63

Module 6

MORO RESISTANCE TO SPANISH AGGRESSION

Jihan S. Bacug1, Melodia S. Udtohan1,
Zizzle Dawn M. Abecia1 & Juvanni A. Caballero2
1Department of History, CSSH, MSU-MARAWI
2Department of History, CASS, MSU-IIT

I. Objectives

At the end of this module, the students should be able to answer the following
questions:

1. What was the Spanish-Moro Wars?

2. What were the various phases and highlights of these wars?
3. Which Moro leaders/personalities figured prominently during these wars?
4. What was the impact of the Spanish-Moro wars on the Islamized and
Christianized natives of this archipelago?

II. Introductory Activity. The instructor may show some photos (or video clips) of
Moro caraoas and vintas. He may explain how those sea vessels gave the Moros
leverage in their naval exploits both in trading and “raiding” (being classified here as a
Moro response to Spanish aggression). This initial discussion should lead to the lesson
proper.

III. Lesson Proper

If Luzon and Visayas were easily conquered by the Spaniards, the case of
Mindanao and Sulu was different. The Spaniards found the southern islands more
difficult to subdue because the natives had already developed a socio-political
organization far sophisticated than the ordinary barangays of Luzon and Visayas. This
socio-political organization was the Sultanate, which was actually an influence that
came along with the Islamic faith.

There were two major sultanates that existed and waged war against the
Spanish colonizers: The Maguindanao Sultanate in mainland Mindanao and the Sulu
Sultanate in the Sulu archipelago. Although the Maranaos of the Lake Lanao region had
also their own indigenous socio-political organization known as the Pat a Pengampong
ko Ranao, 1 this however had very limited contact with the Spaniards due to their

1The Pat a Pengampong ko Ranao is actually a multi-centric and multi-power sultanate system of the
Maranaos that is quite distinct from the highly centralized and unitary sultanates of Maguindanao and
 64

remote location in the interior of Mindanao. In fact, there were only two major moves
on the part of the Spaniards that directly attempted to conquer the Maranaos: one was
during the time of Governor-General Sebastian Hortado de Corcuera (1639); and the
other one was during the time of Governor-General Valeriano Weyler (1891).2 Each of
these attempts ended in failure on the part of the Spaniards. Hence, the bulk of the
action in the Spanish-Moro wars would involve much the Maguindanao and Sulu
Sultanates.

1. What was the Spanish-Moro Wars?

The wars that the Spaniards and the Moros fought were generally known among
Filipino historians as Spanish-Moro wars. However, the Spaniards referred to these wars
as “guerras piraticas” which literally means “wars against pirates”. By using the above
description, the Spaniards concealed the real purpose and nature of their war against
the independent Sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu. In other words, the wars of
aggression that the Spaniards waged against the independent states of the south were
projected by the colonizers as a justifiable and praiseworthy war.

Was this war really justifiable and praiseworthy?! To answer this question, we shall talk
about some details of the Spanish Moro wars in the succeeding paragraphs.

2. What were the various phases and highlights of these wars?

The Spanish-Moro Wars were divided by historian Cesar Adib Majul into six phases. It
started during the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in Visayan waters in 1565 until the
last of the Spanish forces left the archipelago in 1898. Although at times, truce and
peace treaties were forged by the Spaniards and the Moros, violence in general
characterized Spanish-Moro relations.

The First Phase (1565 – 1578)

It must be noted that the Spanish claim of sovereignty over the Philippine islands
was based on Magellan’s “discovery” of the archipelago in 1521. However, such claim of
sovereignty would remain meaningless unless and until some concrete show of Spanish
power is demonstrated. After all, the rule of the time was “might makes right”,
meaning, one has the right over something if one is powerful and mighty enough to

