Tag Archives: Historical

Historical Tourism

Introduction

I coined the words, “Historical Tourism” for the purpose of this symposium. Although the overall seminar theme is the Philippine Revolutionary period in its local setting here in Eastern Mindanao, what we are commemorating is not the revolution per se but its significance to us, the Filipino people, and our struggle for nationhood. As such, historical awareness and knowledge of history are two very important and powerful tools for forging our nationhood. A people without history is not a people but a collection of individuals with no common purpose and direction. We have known this in hindsight and now we must learn it again in earnest in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

The value of history for instilling pride in one’s own past need not be confined to classroom or academic discussions. In many countries where tourism is a successful industry, history and culture are intensely cultivated as the main thrust of tourism. Since the same is the thrust of Philippine Tourism today, then a very close collaboration between history and culture, on one hand, and tourism, on the other, should be crafted. We need to highlight a fact of our history and culture which is unique in the Philippines. Ours is the only country in Southeast Asia where the Christian and Western traditions have blended with those which are indigenously Asian in origin. Philippine Tourism can showcase both these traditions, the Western and the Southeast Asian, by adapting history and culture as a framework.

Historical Events as the Orientation of

Philippine Tourism in Mindanao

To begin with, let us take into consideration certain features of our history in Mindanao as orientation. Unlike the rest of the Philippines, Mindanao was not fully and effectively colonized by Spain. For this reason, the landscape of Mindanao appears quite different from that of the rest of the westernized and Christianized Philippines. Instead of stone houses and cathedrals, that are legacies of Spanish architectural style of the Medieval Period in Europe, our cultural landscape is devoid of the homogenizing characteristics of a highly pronounced Spanish colonial past or background. All over Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are found Muslim and even animist communities who have retained their age-old traditions, little affected by the mainstream or westernized culture. I suggest that we highlight this cultural diversity in Mindanao by celebrating both the mainstream or western tradition as well as the by stream or indigenous cultures.

 A Brief History of Samal Island, 1866-1894

The previous papers read during the Session on Cultural Heritage gave us an idea of what the indigenous peoples of Mindanao were like before many of them changed their cultures.

The following is a brief historical and archaeological background of the island  of Samal.

I wish to to make an example of Samal Island because this is presently the focus of tourism development. The indigenous peoples of the island were the Sama or Samal hence, the name of the island. The Sama are probably related to another indigenous group, the Sama of the Sulu Archipelago. In the past, the Sama were a sea-farming people, as all our Malay Ancestors were, they being skilled boat-builders. A culturally similar group of people are the Badjao, or the sea-gypsies. Some Samal groups, like the Jama Mapun, are in-land dwellers and agriculturists.

Of the various ethnic groups in the Davao area the Samal are the only one known to practice cave burial. Some sources said they maintained a small graveyard in Punta Island, a smaller island nearby. Their coffins were made of hollowed-out logs which were kept in caves. The coffins were shaped like bancas or boats fashioned from hardwood trees. The cover of the coffin, made from one-half of the tree trunk, was bound to the other half by rattan vines. The corpses that they contained were wrapped tightly, like mummies, in several layers of dagmay (native cloth) which in turn were wound by several mats.

When the Spaniards arrived in 1860, Samal Island was inhabited by two other groups of natives, a Muslim (probably Maguindanao) and the Mandaya-Mansaka peoples who were paying tribute to the Muslims. The Samal were not then convened to Islam. This was the reason why they played a significant role in the Spanish conquest of Davao in 1847. Led by their old chieftain, Taupan, the Samal aided Uyanguren (the Spanish conqueror of Davao) against the Muslims of Hijo. However, later on, when the Spanish governor their conversion to Christianity, the governor of Davao y, the Samal replied that they had no wish to become Christians.

Ten years later, another missionary, pr. Mateo Gilbert of the Society of Jesus founded the first Christian town in the island. This was Habongon which was renamed San Jose. A chapel was built but the missionary was disappointed by the very few Samal who came to be baptized. There were rumors being floated around that anyone who submitted himself for baptism would be beheaded. When one woman presented herself to Fr. Gisbert for baptism, a whole delegation of Samal objected. The Samal further expressed their disappointment with the Spanish colonial administration, saying that they expected to be exempted from paying taxes because of their having supported the Spaniards under Uyanguren, who made a promise to the Samal to exempt them from paying the hated tribute and other taxes of the colonial administration. However, the priest stood his ground, threatening the Samal with the words, “Those who did not respect Christians are guilty of offending the priest. the governor of the District and the King of Spain and deserve to be punished severely”.

By the end of the 19th century, Samal already had six resettlements (reducciones) waiting to be founded into towns: San Ramon, Algeciera, Peliaplata, Cervera, Tarifa and Carmona. However, the political situation was far from satisfactory. After the death of Datu Taupan, his son Severo was not recognized by the islanders as the rightful chief of Samal Island. They elected Batuton as their chief and on the day of his proclamation fourteen Muslim datus from all over the Davao Gulf area attended the celebration.

HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTIONS FOR

THE SAMAL TOURISM ESTATE

1. Markers*

1.1  For the town of San Jose, whose old name was Habongon, as the first Christian town to be founded on Samal Island in 1866.

1.2  Malipano Caves – In the seventies, three (3) cave burials, with assorted porcelain jars, were found at the western tip of Malipano Island.

1.3  Tagbobo cave on the west side of Samal where students of the University of Mindanao had excavated and were said to have found the remains of an ancient man.

1.4 Libud Caves, south of Samal, where remnants of boat coffins burials were found.

1.5  Kamuanan Caves at Talikud Island where a number of used shell fragments or implements were found. A few small stone artifacts, which were flaked like the shells, were also collected. No grinding or polishing of the shells or stones was noted.

