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Module 1

WHY STUDY THE HISTORY OF THE FILIPINO MUSLIMS

AND OTHER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MINSUPALA?

Juvanni A. Caballero, Ph.D

Department of History, CASS, MSU-IIT

I. Objectives

At the end of the module, the students should be able to answer the following questions:
1.) Why was the Mindanao State University System created?
2.) How did History 3 (i.e.,”A History of the Filipino Muslims and Lumads of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan”) become a mandated course in the

MSU System?
3.) What is the relevance of studying this history?

II. Introductory Activity: Listen to the Story of Kamlon

From 1948 to 1955, Hadji Kamlon, a WWII veteran and a well-known Tausug hero from the town of Luuk, Sulu province, unexpectedly rebelled against

the Philippine government. He defied government authorities for eight years and successfully evaded arrest despite the fact that the Philippine military

had already concentrated its forces on Jolo to capture him. To the government, Kamlon was not an ordinary criminal; he was considered the biggest
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threat to national security after the Hukbalahap communists in the 1950s.

Contrary to government’s view, many Tausugs considered Kamlon as a legendary folk hero. He was their Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to

the poor. Kamlon’s uprising reached its zenith in 1951 when he and about 100 of his armed followers inflicted “heavy casualties” on patrolling

government soldiers. According to one account:

By about 1951, armed clashes started to rage over wide areas of Sulu... The most bloody was the one launched by Kamlon Hadji and 100

followers. Despite their inferior strength and crude weapons comprising mostly of old rifles and krises and their being mainly restricted in

the Luuk area on Jolo island, Kamlon and his band made the government shake in its shoes. They inflicted severe losses on lives, equipment
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and fund. For almost 4 years the government engaged Kamlon and, during the final assault, 5,000 ground troops were utilized along with

naval, air and mortar supports. Logistical expenditures, after the final inventory, amounted to P185 million. Despite all this cost, Kamlon
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could not be routed or captured. He finally gave up conditionally due to advancing age.

In another account on August 1955, Kamlon and 40 of his followers routed an entire platoon of government troops in Sulu, killing 18 and wounding 19

others. This was the “largest casualty figure in one engagement suffered by government troops” in pursuit of Kamlon. His group incurred only 1 death
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and 5 wounded, according to the news report.

The cause of the Kamlon rebellion, according to several sources, had not been clearly established. To the military, who tried to capture him, Kamlon

was simply a Moro who wanted to return to the life of a freebooter; some attributed his rebellion to conflict among local leaders in Sulu; others say that

Kamlon was irked by the land registration law, which required him to register his land to make it his. Land registration was said to have caused a clan

feud between Kamlon and another Tausug (affiliated with the government), who applied for land title to Kamlon’s ancestral land. When violence broke

out between Kamlon and his adversary, the government came in to pacify them – only to find itself entangled in a web of confrontation and armed

violence. Kamlon (and his followers) suspected (or were convinced) that the government was supporting his local enemies.

Perhaps unknown to many was the fact that Kamlon was charged with multiple murder and kidnapping and sentenced to death by the court. The
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Supreme Court affirmed his sentence in a ruling in 1963. However, it was not carried out.

1
Madge Kho. “A Conflict that won’t go away.” http://www.philippineupdate.com/Conflict.htm.
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According to the 4 Infantry Division’s history, approximately 10,000 soldiers were involved in the Kamlon campaign. Below is the 4 ID’s account: “During this period, more military units were
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sent to and involved in the Jolo Island campaign against the group of KAMLON, namely; 9 BCT of IVMA, followed by 5 BCT from Luzon, 23 BCT, 26 BCT, 27 BCT under Col VALERIANO, 19
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BCT, 10 BCT Artillery unit, 15 BCT  from Visayas, Marine Recon Company (MRC), the Local base PC in Jolo and the Scout Rangers under LT ILETO. Total strength of all units involved in this

campaign, accounting to more or less 10,000 personnel”. See http://www.diamond troopers.com.ph/history2.html.

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A. Ricarte. “Composite History: Kamlon Campaign.” http://www.timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=6263.0
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The Times-News, August 1, 1955.
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In “People of the Philippines vs. Hadji Kamlon,” the Supreme Court stated “…this Court affirms in full the findings and judgment of the lower court. The crime committed is kidnapping complexed

with murder. We find the death penalty as well as the indemnity in the amount of P3, 000.00 imposed in accordance with law and affirm the same with costs against the defendant.”
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Many Tausugs respected and loved Kamlon. The local people did not cooperate with the military despite the huge rewards offered for his capture.

According to one account, “The only answer the troopers could get in their query (when looking for Kamlon) was “diih” that means “no” or “bukon” that
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means “not him” or “not the one in the picture.”