Sulu. The renowned Maranao scholar, Mamitua Saber, called the Pengampong as principalities, which are
composed of Bayabao, Masiu, Unayan, and Baloi. Except for Baloi, each of the other three Pengampong is
territorially divided into suku or district: with Bayabao being divided into Poona Bayabao, Lumba
Bayabao, and Mala a Bayabao; Masiu into East and West Masiu; and Unayan into West and East also.
Each of these districts is subdivided into different inged or townships; with each inged being subdivided
into several hundred Agama or communities. Each of these Agamas is further subdivided into bangon,
which is composed of 2 to 5 families, and each bangon is further divided into isa-ka-igaan, which literally
means “one sleeping place. See Mamitua Saber and Abdullah T. Madale (ed.). Pengampong: An Ancient
Confederation The Maranao (Manila: R.P. Garcia Publishing House, 1975), pp. 71-73
2 Majul, Cesar A. Muslims in the Philipines (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1999) pp. 161 & 369
 65

control that something. Controlling something however entails, first and foremost, the
elimination of possible rivals.

This is the reason why the first round of Spanish-Moro war was aimed at
eliminating the supposed rival of Spain over the Philippines – i.e. Brunei. 3 Emphasis
must be made that even prior to the coming of the Spaniards, this small but influential
sultanate in Borneo had been having economic and political influence over many
communities in the archipelago. In fact, Rajah Sulayman, the ruler of Manila at the time
of Legazpi’s arrival, was related by blood to the Sultan of Brunei; 4 and that the
Borneans used to freely come in and out of the country either to engage in trade,
collect tribute or preach Islam.

With the Borneans around, Spanish pretensions of sovereignty over the

Philippines could not simply make sense. Thus, as early as Legazpi’s arrival in 1565, the
Spaniards tried to demonstrate their seriousness by capturing a Bornean trading vessel
in the vicinity of Bohol. Four years later (i.e. 1569), the Spaniards again engaged 20
vessels owned by the Borneans and Sulu Moros,5 capturing four of the vessels and their
crew and divided the loot among themselves. In 1578, the Spaniards decided to directly
interfere in a dynastic dispute6 in Brunei which culminated in the Spanish invasion of
1578. All these acts were done to intimidate and discourage Brunei from appearing and
making her presence felt again in the Philippines.

Indeed, the intimidation and show of force was so successful that after the
Spanish invasion of 1578, Brunei would generally detach herself from Philippine affairs.

The Second Phase (1578 – 1597)

With Brunei out of the Philippine scene, the Spaniards immediately proceeded to
take the next step – i.e., to attempt at establishing forts 7 and colonies right in the
middle of Moro territories and eventually exact tribute from the Moro population. The

3Majul actually gave the heading “The Brunei Cut Off” in referring to the first phase of the Spanish-Moro
wars because the objective of the Spaniards is to cut off whatever connection the Philippines and Brunei
had.
4
who by affinity or consanguinity, was also related to the Sultan of Sulu
5 The connection between the people of Brunei and Sulu was that their Sultans were brothers-in-law.
6 The dispute was caused by two brothers, Pangiran Buong Manis and Seif ur-Rijal who both claimed the
throne of Brunei. Pangiran who felt that his brother usurped the throne from him, asked the Spaniards
for help in exchange of his willingness to accept Spanish sovereignty should the Spaniards succeed in
putting him on the throne. The Spaniards decided to help him by invading Brunei and forcing Seif ur-
Rijal to flee. However, after several months of reign, the Pangiran was assassinated by his own relatives
thereby leaving the throne to Seif ur-Rijal. With the Pangiran dead, the Spaniards left Brunei in 1581.
Although the Spanish attempt to install a puppet sultan failed, the Spaniards however succeeded in
demonstrating to the Borneans that they were indeed a power to be reckoned with; that they could
muster a fleet to invade Brunei any time if they opt to. Hence, the message was clear to Brunie; i.e, “Don’t
come and interfere with Philippine Affairs if you don’t want your sultan to flee again!”
7 Thus, Peter Gowing gave the title “Strongholds” for the second phase of the Spanish-Moro wars because

the Spanish objective was to establish strongholds or forts in Moroland.