2. Historical Pageants for special occasions such as Kadayawan or Araw ng Dabaw.

2.1 The Coronation of Batutun

2.2 Baptism of Taupan

2.3 Uyanguren’s conquest of Davao, with the help of the Samal, under Taupan

3. Revival of Festivals

3.1 The Mandaya Balilig or Talibong, a festive divination ritual

3.2 The Kanduli, an elaborate feast along the shore

3.3 A Samal Wedding

3.4 A Mandaya-Mansaka Wedding

3.5 Kemulu, A B’laan Wedding

3.6 The Pakakaro, a_Bagobo thanksgiving ritual

3.7 Manobo harvest festival

4. For display

4.1 Balanghai (boat)

4.2 Boat coffins

4.3 A Badjao graveyard

4.4 A Mandaya village showing several huts built on poles of 9-15 meters long and connected to each other by hanging bridges 9-15 meters above the ground.

The Sulu Sultanate: A Historical Encounter of Islam and Malay Culture

The Moros, known in the academe as the Muslim Filipinos, are going through an identity crisis. Once again they are challenged to define who they are as a people. Are they a people apart from the Philippine nation? Or, are they Malay just like most Filipinos?

Today, the Moros’ Malayness is gradually being eroded as they try to uncritically imitate the Arabs. It is almost as if in their minds, to be a Muslim is to be an Arab. They are doing away with Malay clothes and replacing them with Arab garb. The kopiya, an oval shaped hat similar to that worn in two other Malay nations, Indonesia and Malaysia, was at one point the trademark of the Muslims of Mindanao. Now, it is gradually being replaced by the taqiyah, a Muslim hat worn in Egypt, Sudan, and other African countries. A growing number of Moro women are now wearing the ingab, a black dress worn by Muslim women of the Middle East that completely covers the body, leaving only a small opening for the eyes. The niqab is slowly replacing the malong and patadjong, the traditional Moro dress. The kopiya and the patadjong are, to some extent, the remaining symbols of Moro or Muslim Filipino identity that indicates that they are Malay and definitely’ not Arab.

It is important to understand that Islam can be lived out in different ways in different cultures, and cannot therefore be reduced to one cultural expression. A Malay expression of Islam is as valid as the Arab expression of Islam. One does not have to be Arab to be Muslim. If the Moros are not careful and assertive enough they will easily be over-run by Arab cultural imperialism. The Moros must learn to distinguish the cultural from the religious elements in Islam. The Moro people should strictly follow the main tenets of Islam, e.g., Tawheed (Unity or Oneness of God) and the fire pillars, but at the same time be able to discern which expressions are culturally Arab and which can have an equivalent expression in the Moro-Malay culture.

The Moros have in their tradition a rich cultural heritage. Their indigenous expression of Islam in Mindanao is their soul. This makes them distinct from other Muslim tribes and defines their identity as Muslim Filipinos. The challenge now is to revisit and reexamine the age-old practices, a product of an encounter between Islam and the Moro’s Malay culture.

Islam is established in Sulu

Centuries before the arrival of Islam and Christianity, the Philippines was part of the greater Malay Archipelago that was under the influence of the Hindu-Buddhist traditions in the nineteenth century. The process of Indianization would take deep root in the mainland areas of Southeast Asia through the Srivijaya and Madjapahit Empires. The shift to Islam can be traced back to the Arab trade with South China that expanded during the Sung times [Sing Dynasty] (960-128( CF). As a result of increased contacts between Chinese merchants’ and Arab and Persian traders, the Hindu-Buddhist influence in Southeast Asia gradually shifted to Islam.’ The expansion of trade in Southeast Asia consequently led to the coming of more Arab and Persian traders to Malaysia and Indonesia, North Sumatra, and the Moluccas. The former Hindu-Buddhist Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia would turn Islamic by the thirteenth century (Evangelista 1970). It was via Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra that traders and Muslim missionaries finally reached Sulu.

In 1275-1310 CE (710 A H), Tuhan Masha’ika arrived in jolo. In 1380 CE, Karim ul-Makhdum and his companions arrived and converted a large number of Taosugs to Islam. Karim Makhdum was responsible for the founding of the first mosque in the Philippines at Tubig-Indangan on Simunul Island near job. Najeeb Saleeby (33) recounts from one tarsila as follows: “Some time after there came Karimul Makdum. He crossed the sea in a vase or pot of iron and was called Sarip (Sharif). l le settled at Buwansa, the place where the Tagimaha nobles lived. There the people flocked to him from all directions, and he built a house of worship.” So by the late fourteenth century there were already Muslim settlements in Sulu.

The next important figure to arrive in Sulu was Rajah Baguinda, a prince from Sumatra, who reached Sulu in the early fifteenth century with a group of men knowledgeable about Islam. They settled in Buwansa, which eventually became the first capital of the Sultanate of Sulu.

The Moros needed a sultan who could establish an Islamic state where God’s law and justice would be upheld. That crucial period in Sulu’s history would be realized in 1450 CE with the arrival of Abu Bakr. In the annals of Malacca, it is recorded that Sayyid’ Abu Bakr was regarded as a famous authority on law and religion. His origins, however, remain steeped in mystery. One version of the story claims that he came from Mecca. The other theory states that it was his father, Zaynul Abidin, who came from Mecca and that he was, in fact, born in Malacca. “It is the common belief that Abu Bakr was born in Mecca and that he lived some time at Juhur (or Malacca). Others state that it was his father, Zaynul Abidin, who came from Mecca and that Abu Bakr was born of the daughter of the Sultan of Juhur at Malacca. lie came to Pangutaran first, the narrative continues, then to Zamboanga and Basilan… He remained at Basilan for a short while. Having heard of Abu Bakr, the people of Sulu sent Orankaya Su’il to Basilan to invite him to Buwansa to rule over them. This invitation Was accepted” (Saleeby, 45-46). Abu Bakr settled in Sulu to establish a sultanate, an Islamic system of government, that would help the Moros practice Islam more faithfully. It is through this that the Taosugs (through contacts they made with Muslims from China, India, and Malay Archipelago) attribute their origins as Muslims to the Arabs. Sayyid Abu Bakr was most probably Malay, yet Mows claimed that he was from Arabia and a descendant of Muhammad, thus legitimizing his status as sultan.