Kamlon’s rebellion made the government wonder: Why could he not be captured despite the inferior number and crude weapons of his followers? Why

were the government’s superior military force and its bountiful reward system for the capture of Kamlon not effective? Or, why was it taking too long to

capture a band of more or less 100 poorly armed individuals fighting on the small island of Jolo? What was really the problem in Kamlon’s uprising?

Subsequently, the government decided to investigate the causes of the unrest. Congress created a Special House Committee composed of Sen.

Domocao Alonto of Lanao, Cong. Luminog Mangelen of Cotabato and Cong. Ombra Amilbangsa of Sulu to look into the problem. The Committee’s

investigation revealed that the problem of Kamlon’s long-lasting rebellion was due neither to an inept military nor the talisman ( anting-anting) of

Kamlon. The problem was created by the general feeling of the Moros that they were not Filipinos; that the Philippine military was not their military and
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that the Philippine government was a foreign government. The Special House Committee recommended that if the government wanted to genuinely

address the problem, it should adopt measures to make the Moros feel that they were an integral part of the Philippine nation. This aim, according to
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the committee, must be achieved through a comprehensive approach covering economic, social, moral, political and educational developments.

As a result of the recommendation, the government created several programs and agencies that were supposed to effect the economic, social, political,

moral and educational integration of non-Christian Filipinos into the main body politic of the Philippines. Foremost of the agencies charged with the

above function were the Commission on National Integration (1957) and Mindanao State University (1961).

III. Lesson Proper

1.) Why was the Mindanao State University System created?

The first agency charged with the integration of the non-Christian Filipinos was the Commission on National Integration (CNI). However, because of its

gigantic tasks, limited funding and poor administration, the agency found itself unable to carry out its mandate fully. More than 10 years later, the CNI

would be abolished.
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Chiefly, it was in education that CNI needed to carry out its special task. When this agency was dissolved, the responsibility of educational integration

and advancement (at least for the Moros and other IPs of MinSuPala) was passed on to Mindanao State University (MSU), created on September 1,
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1961 through RA 1387. Mindanao State University was the brainchild of the late Senator Domocao A.  Alonto. It was the government response to the
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“Mindanao Problem.” Integration, according to its first president, Dr. Antonio Isidro, was the heart of MSU, which would serve as a social
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laboratory.

As a crucial mandate, integration is stated on the University’s official website as follows:

http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1963/oct1963/gr_l-12686_1963.html.
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http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Kamlon.
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That, perhaps, explains why no civilian would help the military capture Kamlon.
8
Salah Jubair. Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny. IQ Marin SDN BHD (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 1999), p.124.
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Salah Jubair. p.124.
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Established in 1961, the University began to operate on June 13, 1962, with an initial batch of 282 freshmen, who passed the scholarship examination administered by the National Science

Development Board. They had 12 regular Filipino faculty members and a number of volunteers from the British Voluntary Service Overseas, Volunteers in Asia, Ford Foundation and Fulbright

Foundation. With only two colleges, the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Education and Community Development, it offered only two baccalaureate courses. In subsequent school years,

more colleges were added and MSU grew into a multi-campus university system, with nearly 3,100 faculty members serving over 53,000 students in all levels. Today, MSU has campuses in Marawi

City (MSU-Marawi, Main), Iligan City (MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology), General Santos City (MSU-General Santos), Maguindanao (MSU-Maguindanao), Sulu (MSU-Sulu), Tawi-tawi (MSU-Tawi-

tawi), Zamboanga Sibugay (MSU-Buug), Misamis Oriental (MSU-Naawan), Lanao del Norte (MSU-Maigo), Lanao del Sur (MSU-LNAC), Marawi City (MSU-LNCAT), Misamis Occidental (MSU-Lopes

Jaena).
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The Special House Committee used the term “Mindanao Problem” in referring to the unrest caused by the Moros and IP’s general feeling of not belonging to the Philippine nation. Other scholars

and critics argue that the term is inappropriate, as it is too sweeping to include the entire Mindanao in the problem. Moro scholars also refuse to call it the “Moro problem” since the Moros did not

cause it but had been merely reacting to a situation created by poor governance, discrimination and the uneven distribution of development.
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Antonio Isidro. The Moro Problem: An Approach Through Education. Marawi City: Mindanao State University, 1968.
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The 1954 congressional committee conceptualized it (i.e., MSU) as [a] social laboratory for national integration... It is the only university (in

the country) directly charged by the government to advance the cause of national unity and actively pursue integration through education.
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According to its Charter, MSU is mandated to do the following: (1) Perform the traditional functions of a university, namely: instruction, research and

extension service; (2) Provide trained manpower skills and technical know-how for the economic development of the Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan

(MINSUPALA) region; and (3) Help accelerate the program of integration among the peoples of Southern Philippines, particularly, the Muslims and
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other cultural minorities [emphasis by author].