 66

first target of the Spaniards was Sulu, which was attacked by Captain Esteban
Rodriguez de Figueroa in June 1578. In the said attack, the Sulu Moros resisted but the
Sulu chief, Rajah Ilo, was captured before he could reach his cotta. Consequently, the
Sulu Sultan was forced to pay tribute for himself and his vassals, after which, the
Spaniards left and proceeded to mainland Mindanao (particularly Maguindanao) to
colonize and incorporate it into their Philippine colony.

Why would the Spaniards want to secure Mindanao and Sulu as a colony? Note
that the Spaniards at this point in time were still obsessed with spices that were so
abundant in the Moluccas. Thus, the Spaniards thought to use Mindanao and Sulu as
base for the eventual conquest of the said place which was popularly known in Europe
as Spice Islands. Accordingly, in 1596, Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, landed in
Cotabato, explored the interior and ultimately encountered his death upon being
ambushed and struck on the head with a Kampilan. Yet, in spite of the death of
Figueroa, the Spaniards were still able to build a fort in what is now Tampakan, which
was midway between the Maguindanao and Buayan8 Sultanates. The Maguindanao and
Buayan Sultanates tried to dislodge the Spaniard (even aided by warriors from
Ternate 9 , another Muslim principality in what is now Indonesia) but to no avail.
Eventually, lack of supplies and difficulty in communication led the Spaniards to
abandon their Tampakan fort and retreated to the area of Zamboanga, where they built
a fort in La Caldera.10 But then again, continuous harassments from the Moros made
the Spaniards abandon their Zamboanga fort in 1597.

The Third Phase (1599-1600)

With the abandonment of the Spanish forts in Tampakan and Zamboanga, the
Moros realized that the Spaniards were not at all invincible. In the years to come, the
Moros would retaliate by launching raids and offensives against the Spanish controlled
territories in Luzon and Visayas, even to the extent of competing with Spain in the
collection of tribute there. This must be the reason why Peter Gowing 11 gave the
heading “Counter Attacks” for the third phase of the Spanish-Moro wars because the
phase would be characterized by retaliatory raids or counter attacks from the Moros.

In this phase of the war, the Moros inflicted significant blows on the Spanish
colonial design by attacking or intimidating natives who were utilized by the Spaniards

8 This sultanate was another sultanate that exercised control over the interior places of the Pulangi river.
It was once a rival sultanate of Maguindanao but sometime later, it merged with the Maguindanao
Sultanate.
9 Ternate was located near the Moluccas group of islands. They extended their aid to the Moros not only

on account of kinship relations between their leading families and religious ties, but also because the
They realized that the loss of Mindanao would mean that it could serve as a base for Spanish operations
against them. At least a strong Maguindanao and Buayan meant a strong defense line for Ternate.
10 The fort is now known as Fort Pilar in what is now Zamboanga City.
11
Muslim Filipinos: Heritage and Horizon.
 67

to strengthen their hold on the archipelago. It was also during this phase of the war
where the Sultanates at various instances tried to muster the help of the Ternatans, the
Makassars, the Borneans and the Dutch.12

The Fourth to the Sixth Phase

The success of some Moro raids and attacks against the Spanish controlled
territories would eventually lead to more Spanish rage and fury. In no time, the
Spaniards would increase their efforts to attack Moro territories. The Moros on the other
hand also needed to strengthen their defenses and even intensify their retaliatory raids.
Hence, the fourth up to the sixth stages of the Spanish-Moro wars would be
characterized by violent attacks, intensified counter attacks, more chaos, greater
destruction and appalling confusion. As an illustration of the confusion of the time,
there was an instance when the Maguindanao Moros launched a raid against Visayas.
As a response, the Spaniards attacked Sulu. What made the situation even more
confusing was the fact that there were professional pirates in the Kuran area of the
northeastern coast of Borneo, called the Camucones, who usually conducted their own
raids. More often than not, the Spaniards could not distinguish which raid was
Maguindanao, which one was Sulu and which one was Camucones. They could not
distinguish which raid was legally sanctioned by the sultans and which ones were purely
piratical. Indeed, this was the general condition of Spanish-Moro relations until the
American colonizers arrived in 1898.