As one would expect, the Moros welcomed him with little resistance and invited him to become their sultan. Majul noted that the “majority of traditional accounts precisely suggest that Muslims and not pagans had invited Abu Bakr to come over to Buansa’ and that it was the Islamic consciousness of the people that inclined them to realize the need for a sultan” (383). The smooth transition from the indigenous family-oriented barangay system to a sultanate was possible because even before Abu Bakr arrived in Sulu, the Sulu society had already been transformed into an Islamic society to a certain degree (6). Abu Bakr married Paramisuli, the daughter of Rajah Baguinda, the reigning Rajah of Sulu. When Rajah Baguinda chose Abu Bakr to be his successor, Abu Bakr took the name 20 Sharif ul-Hashim and became the first Sultan of Sulu. The shift of titles and names from Sanskrit to Arabic among the succeeding sultans and Moro constituents of Sulu signifies the gradual process of Islamization from a Hindu-Buddhist culture mixed with the Malay culture. A.C. Milner (1981, 6) has argued that

“… the usage of Arabic titulature in the Malay context is more an aspect of the harmonization of the Islamic regal tradition than the translation of its forms and erasure of existing local structures. All such titles were most likely adopted by the Southeast Asian rulers as part of the continuing process of adhesion to Islam.”

Because the Sulu sultanate was distant from the Islamic heartland, the Taosug political ideology of the sultanate was “interwoven and syncretized both with notions unique to the Taosug, as well as conceptions of state and kingship common to Southeast Asia” (Kiefer, 33). The notions had understandably filtered through Malay in influence. Nonetheless, of the sultanates in Mindanao, the Sulu Sultanate had political institutions which were relatively the most centralized. The Moros of Sulu and the succeeding sultans tried to see to it that these institutions would reflect the Tawheed, their belief in one God, and uphold God’s law, the Shariah.

Pre-Islamic barangay system

Before Islam first reached Lupah Sug (Land of Sulu) in the thirteenth century and established a sultanate in the fifteenth century, the people in Sulu, as in the rest of the Philippine archipelago, developed basic units of settlements called banna or barangay. The generally accepted theory is that the Sulu Sultanate appears to have developed from the indigenous barangay system, a native social and political organization based on kinship that expanded loosely beyond family relationships, and was ruled by a datu (Malay) or a rajah (Hindu). These datus ruled as feudal lords of fortified kuta scattered throughout the Sulu archipelago.

A Moro’s primary allegiance was loyalty to his sultan and his immediate dam. William Henry Scott pointed out that loyalty to the leader was a priority, and the number of followers was the primary determination of the datu’s strength: “Generally, society was constituted by the commoners who were joined to the dam, and the slaves” (l.arousse 2001, 32). The primary basis for interpersonal and social relations in the Moro society was the datu-sakop“‘ relationship. What contributed to its strength was that it was mutually beneficial for both sides. A form of mutual obligation developed between the data, who had authority, social status, and wealth and the sakop, who gained a sense of security from his datu’s protection and sustenance. In exchange for his sakops’ loyalty and service, the datu’s primary interest was their economic welfare. The datu-sakop relations may be likened to that of a patron-client. Both benefited economically and politically.

This loyalty to their data was a significant factor of the mass conversion of Moms to Islam. Once the data was converted to Islam, practically everyone in his barangay also converted. Considering the advantages of being a Muslim in a commerce dominated by Muslim Arabs, the data himself may have been motivated by the economic and political reasons to opt for conversion. The sakop followed their datu’s shift in religion out of loyalty and allegiance to him and trust in his goodwill. The introduction of Islam further deepened the bond between the data and sakop by giving it a religious and transcendent dimension. As a consequence, enduring Islamic bonds bound the flatus and their sakop to one another, with the sakop’s loyalty to his data now seen as a religious obligation.

Islam had raised the status of the sultan, the leading data of all flatus, to the level of God’s deputy who was worthy of submission. In fact, Moms were led to believe that the blood of the Prophet Muhammad ran in the sultan’s veins. This inspired the sakop to work and fight for him: “If he was insulted, belittled or injured, so were they—and they would not rest until he was avenged” (Gowing 1988, 48).

This identification of the sultan’s divine entitlement explained the willingness of the Moms to do parrang sabil” to defend their sultan and data. In a situation of war, giving up one’s life for the sultan to gain paradise became more valued. Saleeby was aware of this when he recommended to the American colonial authorities in Sulu that “Islam should be encouraged by colonial authorities because it is which binds the Muslim populace most indelibly to their leaders” (McKenna 1998, 106). Religion now provided the Moros a new motive that far surpassed economic benefits.

One cannot stress enough the powerful and lasting influence that the traditional barangay system of datu-sakop relations had upon the sultanate that replaced it. The Islamization of the barangay system had further consolidated local datus and facilitated political centralization. The datus ruled as feudal pirate lords who formed fortified kutas scattered throughout the Sulu archipelago. Through the establishment of the sultanate, the local datus of various barangays who ruled as feudal lords throughout the Sulu archipelago were united under the sultan and were represented by select datus who comprised a council, the ruma bichara, to advise the sultan on the affairs of the sultanate.