As a “social laboratory,” MSU has taken steps to carry out its mandate. With the studentry, for instance, university dormitories have the official policy

that no students coming from the same province could become roommates. That is why in the dorms of MSU, one can see young people with different
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ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds knowing one another, exhibiting camaraderie and forging lifetime friendships after their stay. Performing

groups and cultural guilds with mixed memberships also have been formed on campus (e.g., Darangen, Kambayoka, Kapariz and other groups), in

which Muslim, Christian and Lumad students learn from each other’s traditional dances, music, language, poetry and values. Indeed, MSU’s mandate for

integration has been cogently captured in the dictum, “unity in diversity.”

2.) How did History 3 (i.e., “History of the Filipino Muslims and Lumads of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan”) become a mandated

course in the MSU System?

There has been some controversy in the use of the term “integration” as MSU’s special mandate. Salah Jubair says that some Moros object to the term

because it includes the notion of assimilation, which would lead to the absorption of their belief and culture into the dominant group’s – the Christians’.

Secondly, integration, says Jubair, “implied that the Christians were not only superior in all spheres of life, but even in matters of religion, they were

spiritually or religiously correct.” Jubair believes that through integration, there would come a time when “one could not distinguish Muslims from the
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Christians and vice versa” anymore.

But apparently as far as MSU is concerned, integration does not entail assimilation (and the extreme, “annihilation”) of the local culture and the

religious belief of the Moros and IPs of MinSuPala. In fact, the mission statement of the University says:

Committed to the attainment of peace and sustainable development in the MINSUPALA region, the MSU System will set the standards of

excellence in science, arts, technology, and other fields; accelerate the economic, cultural, socio-political, and agro-industrial development

of the Muslim and other cultural groups, thereby facilitating their integration into the national community, preserve and promote the

cultural heritage of the region and conserve its natural resources; and infuse moral and spiritual values. For collaborative efforts, for

diplomatic relations, and for international recognition as a leading institution of higher learning, the MSU System will pursue vigorously
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linkages with foreign agencies. (emphasis added)

The University mission stresses the phrase “preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the region.” To MSU, integration does not stand for

absorption and eventually annihilation of the Moro and other IP heritages. In fact the University is tasked, as part of its national integration effort, to

preserve and promote Moro and other IP cultures. It is apparent then that as a process, integration in the MSU view means enabling the Moros and

other IPs to recognize that they are indeed Filipinos, too, by enabling them to appreciate the government’s efforts of advancing their heritage and

cultures, counting them as part of the general Filipino heritage and providing them with educational, economic and other opportunities to move up on

the social ladder. It seems hard to believe that assimilation and annihilation of the Moro and other IP cultures was the meaning of integration that the

authors of the MSU Charter had in mind. After all, these authors themselves were also proud Moros.

Integration, therefore, as conceived by them meant including the Moros and other IPs in the development efforts of the national government. It simply

meant taking them into account in all things that the government would consider “central,” “national” and “integral.” Thus, if there were such events as

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http://www.msumain.edu.ph/details.php?sectid=28
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R.A. 1387. See http://www.msumain.edu.ph/details.php?catid=38&sectid=28
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It is interesting to share the results of a study conducted by Jimmy Balacuit in 1974. Using a pre-test/post-test design, Balacuit surveyed the attitudes of Muslim and Christian dorm residents

before and after their stay in the dormitories. Results show that the semester’s stay of the students created a positive change in their respective attitudes towards each other. If at the outset, both

Muslims and Christians did not welcome the idea of being made to share rooms, mess halls and other facilities in the dorm, all these positively changed after their stay. See Jimmy Balacuit. “Muslim-

Christian Integrated Student Housing at the Mindanao State University.” MA Thesis, University of the Philippines. 1974.
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Salah Jubair p. 125.
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http://www.msumain.edu.ph/details.php?catid=38&sectid=28.
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economic, socio-cultural, political, educational and other developments, the Moros and other IPs, in the context of integration, would be included in

them. The same would apply when Moro and other IP cultures would be no longer considered marginal, trivial or minor; rather, integration would count

them in as integral parts of the national cultural heritage of the Philippines.

The same may be said of the struggles and history of the Moros and Lumads of MinSuPala. If the struggle of other peoples in the archipelago (e.g.,

Tagalog, Ilocano, Bisaya, Igorot etc.) were to be considered part of the country’s “national” history, why should it not include the struggle and history

of the Moros and Lumads in the general struggle of the Filipino people? In other words, even the idea of requiring History 3 in the MSU curricula came

out of the idea of integration, the rationale of which was: the struggle and history of the Moros and Lumads are integral parts of the general struggle

and history of the Philippines. Thus, they should be included in the national (i.e., “mainstream” or “central,”) not in any marginal or local history of the

Philippines.
3.) What is the purpose of studying “A History of the Filipino Muslims and Lumads of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan”?