3. Which Moro leaders/personalities figured prominently during these wars?

During the Spanish-Moro wars, some great personalities figured prominently. If

Luzon and Visayan leaders like Diego Silang, Francisco Dagohoy, Magalat, Juan dela
Cruz Palaris and others are venerated as heroes because they defied the Spaniards,
why can’t we consider the likes of Datu Sirungan (the Rajah of Buayan), Datu Buisan
(Rajah Mudah of Maguindanao), Rajah Bongsu (Sultan of Sulu), Datu Amai Pakpak (the
defender of Marahui) and Sultan Kudarat (Sultan of Maguindanao) as heroes? After all
they too fought the Spanish colonizers gallantly – perhaps even more impressive and
valorous than their Luzon and Visayan counterparts.

Datu Sirungan was the Rajah of Buayan who kindly treated his prisoners,
including the Jesuit priest Melchor Hurtado. Hurtado, who lived among the
Maguindanaons for about a year in 1603 described the Datu as someone who knew the
Islamic Law, avoided wine and pork, and forced not the Visayan Christians living in his
realm to embrace Islam. According to Hurtado:

12
The ternatans were the people of Ternate, an Islamized island kingdom in the Moluccas group of Islands.
Makassar is another Muslim state on the island of Celebes, which used to control the Makassar strait, the body of
water between the islands of Borneo and Celebes. The Dutch basically appeared in Island Southeast Asia for the
spice trade. As such, they considered all Europeans present in the region as rivals or competitors.
 68

Although their (the Maguindanaw’s) beliefs are false, they give to their
vain rites and rubrics a seriousness of attention which we ordinarily fail to
give to those of our true religion. An inspector-general who had been sent
from Jolo reprimanded the young men because when they were at
worship in their mosque (a worship performed after their custom with
many prostrations and genuflections and bows of the head towards west),
they did it with little reverence, turning their faces this way and that way
in a way that detracted from the attention and respect with which they
ought to address God. For this reason when the hour of worship sounded,
even a slave was permitted to take his master by the shoulders and turn
him towards the west. And even if the raja himself were to pass by, he
should get no attention from them. They say that Sirongan… one day
while performing his vain worship he was bitten by a poisonous centipede.
It was a painful bite, but it moved him as little as though he were a piece
of stone. Only after he had finished his prayer did he put his hand inside
his clothes; for he said, he considered it lack of reverence to scratch
oneself while speaking with God.

Although a kind person, Datu Sirungan did not hesitate to fight the Spaniards
when necessary. After the Spaniards committed several atrocities in the 1590s, the
Datu attacked the Spanish controlled territories of Panay, Negros and Cebu with 50
vessels and 3000 warriors. In that attack, he carried back 800 Visayan captives, some
of whom, as reported by Hurtado, embraced Islam without being forced.

Another person who figured prominently during the Spanish Moro wars was
Datu Buisan. Datu Buisan was the one who attacked the town of Dulag in Leyte,
captured several hundred inhabitants, forced the Waray datus to conclude a blood
compact with him and exhorted them to side with the Maguindanaos and fight the
Spaniards. To describe what happened on that day of the blood compact, H. dela Costa
wrote:

The Leyte datus were waiting for him. He took their gold and bells
and released to them whom they would. Then he opened his mind to
them. It was not so much for the ransom, he said, that he had sent for
them, but to ask them to consider well what advantage they derived from
being tributary to the Spaniards. Has the Spaniard been able to protect
them? Had he been able to protect the people of Panay, Mindoro and
Balayan? But if they allied themselves to the Maguindanaus, they would
have him, Bwisan, for their friend, and not what he was now, much to his
regret, their foe. Let them further consider how easy it would be for them
to throw off the Spanish yoke with the help of the Maguindanaus. The
Spaniards, after all, were only a handful, nor were they as invincible as
they made themselves out to be. Let the people of Leyte be resolute; let
them prepare to rise as one man. The following year he, Bwisan, would
 69

come with a great armada and together they would sweep the island clear
of Spaniards.