The idea of representation may pass for a democratic system, except that the members of the ruma bichara were not elected but were ex-officio, included by virtue of their status as royal datus. An account of a traveler in Sulu during the late eighteenth century (Forrest 1779, 326) describes how a ruma bichara operates:

“About fifteen Datoos … make the greater part of the legislature … They sit in council with the Sultan. The sultan has two votes in this assembly, and each datu has one. The rajah muda,  …if he sides with the sultan, has two votes; but, if against him, only one. There are two representatives of the people, called mantiris, like the military tribunes of the Romans. The common people of Sooloos… enjoy much real freedom, owing to the above representation.”

From the beginning, the sultan had never acquired absolute power over the datus. When Abu Bakr established the sultanate, he wanted to bring the whole land under his name, or at least subject to his authority. The local datus opposed this because it meant they would lose their authority, since one of their bases of power was actual control of a territory. Abu Bakr and the datus arrived at an agreement, the tartib, which continued the influence of local datus over their respective territories and communities. The tartib indicates that the sultan, however, may send his panglimas (representatives) all over Sulu, thus ensuring links and promoting unity throughout the sultanate.

Segmentary state

According to Kiefer, the segmentary state is the model that best describes the traditional Taosug polity. He understands the segmentary state to be “composed of sub-units which are structurally and functionally equivalent at every level of the political system” (Warren 1998, xxiv). In the case of the Sultanate of Sulu, the sub-units would be the barangays ruled by individual datus. The barangays existed independently of each other, but they were linked to each other to organize trade under the leadership of the sultan.

“In a traditional segmentary state, territorial sovereignty waxed at the centre and waned at the periphery” (Warren, xxiv). The Sulu sultanate was a centralized political system which territorial sovereignty was centered in the Sultan who was based in job. The Moros were loyal to the Sultan as well as to their datus as expression of their fidelity to Allah. Kiefer stressed the importance of seeing the sultan and datus, particularly the royal claws, as mirror images of each other. In fact, the Taosug generally believe that the blood of the Prophet Muhammad ran in their veins.

As for the sakops, who were mostly the datu’s kinsmen, their primary loyalty was to their immediate datu, rather than to the sultan. If their datu was loyal to the sultan, then they too ought to be loyal to the sultan, according to the degree of loyalty their data had for the sultan. However, some datus were loyal only to gain more prestige and win more concessions from the sultan.” Power remained diffuse within the sultanate as factional politics revolved around the more powerful claws. “[I]t was not uncommon for strong leaders to use raw power in the appropriation of rights theoretically attached to the sultan in order to further their personal interests and prestige” (Warren, xxv). A datu’s power and prestige was based on his personal wealth, the number of sakop who rallied around his leadership, and the number of slaves he owned. The common words for slave in Taosug were Bisaya and banyaga, a proper noun referring to a person from the Visayan islands in central Philippines where most slave raids were carried out. The banyaga or Bisaya not only labored in his house and fields, adding to the datu’s prestige and economic strength, but they sometimes augmented his military force as well (Gowing, 48). The datu’s power depends on how he wielded his authority over his people, and how he could mobilize them for work or war at any given moment.

The Sultanate of Sulu was pyramidal in structure. As one moves from the apex toward the base, one sees the sultan’s power and influence diminish and the datus take over. The Sultan’s power and influence waned as it got farther from the center, and datus at the periphery had more influence and control on the Moros. if the Sultan departs from the ideals of Islam, then a datu or claws would take the responsibility to uphold and defend Islam. The pre-eminent position of the sultan at the apex of this political system was emphasized by certain rites and symbols which validated his authority (Warren, xxvi).

In gatherings, his seat would always be higher than the rest of the datus, symbolizing the dignity of his office. The court ritual was highly elaborate(xxvii): “…all letters, official dispatches, and verbal requests were addressed to the sultan in a special court vocabulary through an interpreter. Richly textured clothing, ceremonial paraphernalia such as umbrellas and weapons, especially ornate kris bronze and brass domestic utensils, and household ornaments were additional evidence of the sultan’s symbolic strength and sacred character.”

Tawheed: Sacralizing the sultan

For the Taosug, the leadership of the community was symbolized in the sultan… Without the sultan, there could be no community, nor men properly claim to be Muslims, for in order to acknowledge the sovereignty and unity of God, it was necessary to give a similar acknowledgement to the sultan.

Thomas Kiefer, 1972

The Qur’an repeatedly emphasizes the Oneness or Divine Unity of God, and this is mirrored in the Islamic doctrine of the Tawheed. The Tawheed is the central article of faith in Islam. As with most Muslims, the Tawheed is central to the Moros.

The Qur’an also explicitly describes God as Ai-Malik. meaning sovereign, and Al-Malik-u/-Mulk, the eternal possessor of sovereignty. These two adjectives are also among the ninety-nine names of God. The Qur’an (51:58) makes it clear beyond any doubt that all power lies in God who is Al-Muqtadir—possessor of all power.

Moros believe that God had exercised his sovereignty by delegating it in the form of human agency, and that this human agent was the sultan. If God is sovereign, then His representative on earth ought to be sovereign, too. In the early Muslim community in Medina, the prophet Muhammad was regarded as God’s human agent. For the Moros, within the context of the Sultanate of Sulu, that human agent was their sultan, who was “the shadow of Allah on Earth” (as-sultan zill Allah fi al-ard), an expression that goes back to the Abbasids (132/749 CE- 656/1258 CE). This approximates the title “vice-regent or deputy of God (khalifat ul-Allah)” on Earth, used by the Umayyad caliphs (41/661 CE-132/749 CE). The sultan as a ruler, however, was a humbler version of the actual Caliph of Islam. Over time, the Moro sultan claimed to be God’s khalifah or local representative. As God’s khalifah, the sultan executed God’s will and sovereignty by implementing what was prescribed in the Shariah.

