one where it is better to live separately in peace than together in war; let the Moros (Muslims) have their own country. They never wanted to be part of the Republic of the Philippines; they were never part, and rightly so, of the organic development of Filipino nationhood. There is Filipinas, the nation of mainstream Filipinos that is held together by a common Hispanic-Christian heritage, and the Republic that also includes the Moros–for now–who don’t feel part of the Philippine state. Moros disdain being referred to as “Filipinos”; that would be analogous to a “Turkish Armenian”. The Moros should learn to live with this historical fact: The Philippines is a secular state that admits of various religious persuasions; it is, however, a country whose national culture has its origins in, and is informed and inspired by, its Hispanic and Christian heritage.