The datus, many of whom were disaffected for a number of

reasons, thought that there was much wisdom in this speech. They sat
down with Bwisan and entered into a blood compact with him. They
slashed their wrists and let the blood drip into a bowl of brandy. They
drank their mingled blood from the common bowl, and so became
brothers. This done, Bwisan turned the prows of his fleet for home.13

Note in the speech that Buisan pointed out his regret over the raid that he must
do. The circumstance of the Spaniards, who were getting manpower from the
Christianized communities of Luzon and Visayas for their military operations against the
Moros, left him with no other choice but to deplete the Christianized communities with
people in order to weaken the colonizers. Even Dr. Jose Rizal recognized this when he
said in his essay “The Indolence of the Filipinos” that the Muslims “considered it (i.e.
raiding) necessary in order to preserve their independence to weaken the Spaniards by
reducing the number of their subjects…14

Moreover, the blood compact of Buisan and the Datus of Leyte was very
significant because it exposes an attempt on the part of the Christianized and Islamized
natives to evoke a feeling of belongingness by performing a ritual that is rooted in our
common pre-colonial past. Majul cogently observed:

What is of great significance about this blood compact was its

implications. Despite the pre-Islamic and pre-Christian character of this
ceremonial, the Muslims and the Christianized natives participated
apparently without hesitation in this ritual. Christians could not have failed
to recognize that the ceremony recalled a pagan past; while the Muslims,
must have known too well that the drinking of blood was a religious
taboo. It may therefore be conjectured that the chiefs who entered into
the pact must have recognized, however vaguely, a common racial
beginning or cultural history and that, at the bottom, the common enemy
of the datus of Leyte and Maguindanao were the Spaniards.15

Another gallant Moro leader who figured prominently during the Spanish-Moro
Wars was the Sulu Sultan Rajah Bongsu. This Sultan was described as having noble
character and knowledgeable in affairs of state. Local Sulu written sources known as
Kitabs mention that he had fought hard and long against the white men on land and
sea.16 In Spanish sources, he was held responsible for attacking the Spanish shipyard in

13
H. dela Costa quoted in Majul, pp. 132-133.
14
Jose Rizal. The Indolence of the Filipinos. Quoted in Rodil p. 33.
15
Majul p.133
16
Mjul p.15.
 70

Camarines, burned the dockyard and the unfinished ships. He spent several days of
eating and drinking in the shipyard as complete master of the place and departed with
300 captives including a Spanish lady named Doña Lucia. 17 It was said that Rajah
Bongsu became fond of this Spanish lady so that when she was returned to the
Spaniards, the Sulu Sultan never asked for a ransom which was a deviation from the
usual practice.

The Maranaos too produced a brave leader during the Spanish-Moro wars in the
person of Datu Amai Pakpak who offered a gallant resistance to Governor-General
Valeriano Weyler. Datu Amai Pakpak frustrated Weyler’s ambition to colonize the Lake
Lanao region when he fortified Marahui (i.e. Marawi) and resisted the colonization
efforts of the Spaniards there. Despite the major operation mobilized by the Governor-
General, Datu Amai Pakpak succeeded in pushing the Spanish forces to return to their
bases in north Lanao. In the second expedition however, this time headed by Governor-
General Blanco who replaced Weyler in 1895, Amai Pakpak’s fort fell despite additional
defenses. There, the brave Datu, his son, 23 other datus and 150 other Maranaos fell
defending their Cotta.18