Furthermore, the Moros also identified their sultan as halip tul rasul (successor of the messenger/prophet). Saleeby (17) observed that the Moros believed that their sultan was of noble birth and the Prophet’s blood runs through his veins. The Moros celebrated this status of the sultan through an annual religious ceremony during Maulud-al-Nabi (birthday of the Prophet). On that day they pay homage to their sultan by kissing his forehead which for them is like kissing the nabi (Kiefer, 34). The participant of this rite was believed to receive the barakat, God’s blessing or grace, because God’s charismatic grace surrounds the person of the sultan.

Kiefer has argued that Sufism contributed to raising the religious status of the sultan to an awe-inspiring level by sacralizing it. Sufism preached that the office of the sultan was shrouded with barakat, a state of religious blessing or grace. When a man was appointed sultan, he was said to acquire more barakat from God, empowering him to embody the ideals of Islam and be the ultimate interpreter of the law. However, the sultan’s judgments were not infallible. He could commit sins and go to hell like any man. Only when he was acting in the ideal manner was God’s will manifested through him (53-54). This was why he consulted with his ruma bichara, his wazir (prime minister), and a kudi (qadi or judge), a judicial advisor trained in the canon law of al-Shafii, who more often than not was a foreigner: Arab, Malay, or Bugis (37).

As Allah’s deputy and as one who replaced the prophet Muhammad, the person of the sultan was so sacred that no man can do him bodily harm without incurring God’s wrath and terrible punishment in this life and in the life to come (Saleeby, 17). His wrath (mulka) was similar to the wrath of God (Kiefer, 35). Moros also believed that at the end of every Moro’s lifetime, the sultan “was said to witness in the afterlife and at the day of judgment to his subjects’ faith in Islam; without the sultan there would be no intermediary between God and man” (35).

The rise of the sultanate: The Sino-Sulu trade

Although Sulu appears in Chinese sources only during the Yuan dynasty (1278-1368 CE) and the subsequent Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE), the Chinese recorded that as early as 982 CE, Mayi ships were repeatedly seen in trading ports in southern China. Quoting Manguin’s Catalogues raissone’ De Loeuvre Peint (1980). Ututalum and Hedjazi also noted that this description fits the boats built in Butuan in northern Mindanao, migrating to Sulu only in the eleventh century, it can be safety surmised that Taosugs owned the trading ships.

By the eighteenth century, the Sultanate of Sulu was one of the most powerful in the Malay region. It was described as the mart of all Moorish kingdoms, strategically located between Mindanao and Borneo, and at the center of trade in the Sulu zone. But what catapulted the sultanate to such glory was its reaction to the growing capitalist economy and rapid advancement of colonialism in Southeast Asia by the end of the eighth century. It would be the Chinese tea trade that demanded a significant labor force. The Sulu Sultanate was in a position to respond to this demand.

Slave raiding was practiced by the Moros long before the 1768 Sulu Sino trade boom in the Sulu zone. In fact, slave raiding even per dated the arrival of the Spanish. Sulu was not densely populated during this period, and capturing people and bringing them to Sulu was a strategy that was often used to augment the population and increase its labor force. Since the power of the Sultan or a datu depended a great deal on the number of his followers, who were comprised of the sakop and the captured banyaga, the datus took their fleet to the northern islands to find slaves to bring back to Sulu province. The sultans also made marital and political alliances with the Iranun tribes that specialized in slave raiding.

Things in Sulu would significantly change in the eighteenth century when tea as a commodity drove the world’s capitalist economy. The fascination for tea, which was cultivated by Chinese peasants int he mountains of Fujian, swept Europe by the late seventeenth century

“Such that by 1700, tea had become, along with coffee and cocoa, one of the ‘great non-alcoholic drinks’ for all those Europeans with a sound grasp of epidemiological principles and fear of water-borne diseases and pestilence” (Hobhouse in Warren, 25). The belief in the medical benefits of tea contributed to the surge in demand for tea in the British Isles and in many parts of the Western world. “By 1820, it is estimated that probably thirty million pounds of the company’s tea was consumed in Britain alone… In 1801, at retail, tea cost importers about two million pounds in China.”

In response to the great European demand for tea, the British discovered that it was more profitable to trade with China for Chinese tea by using products from Southeast Asia as their trading commodity.’ They recognized that the Sulu zone had a seemingly inexhaustible source of marine and forest products that China would be willing to trade for its tea. To cut into the China-Sulu trade, the British opened a new port on the island of Balambangan between Borneo and Palawan. As the middlemen between the Chinese-Sulu trade, the British became part of the profitable trade triangle. By 1772-1775, through the East India Company, the British rapidly gained control of the market in the region by using North Borneo as a springboard.

The British supplied the demand for tea in Europe by trading their modern firearms for the Moms’ tripang and birds’ nest, and they in turn traded these products for China’s tea. This triangular sea trade provided exotic food to satisfy the new eating habits and styles of Chinese cooling, satisfied the desire of the Moros for the latest European firearms, and supplied the demand for tea in Europe. In addition, the British came up with a more sinister plan of using opium to trade with the Moros. But the adverse effect of this new trade triangle which James Warren called the Sulu zone was the resulting demand for a labor force that could harvest the marine and forest products in Sulu.

