Muslim Revolutions in the Philippines

The Contemporary Muslim Revolutions In The Philippines

The moment the Spain landed in the Philippine soil and conquered the whole island, occupied it for 300 years and the day they withdrawn, our Muslim brothers in the south had been a pain on their neck. Even though the Muslim was defeated, they did not surrender to the Spanish Invaders.

Many of the Filipino-Muslim community bravely fought so that they will not be conquered. They also protected their Islamic Religion not to be tainted or converted to Christianity. They had made various types of weapons such as the “lantaka” and use it against the invaders. Many attempts was made by the Spanish forces to conquer the whole Mindanao Region, but all of them failed.

In 1638, Governor Corcuera send his troops to the province of Jolo to conquer it. But the whole Muslim community in the province stood their ground and gallantly fought for their rights. Even though, the Muslims was defeated on their turf, they did not surrender.

Governor Corcuera put up a military garrison and camp in Jolo in order to crashed the Muslim revolution in the area as well as totally conquering the whole of Mindanao. But the plan of conquering the whole region of Mindanao did not materialized since the Filipino-Muslim did not surrender to Spain.

Our Muslim brothers take revenge to the what the Spaniards had done to Jolo. They raided the Spanish communities near the shores of Luzon and Visayas bringing with them the community people and sold them as slaves in other countries. The government of Spain spent a huge amount of money and resources in order to put an end to this revolution, but they did not totally crashed the Muslim Revolution. For the Spanish Regime, they had called the Muslim raiders as pirates.

The Muslim Leaders of Mindanao who fought against the foreign invaders and defend their freedom against Spain are as follows:

• Sultan Kudarat (Cachel Corralat) of Maguindanao, the Muslim Leader who was considered as the most courageous warrior of Mindanao. He defended the town of Lamitan, Basilan against the invading forces of the Spaniards on 1837.
• Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram, defended the Jolo province on 1876. He also made an agreement to the British Government to rent the Northern portion of Borneo and Sabah to the British on 1878.
• Datu Utto, defended the province of Cotabato from 1886 and 1887.
• Datu Amai Pakpak, defended the province of Lanao from 1889 until 1891.
• Datu Pian (Amal Mingka), recaptures the province of Cotabato and Tamontaka from 1878 until 1899.

During the middle of the 19th century, when the Spanish government bought three high speed boat equipped with modern firepower, the raiding of the Muslims were drastically reduced. One 1851, a treaty was signed between the Sultan of Jolo and the Spanish government to put an end to the war. In this treaty, they Spaniards had given freedom all the Muslims to exercise their Islam religion freely. The Datu and Sultan were given pensions, give the Sultan the freedom to inherit there throne to their kin. In return, the Muslim will stop the raiding, the Muslim will recognized the government of Spain and will never make an agreement with other countries.