And who of course has not heard of the name Sultan Kudarat? The fact that a
town and an entire province was named after him was not without basis. Perhaps, the
greatest of the Maguindanaon leaders, Sultan Kudarat, just like his father Datu Buisan,
fought the Spaniards and brought peace to almost all of south and central Mindanao for
almost half a century through a peace treaty that kept the colonizers out of his
dominion which at the height of his power ranged from the Davao Gulf, to parts of
Lanao and the Illana bay, to the Zamboanga peninsula and the island of Basilan. This
Maguindanaon leader was known for his intelligence, tactfulness and gallantry. At one
point, in 1637, when Governor General Sebastian Hortado de Corcuera launched an
attack against him, Sultan Kudarat’s capital was captured, with himself even wounded.
Although he managed to escape death from his attackers, his wife was not as
fortunate. It was believed that while holding her infant child, she threw herself over a
cliff to avoid capture. For any ordinary person, such an incident could break one’s heart
and throw a loving husband to blinding hatred and revenge. Yet, the Sultan proved to
be chivalrous when in 1639, he managed to ambush an attacking force, captured the
Spanish marines alive, treated the wounded among them and then released them as a
sign of his goodwill after entering a peace treaty with the Spaniards. Sultan Kudarat
was known for his very patriotic speech addressed to the Maranaos of Lake Lanao who
showed friendly tendencies towards the Spaniards. His speech was recorded by the
Jesuit priest Combes as follows:

What have you done? Do you realize what subjection would reduce
you to? A toilsome slavery under the Spaniards! Turn your eyes to the

17 Majul p. 141
18See Majul p. 369. See also Mamitua Saber, “Maranao Resistance to Foreign Invasions,”
Mindanao Art and Culture, The Maranao Man, No. 4 (1980): 24-25.
 71

subject nations and look at the misery to which such glorious nations had
been reduced to. Look at the Tagalogs and Visayans! Are you better than
they? Do you think that the Spaniards consider you of better stuff? Have
you not seen how the Spaniards trample them under their feet? Do you
not see everyday how they are obliged to work at the oars and the
factories with all their rigors? Can you tolerate anyone with a little Spanish
blood to beat you up and grasp the fruits of your labor? Allow yourselves
to be subjects (today) and tomorrow you will be at the oars; I at least will
be a pilot, the biggest favor they will allow a chief. Do not let their sweet
words deceive you; their promises facilitate their deceits, which little by
little, enable them to control everything. Reflect on how even the minor
promises to the chiefs of other nations were not honored until they
became masters of them all. See now what is being done to these chiefs
and how they are being led by a rod.19

More great names can still be cited during the Spanish Moro wars but space limits us to
do so. We shall therefore content ourselves with the above personalities and reserve
the others for our research activities. For now, we shall look at the impact of the
Spanish-Moro wars on our Christianized and Islamized forefathers.

4. What was the impact of the Spanish-Moro wars on the Islamized and
Christianized natives of this archipelago?

The most glaring impact of the Spanish-Moro wars was the demonization of the
Islamized Moros in the eyes of the Christianized natives and vice versa. This is
absolutely understandable. Firstly, the colonial subjects were at the outset victims only
of military impressment; meaning, most of them were only forced by the Spaniards to
serve in the expeditions.20 One can just imagine: when a Christianized/colonized subject
is given a bow and arrow or a musket and then ordered to go to a belligerent country,
who would bother to ask him if he was only forced or not to serve in the Spanish army?
Without doubt, the defenders of the invaded country will surely aim at killing him (or
any companion of the invading force for that matter). If the defender survives and
given the chance to take revenge for a lost father, brother/sister or child, he/she will
certainly grab that opportunity. So the victim later on becomes the perpetrator. He
attacks, kills, destroys, captures and plunders in retaliation. The victim in other words
becomes the perpetrator this time victimizing in turn other people whose only fault was
their being subjugated and colonized by the Spaniards. Because of their brutal
experience, the colonized communities would become willing volunteers in the Spanish
expeditions to avenge their killed fathers, enslaved sister or child, injured kin and
traumatized friends or loved ones.