Thus there was a rising demand for tea in Europe and a concomitant increase in regional-wide slave raiding in Southeast Asia. Taosug claws partially re-patterned the life of particular marine groups to meet the soaring European and Chinese demand, and to gain direct access to western technology and Chinese trade goods. The efforts of ambitious datus to participate in this burgeoning world-capitalist economy, with its extraordinary profits and makers of differential status and prestige, forced the demand for additional labour up and swelled the How of global regional trade. The need for a reliable source of labour power was met by the Iranun and SamalBalangingi, the slave raiders of the Sulu zone (Warren, 39).

Sulu’s entry into the world trade market required bigger prabus to hold more products, and at the same time accomodate more slaves who would provide the much needed labor to harvest the exotic products of Sulu. Mallari (1989) argued that the Moros of Sulu began building bigger prahu ‘because of the increased demand for captives in the slave markets down south.” This coincided with the report of Captain Thomas Forrest, an Englishman, who visited Jolo in 1774 and who wrote that the prahus of Sulu could carry six to forty tons burden, and could still sail well. Another explorer, Henry Keppel (1853, 31) who visited Borneo in 1843, described the prahus to

“… measure ninety feet in length, with a proportionate beam. The usual armament of such a vessel would be one gun- from a six to twelve- pounder- in the bow; … besides about twenty or thirty rifles or muskets. Such boats would pull from sixty to eighty oars, in two  tiers; and her complement of men would be from eighty to one hundred. Over the pullers , and extending the whole length of the vessel, is a light but strong flat roof made of thin strips of bamboo, and covered with matting. This protects their ammunition and provisions from the rain, and serves as a platform on which they mount to fight and from which they fire their muskets or hurl their spears with great precision. The rowers sit cross-legged on a shelf projecting outwards from the bends of the vessel.

The British’s search for commodities to trade with China brought with it significant shifts in trading systems. Along with the rising demand for tea came a parallel demand for labor to work in the fisheries and forests of the Sulu zone. All these powerful economic forces pushed the Moro datus in the direction of acquiring increasing numbers of slaves. It can be said that the success of the trade triangle of China, Britain, and the Sultanate of Sulu was made possible primarily by slave labor.

Land was abundant in Southeast Asia and was therefore not the basis of power. With an economy that was labor intensive, slaves provided the index of wealth and power. In the Philippines, as early as the sixteenth century, Spaniard A. de Morga (trans. Cummins 1971, 274) observed.

“[T] hese slaves constitute the main capital and wealth of the natives of these islands, since they are both very useful and necessary for the workers of the farms. Thus, they are sold, exchanged and traded, just like other article of merchandise, from village to village, from province to province, and indeed from island to island.”

Slave trading was practiced not only in the Philippines but throughout Southeast Asia. In fact, the Moros already practiced slave raiding way before 1768 when the British cut in on the Sulu-Chinese trade.

In the Sulu society, it was not the vast amount of land that determined the strength of the datu. The number of followers was the primary determinant of the datu’s strength. Increasing the population through slave raiding was an accepted practice among the datus. This practice would eventually conflict with the Americans when they established their sovereignty in Sulu at the turn of the twentieth century.

When the Americans landed in Sulu in 1898, they encountered a sultanate that had been in existence for nearly four centuries. However, the Sultanate of Sulu was in decline. It had been losing its prestige as an economic and political force in Asia since 1848 when Spain introduced more powerful steamboats to control the Sulu Sea, effectively blocking the sultanate’s lucrative economic trade with the Dutch, British, and the Chinese (Larousse, 82). By the turn of the twentieth century, the weakened sultanate was vulnerable to the American occupying forces.

It was not an easy transition for the Moros. The sultanate had governed them for three centuries, and the dismantling of this traditional structure brought about a political vacuum in Sulu. As the disarmed Moros were left in their most vulnerable state, the United States transferred the responsibility of governing the Moro people in the hands of the inexperienced Christian Filipinos. Despite protects from the Moro people, the United States declared Philippine Independence in 1946 and annexed Mindanao and Sulu to the new republic. From then on, the integration of the Moros into the national polity has constantly failed. This became severe in the 1960s when fierce political disputes with the Republic of the Philippines became a struggle for an independent Bangsamoro (Moro Nation). As one can see, the failed American policies in Sulu are partly to be blamed for the ongoing Moro Problem today.

At the turn of the twenty-first century the decline of law and order in Sulu has led to its status as the poorest region in the Philippines. There have been many proposals from various sectors to redeem Sulu from its impoverished state. One of these comes from the traditional “royal families” or the claimants to the sultanate. They point to Sulu’s glorious past when Sulu was one of most powerful sultanates in the region. They then propose that through the reestablishment of the sultanate, the Moros can redeem themselves from poverty.

