Both cities are capitals of its provinces, and have its own unique characteristics, and demographics. For example, the people of Marawi are mostly practicing Muslims, while in the north they are predominantly Christians. Before the conflict, Marawi City was a destination for commerce, knowledge, and religious and cultural practices among its neighboring provinces in ARMM. This was evident due to its large population and population density compared to other ARMM cities109. Also, its strong cultural110 and educational institutions111 were key to its thriving economy. However, compare to the nation’s provincial capitals, Lanao del Sur has consistently been the poorest from 2009-2015. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 6 out of 10 families in Lanao del Sur are poor, a reflection of the poverty rate in Marawi City. Marawi City’s economy revolves around rice and corn farming, even though it is the second smallest land area of Lanao del Sur. In addition, some families incorporate gold and blacksmithing, saw processing, clothing making, mat and malong weaving112. The National Power Corporation’s Agus 1 Hydro Electric Power Plant is located in the heart of the city; it is the most upstream of the seven (7) Agus Hydro Power Plants located around Lanao-Agus river113. The Maranaos, the indigenous owners of the land, were known as strong and dignified community114. They have fought alongside with other Moro and Lumad communities against multiple invasion by Spaniards, Japanese, and Americans in Mindanao region. History reveals, that as early as 1565, indigenous communities in Luzon and Visayas were already Christianized, while the Moros in Mindanao stood with its indigenous culture and beliefs, including the Muslim Sultanates of the South, for most of the Spanish colonization115. It took several attempts to invade the region. In the nineteenth century, the Spaniards attacked Marawi – in 1891 and 1895 – both attempts being futile and led the colonizers to withdraw. The Spanish colonization was a significant period in instilling misconception and fear against the Moro people and Muslim culture116; which was further reinforced at the time of American colonization and Philippine government policies. Kaufman states, the decades of “overt Spanish goal of Christianization has set the tone for this perception, which was reinforced by later American and Philippine government policies aimed at changing the ‘backwardness’ of Muslim culture… [the] policies, ranging from land laws and marriage laws to educational initiatives, were seen cumulatively as an assault on the Moros’ entire way of life. The perception was reinforced by frequently expressed Philippine government views that Moros’ ‘religious fanaticism’ was to blame for their poverty, and by the frequently stated Christian Filipino insistence that they follow the ‘wrong religion’ and should convert 117”. Today, as the Philippines moves forward to a more harmonious society, the inherent 118, explicit119, and implicit120 biases or prejudices against Muslim communities still resonate121, these are evident in media (mis)representation, and the recent congressional hearing on the extension 109 Stats. POPCEN 110 Since Arabic studies came to be widely taught among the city's students, a great number of the population can read, write and speak Arabic. A number of schools still use English as the medium of instruction. 111 In the whole of ARMM, data from the Department of Education show that Marawi City hosts only 5.7 percent of the region’s total schools but also 7.56 percent or 60,195 of the region’s total students (796,230) in the elementary and secondary levels. 112 See: PhilGIS 113 See: National Power Corporation 114 (Saber, 1980) and (Saber, Maranao Resistance to Foreign Invasions) 115 Kaufman, P. 940; Moore 1981:83; McKenna 1998 on Kaufman’s article 116 According to Delor Angeles (1980) the Philippine Inquisition was happening all over Luzon and Visayas region. For three centuries under the Spanish colonial rule, Filipinos in Luzon and Visayas have feared the Moros internalized the perception of Muslim culture as ‘backward’. Native Moros and Moslems in Mindanao were labeled as the enemy. (Kaufman, 2011) Fears of group extinction among Moros were long-standing. [Gowing (1969:80) in Kaufman, 2011], writing before the outbreak of violence in the 1970s, noted: ‘‘in the confrontation of Islam and Christianity in the Philippines, the Moros... have been, and still are, threatened with psychological death,’’ the death of their identity. 117 Kaufman, 2011 (p. 949) 118 See: Said, Edward 1978. Orientalism. 119 See: Perception Institute 2017. “‘explicit bias’ refers to the attitudes and beliefs we have about a person or group on a conscious level. Much of the time, these biases and their expression arise as the direct result of a perceived threat. When people feel threatened, they are more likely to draw group boundaries to distinguish themselves from others.” 120 See: The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity 2015; Perception Institute 2017. “Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness. Rather, implicit biases are not accessible through introspection.” 121 See: Hutchcroft, Paul 2016. Mindanao: The Long Journey to Peace and Prosperity; Ferrer, 2011; and Vellema, et al. 2011 14