19 Combes quoted in Majul, pp. 156-157.

20
not only against Mindanao and Sulu but even in their colonial ambitions in China, Indochina, the Moluccas and
others.
 72

From the perspective of the Christianized natives, the Moro raids were proofs of
the brutality, piracy and evilness of the Moros. But from the Moro perspective, depleting
the human and other resources of areas where the Spaniards get their manpower to
support their military aggressions against their independent states were but logical
steps to prevent the Spaniards from attacking them. Aside from that, the Moros must
have hated or resented too the “Christian Filipinos who, though belonging to their race,
served and helped the foreigners to deprive them of their precious liberty”.21

In short, the Spanish-Moro Wars forced our ancestors to depict each other’s pictures in
very ugly images.

IV. Lessons Learned and Peace Message

The Spanish-Moro wars demonstrated the idea that violence only begets violence. The
said war clearly showed that Spanish guns and ammunitions never succeeded in
earning the respect and obedience of an offended and ill-treated people. Instead, it
only gained the stubborn defiance and resistance which was sustainably powered by
vengeance and hatred. In the course of attacks and counter attacks, innocent lives
were victimized as one group of people was made to pay for the mistakes of others. A
concrete illustration of this was the instance when the Spaniards punished Sulu for a
Maguindanao raid in the Visayas; and that the Visayan natives, who were only exploited
or forced by the Spaniards to serve in the expeditions, were made to bear the brunt of
Moro retaliatory raids.

We can understand where Spanish hatred against Muslims is coming from. It must have
come from the more than 700 years of colonization of southern Spain by the Muslim
Maurus (Moors) from North Africa. Just think of it: If Filipinos were complaining already
of the 333 years of Spanish domination in the Philippines, how much more the
Spaniards who were under Moorish domination for more than seven centuries? But
again, we ask: Tama bang singilin si Juan sa utang ni Pedro dahil pareho silang lalaki?
(Is it appropriate to let Juan pay the debt owed by Pedro because they are both
males?) Is it fair for the Spaniards to punish the Moros for their colonial experience
under the Moors of North Africa because they share the same religion? What made
things worse was that they did not only let the Moros of Mindanao pay for the “debt” of
the Moors, they even asked the Christianized natives to collect the payment. This was
how the Christianized and Islamized natives of this archipelago got entangled into a war
that was not of our own making:

Para tayong mga manok. Pinagsabong tayo ng sabongero! Ngayong wala

na ang sabongero, nagsasabong pa rin tayo! (Free Translation: We are

21
Jose Rizal. The Indolence of the Filipinos. Quoted in Rodil p. 33.
 73

like fighting cocks who were made to fight by the gambler at the
beginning. Now that the gambler is gone, we are still fighting). 22

V. References and Recommended Readings

Bernad, Miguel S. J. The Great Island: Studies in the Exploration and Evangelization of
Mindanao. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2004.

Emma Blair and Alexander Robertson, eds. The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, 2 vols.
Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903-1908.

David, Randolf S. Nation, Self and Citizenship: An Introduction to Philippine Sociology.

Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc., 2004.

De Viana, Augusto V. The Philippines: A Story of a Nation. Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc.,
2011.

Dery, Luis C. “Moro Raids in Luzon and the Visayas, 1571-1896.” Unpublished
Mimeographed Paper, undated. (Ed. This article was later published in Mindanao
Journal)

Peter G. Gowing. Muslim Filipinos: Heritage and Horizon (Quezon City: New Day
Publishers, 1979)

Majul, Cesar A. Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon City: University of the Philippines
Press, 1999.

Non, Domingo M. “Moro Piracy during the Spanish period and Its Impact.” Southeast
Asian Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4 (March 1993), pp. 401-419.

Rodil, Rudy B. A Story of Mindanao and Sulu in Question and Answer. Davao:
MINCODE, 2003

Saber, Mamitua. “Maranao Resistance to Foreign Invasions.” Mindanao Art and Culture,
The Maranao Man, No. 4 (1980), pp. 20-30.

22
Rodil quoted in Caballero.
 74

Saber, Mamitua and Madale, Abdullah T. (ed.). Pengampong: An Ancient

Confederation The Maranao (Manila: R.P. Garcia Publishing House, 1975