Historical Evolution of the Tulunan Peace Zones

Peace Zones do not just crop up like mushrooms that grow out of spores scattered by the wind. A peace zone grows out of a historical process. It evolves out of a conflict situation. It grows out from the crying hope of a people mired in the midst of man-made calamities. It presents itself as a human right demanded by the historical necessity in an extraordinary predicament of a people in the pursuit of a dignified existence.
Peace is a constant desire of individuals as well as a collective aspiration of a community of humans in any social milieu. It is, like any other attribute of human existence, relative, varying in degree of necessity according to the particularity of the community’s or a people’s history. But its relative necessity becomes absolutely intense in a human settlement caught in the midst of conflicting forces. It is the ultimate cry of a people enmeshed in the crossfire between warring forces that make them veritable victims of the brutal consequences of armed conflict.
The Tulunan Peace Zone is one such historical outgrowth of an armed conflict situation. As such, it has its roots in the particularity of its history within the larger peculiar history of Mindanao where it is situated. To better appreciate, therefore, the evolution of the Tulunan Peace Zone is to know and understand the specific features of Mindanao history.
Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippine archipelago, is endowed with very rich natural resources (Montiel & Briones 1997). If only because of that, it is an important part of the country’s politico-economic map. It has been called the “Land of Promise” (Turner, May & Turner 1992).
In early times, purely tribal communities inhabited Mindanao. When Islam was introduced into the island, a considerable portion of the tribes became Muslims. This religious-cultural phenomenon resulted in the development of the Sultanate as the socio-political organization that dominated Mindanao. The Spanish conquest and the colonization of the Philippine Islands in the sixteenth century ushered in Christianity and its attendant medieval European culture. As a feudal ideology, it could not subjugate a parallel feudal ideology, which at the time had reached a certain level of social and political consolidation in Muslim Mindinao. The Spaniards pursued the “sword and cross” style of aggressions against the people of Mindanao, causing the implantation of deeply ingrained mutual hatred and prejudices in the collective psyche of Christians and Muslims through the centuries (Montiel & Briones 1997).
Indeed, the diverse religious beliefs, cultural disparities and traditions in the island have created a gaping chasm between two peoples, inflicting deep wounds that would not heal through time. This was complicated by the, massive migrations of Christian settlers from the northern provinces to Mindanao during the early twentieth century. As early as 1900, the Manila government encouraged migration of Christians to the island, thus finding them scattered throughout the “Promised Land.”
Later, multinational corporations made their entry into Mindanao as part of government policy under the guise of development agenda (Montiel & Briones 1997). These initiatives would in time prove detrimental to The local inhabitants, Muslims and Christians alike.
In the 1960s, the worsening political situation of the country, the man-administration of resources, and rampant corruption in the government bureaucracy exacerbated the Muslim-Christian conflict. Warlordism became a militarist prop for corrupt power politics. Private armies emerged. And in Mindanao, the infamous Muslim “Blackshirts” and “Barracudas” were organized as part of local Muslim politicians’ drive for power. These private armies were widely known as “Moro bandits.” In response to this, the late 1960s saw the emergence of cultist groups called Ilaga (literally means rat) and the Tadtad (chop-chop) whose primary purpose was to fight the Muslim bandits. The period that followed witnessed the atrocities and massacres perpetrated alternately by Muslim armed bands and Christian cultists against civilians of both peoples (Montiel & Briones 1997).
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was a historical child born out of the escalating internecine violence that gripped the entire island. It was a separatist political movement that aimed to establish an independent Moro nation-state in Mindanao. It embodied the ideals and captured the sentiment of the entire Muslim population, uniting them in a veritable declaration of war against the Philippine government. At the same time, as part of a growing national phenomenon, the New People’s Army (NPA) showed its presence in Mindanao (Montiel & Briones 1997).
These two politico-military forces, albeit adopting diverse political ideals, were both fighting the national government and aimed to seize political power. The NPA had its beginning in Central Luzon and soon spread throughout the whole archipelago, including Mindanao. The MNLF wanted to establish its own “Moro Bangsa” nation state in Mindanao, distinct and separate from the Republic of the Philippines. Objectively, they were in alliance against a common enemy, the Philippine Government. The Ilaga was known to have been used by the government armed forces as a para-military unit in its campaigns against the NPA rebels and the Moro separatists.

Tulunan Municipality

Tulunan is a fifth class municipality located at the southern tip of Cotabato province. It consists of twenty nine (29) barangays. Two of these barangays and two sitios of two other barangays have been declared and given national recognition as PEACE ZONES. Tulunan is basically Ilonggo territory whose populace is composed of migrants from Iloilo province. It became the natural home ground for Ilaga cult members. At the height of the Christian-Muslim conflicts in the late 1960s and well toward the 1970s, the residents of Barangays Banayal, Bituan, Nabundasan and Miatub and other neighboring barangays of Tulunan experienced sporadic disturbances from Moro armed attacks. Often their houses were subjected to strafing and other forms of violent harassments.
Tulunan was not spared from NPA groundwork objectives, making it one of the areas within the ambit of its guerilla activities. This made Tulunan a hotbed area where government military operations against rebel forces were conducted.
Under these deplorable conditions, it was always the civilian population who suffered. They were not only inflicted with physical pain and injuries and deprived of the lives of their loved ones, but they were also subjected to psychological wounds where a “culture of fear” was implanted in their individual and community life. Fear became a constant ingredient of their day-to-day existence.
Outbreaks of violence not only destroyed the peace in Tulunan but also resulted in rampant stealing of livestock, farm implements and agricultural produce. Massive evacuation of the residents from the affected barangays ensued. In the 1960s, when the conflict was between the Ilaga/
Tadtad and the Moro bandits, the La Fortuna barangay school building was used as the evacuation center. Some private houses in Barangay Perez and Barangay Nabundasan were also utilized for refuge. After a while, people started to go back to their respective farms to work. But it was an “off and on” situation at the evacuation center because Muslim armed bands kept on corning back to attack other nearby barangays.
In the 1980s, at the height of government counter-insurgency program, massive evacuation also happened. This time the Banayal Elementary School and high school buildings became the evacuation center. At the evacuation center, there was a marked rise in the incidence of sickness particularly among children due to malnutrition. Schools were temporarily closed, causing many students to drop out. The menfolk were recruited to join the para-military units such as the “Barangay Self-Defense Unit” (BSDU) which was later renamed “Civilian Home Defense Force” (CHDF). This was purportedly to defend their lives against the NPA whose presence in Tulunan was very evident (interview with Felecita Acosta-Barrredo).

Life at the Evacuation Center

The refugees in the Banayal evacuation center knew misery in all its adverse consequence& Here they learned to live daily with fear, unfreedom, hunger, undernourishment, and illnesses, and the emotional and psychological effects of deprivations, indignities and injuries.

