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Epilogue The American Military Period in Historical Memory in January 2008 my family and i had the privilege of traveling to Marawi city as guests of the sultan of Tugaya. i first met the sultan in Manila in october of the same year i was preparing to move my family down to cagayan de oro to continue my research in Mindanao, and he was searching for potential tenants to lease an idle second home just outside that city. we met in a high-rise “apartelle” building in san Juan. Though he seemed a bit weak and nervous from fasting during ramadan, his demeanor maintained a particular enthusiasm that came to characterize his personality. He shared this apartelle with his cousin, an exceptionally thoughtful and softspoken man affectionately known as “Doc.” as we talked we soon discovered the incredibly fortuitous nature of our association. Both Doc and the sultan are Maranao Muslims from Marawi, and each exercises a great deal of influence within their community—the sultan as a political and financial figure in lanao and Doc as a high-ranking member of the Moro national liberation Front (MnlF) and a close advisor of the Muslim rebel leader nur Misuari. i had trouble hiding my excitement while trying to broker a lease agreement. However, i was not alone in my eagerness. somewhat to my surprise, the sultan went on for the next two hours explaining to me how important it was that americans again become aware of the Moros’ plight. “god has brought us together,” he reiterated throughout the evening. The next night i again found myself spending several hours with Doc and the sultan. we trolled around Quezon city in his minivan, chatting, while soft, melodious, sing-song koranic recitations wafted from the vehicle’s rear speakers. i listened mostly as the sultan rehearsed a litany of evidences indicating his power and prestige as a monarchical figure in the lanao region of M a k i n g M o r o s 134 western Mindanao. Despite his self-congratulatory tone, however, the sultan ’s conversations intermittently exhibited a deferential quality, particularly when speaking of his religious devotions or his affection for the United states. in the late 1990s the sultan spent a couple of weeks in washington, D.c., and he has never forgotten the experience. He enjoyed reminiscing about traffic patterns, pedestrian walk lights, the national Mall, and the general cleanliness of the city. “i can’t believe how orderly it was,” he repeated time and again throughout the evening, carefully regulating his accent on each word. “That is what we need in lanao—order! You americans are so orderly.” He was also incurably enamored of the young presidential candidate Barack obama, who he was quite certain was a Muslim. Despite my best attempts to correct this misconception, the sultan was fully convinced that anyone with the name Barack Hussein obama had to be a Muslim, whether i chose to accept it or not. as a self-described “doer,” the sultan sent numerous emails to the campaign pledging his unyielding support and dutifully printed out and carefully preserved each manufactured response as evidence of his burgeoning relationship with the future “Muslim” president of the United states. Throughout our time together i was continually surprised and often taken aback by the sultan’s fondness for the United states and his intense affinity for embassy and military contacts. nearly every time we met, he requested that i immediately email “the embassy” and let them know that i was with the sultan and that he was a gracious and pro-american host. Despite my attempts to assure him that i did not have any significant connections at the american embassy in Manila, he persisted. i typically ended up sending these emails to the Fulbright headquarters in Makati, which usually solicited a somewhat confused response such as “ok” or “good to know.” However, as i was able to integrate myself into various mosques and Muslim communities throughout the region, i increasingly found the sultan’s sentiments to be relatively typical, though usually without his characteristic level of enthusiasm. imams, Maulanas , teachers in the madrasas, merchants, and many others frequently exhibited a sense of fondness and respect when talking about the United states. Unlike most of the Philippines’ fixation with american popular music, Hollywood movies, and athletic spectacles (which the Moros seemed to care very little for), the Filipino Muslims’ partiality lay in their perceptions of stability, order, and fairness associated with the...

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