As the saying went, cheap goods were never good, and good goods were never cheap. East Africa soon got a taste of Spain's agony.
In May 1897, as the Spanish army withdrew, East Africa smoothly took over several Spanish strongholds on Mindanao. East Africa directly transferred part of the garrison from Lanfang Overseas Province to station on Mindanao.
"The Moros are the island's main inhabitants and believers in the Green Religion. That is also why they are so difficult to deal with. Under Spanish rule, most of northern Luzon Island embraced Christianity, so the Moros' hatred for 'infidels' is inborn. They are not as easily conquered as those natives in northern Philippines. Moreover, Mindanao's terrain is complex and its vegetation lush. Spain previously launched several campaigns to suppress the Moros, but achieved little. In the end, they could only cower within several coastal strongholds and promise the Moros a high degree of autonomy—in other words, their rule existed in name only."
An intelligence officer from the National Security Bureau introduced the island's situation to East Africa's first governor of Mindanao.
"In fact, Moro is Spain's collective term for the Green Religion believers on the island. Internally, they are divided into several ethnic groups and tribes, but their shared faith makes them more united."
In his previous life, Mindanao had always been the most turbulent region in the Philippines. The local Moros not only fought Spain fiercely, but continued to do so after the Americans arrived. The Americans likewise failed to establish effective rule there.
Thus, the United States entered political negotiations with the Muslims in the south, successively signing the Gilam-Bates Treaty with the Moro Sultan and the Sultan of Maguindanao. Under the treaty, Americans would not enter the southern Philippines, and affairs within the region would be autonomously administered