In general, studying history helps students see the Filipinos’ past “mistakes” as a people. If they learned from these mistakes, they would be unlikely to

repeat them. Thus, history teachers hope to contribute to improving the nation’s future by helping to recognize and point out past actions that may be

considered as blunders and failures and past “victories” and “successes” of preceding Filipinos!

Mindanao history has many lessons to offer. It is not by accident that the subject, History 3, is a mandated course in the Mindanao State University

system. The more relevant reasons why there is the need to study the History of the Filipino Muslims and Lumads of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan may

be:

First: Objectively studying the struggles of the Moros and Lumads would correct the long distorted, incomplete and lop-sided “popular history” that had

alienated them. In Philippine History books of the last few decades, that in fact attitudinally hark back to the spirit of Spanish records, the Moros and

Lumads were either not mentioned or depicted only as villains , bandits, pirates or “wild” people that needed to be tamed. For that reason, the Moros

and Lumads did not see Philippine history as their history. Consequently, they felt that they were no part of the Filipino nation. By recognizing the Moro

and Lumad contribution to the making of the Filipino nation and by including their perspectives in the study of the country’s past, one would hope to

turn Philippine history into EVERY FILIPINO’S STORY (i.e., Moros and Lumads included)!

Second: Studying the Moros and Lumads in the past would broaden Filipino understanding of the country’s present situation. In particular, it would help

that understanding of the present dynamics of Muslim-Christian-Lumad relationships: what had caused their divisions, their biases, their claims

(ancestral and proprietary), their marginalization, their predicaments and their protests (both peaceful and violent)? The study would also broaden

understanding of implications in government responses, such as the impact of war on the lives, properties and relationships of all the peoples involved.

Moreover, the study may create a better picture of possibilities when the parties involved express willingness and collective efforts to dialogue; to find

common grounds; to solve problems; to get back on their feet; and to correct their own mistakes. By redefining the violent past of Mindanao together

with and in the context of the basic desires and dreams of its tri-people, history would hope to broaden Philippine horizons!

Finally: By broadening such horizons, Filipinos hope to develop essential values needed in genuine reconciliation, such as, empathy, respect, acceptance

of the other’s needs and the culture of dialogue. When Filipinos together have learned the stories of their fellows, they would understand, empathize

and help each other look for acceptable compromises and solutions to their predicaments. Through understanding, they learn the method of dialogue,

which is the beginning of genuine reconciliation. In the long run, this process would eventually minimize, if not eradicate, the “culture of violence” and

bring about the eventual triumph of the “culture of peace” in the MinSuPala. The authors of of the Charter must have believed (as the authors of this

study guide do) that this eventuality would be possible through the trickle-down and multiplier effects of the more than 70,000 students of the MSU

system.

IV. Lessons Learned and Peace Message

As pupils of Mindanao History, History 3 teachers and students may feel themselves privileged but obligated to comprehend the past social experiences

that shaped the current realities of Mindanao and its peoples. Thus, ideally after their study of History 3, they should be among the solution-providers

and trouble-shooters of Mindanao. They should be ready to translate their cognitive learning into affective maturity that would push them to initiate

actions for positive change.

They should not listen to pessimists who discourage them, saying, “You cannot change the ugly situation of Mindanao, for you are just students!” They

must remember that while they are only students, they are not alone! One can just imagine how significant they could become if all students at the

Mindanao State University System were imbued with the same attitude; aspiring for the same dream of peace and initiating positive actions, no matter
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how small or simple they may be in their daily lives. Individually, one may not feel his own impact, but collectively, they could prove to be an important

key to open more widely the door to the triumph of the culture of peace in this part of the world.

V. References & Recommended Readings

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4 Infantry Division’s history. Available at http://www.diamond troopers.com.ph/history2.html.

Antonio Isidro. The Moro Problem: An Approach Through Education. Marawi City: Mindanao State University, 1968.

Jimmy Balacuit. “Muslim-Christian Integrated Student Housing at the Mindanao State University.” MA Thesis, University of the Philippines. 1974.

Madge Kho. “A Conflict that won’t go away.” Accessed at http://www.philippineupdate.com/Conflict.htm.

Mindanao State University website available at http://www.msumain.edu.ph/details.php?catid=38&sectid=28.

Ricarte, A. “Composite History: Kamlon Campaign.” http://www.timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=6263.0

Salah Jubair. Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny. IQ Marin SDN BHD (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 1999).