All in all, the evacuees numbered as follows: 45 families from Bituan; 78 families from Sitio New Alimodian; 32 families from Lampagan & seven families from Tuburan and seven families from Bacong. They constituted a total of 159 families or 784 individuals, including children.

The people sought help from government and non-government organizations. In response, food was delivered and free clinics were conducted. An expression of active hope and resilience was evident as they began to organize themselves by forming the Barangay Disaster Committee. Other committees were identified and formed, namely: health, finance, education, negotiating panel, accommodation, and research and documentation.

In September 1989, the Barangay Disaster Committee was changed into Inter-Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council, representing 70 families from New Alimodian, 50 families from Bituan and 20 families from Lampagang.

The Birth, of the Tulunan Peace Zones

In the face of the harsh realities, the residents of Tulunan organized their ranks as a liberative process of people empowerment. Their action at the evacuation center caught the attention of concerned authorities, non-government organizations, the media and other concerned sectors and individuals.
Every dialogue and meeting with these concerned agencies and groups was center lighted with that one single desire of the people: to live permanently in a place free from armed conflicts and other violent hostilities. This desire gave birth to the concept of a “peace zone”.

One Church leader mentioned the experience of the people of Hunduan, who managed to get the NPA to withdraw from the locality, and made a determined stand to bar the military from installing a detachment outpost in their place. This was promptly picked up by the evacuees and they started to hold caucuses on the possibility of establishing a “zone of peace” in their area in Tulunan.

The Bituan Peace Zone

With this notion clear in everyone’s mind, the people at the evacuation center decided to establish a place free from militarization and armed conflicts. The place to become the first peace zone was to be Barangay Bituan.

A Brief Background of Bituan

In the 1950s, a group of Ilonggo from Iloilo in Panay came to settle in a place that was occupied by tribal peoples called T’bolis and B’laans. These tribal peoples called the Ilonggo settlers “Batiwan”, which the Christians interpreted as Bituan and so the place was named Bituan. Bituan was declared a barangay of Tulunan in 1958 (Bituan PZ file). As Visayan Christians, the Ilonggo settlers brought along with them the traditional practice of celebrating fiesta every year, highlighted by ball games, horse fights, and even wrestling bouts.
The place was really a promised land for these Ilonggos. They lived peacefully and harmoniously until the 1970s when, with the declaration of martial law in 1972, the peacefulness in the area was disturbed by sporadic armed encounters between Muslims and Christians. These armed engagements resulted in off-and-on evacuations from one place to another.
By 1978, the Bituan residents were back and settled peacefully in their place. But it was only for a brief period of time. The following years saw the NPA frequenting the area. They started giving “teach-ins” to the residents. As a result, government military troops were deployed in Barangays Banayal, Bituan and Tuburan in order to establish detachment outposts.
In the 1980s, which was the height of the government counter-insurgency program, massive military operations were conducted in the area. These caused untold difficulties to the residents who suffered from the mortar shellings, bombings, killings, and tortures, and other brutalities. The victims included Church leaders and Church workers who were “salvaged” together with farmers. Houses of residents suspected to be NPA members were demolished and burned down.
There seemed to be no end to the inhumanities and indignities committed against innocent civilians. Tired of this situation, some young adults were forced to join either the NPA or the paramilitary units called Citizens Armed Forces of a Geographical Unit (CAFGU). Meanwhile the families who lived within the affected areas such as Barangays Bituan, Lampagang, and Sitio New Alimodian evacuated to Barangay Banayal and occupied the school buildings.
But as told above, life at the evacuation center provided the stimulus for the people to search for ways by which they could obtain peace for themselves and their children. The harsh realities at the evacuation center taught them to hope and dream, organize and harness their human resources and capacities, and above all, to decide for themselves their own courses of action vis-à-vis the prevailing situation. And so, in December 1989, the people at the evacuation center signed a resolution declaring their intention and decision to establish a place free from military activities and armed hostilities by and between conflicting/ warring forces. Bituan became the first peace zone in Mindanao (Manila Chronicle, 2 March 1990).
Some of the salient provisions of the Peace Zone Resolution were:

1. The place covered by the peace zone is the whole of Barangay Bituan.
2. No one enters the peace zone without the knowledge and consent of the screening and admission committee of the people who live in the area.
3. The carrying of firearms (by military/CAFGU and NPA) is prohibited in the peace zone.
4. No detachment is to be established in the whole area of the peace zone.
5. No armed group is allowed to enter the peace zone.
6. No firing of arms is allowed within the peace zone.
7. No organization of the CAFGU or the Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) is allowed in the said place.
8. There shall be no threats on and harassments of civilians and transportation.
9. There shall be no selling or drinking of alcoholic drinks within the peace zone.
10. Public buildings (chapel, schools) cannot be used without the permission of concerned authorities.
11. An Ad Hoc Committee will be organized to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.
12. The same Ad Hoc Committee shall convey the violations of the agreement and the recommendation for a more exact and smoother implementation to the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MOPC)/ Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Peace Commission.
13. This resolution shall be respected by the two warring forces and witnessed by the Ad Hoc Committee before the appellants.
This resolution. was submitted to the local government and copies furnished the provincial, national government and the Church. Then a series of dialogues was conducted.
Some of the major dialogues were:
On 17 January 1990, a consultative meeting was held which was attended by Fr. Ronilo Villamor, Congressman Gregorio Andolana, the Municipal Councilors of Tulunan and a military officer assigned in the area. The proposal of a peace zone was presented. The military representative agreed to the idea but said that the final decision would come from higher authorities.
On 25 January 1990, the evacuees called for a general assembly to validate their resolution. Congressman Gregorio Andolana, the Sangguniang Bayan members of Tulunan and representatives from various government agencies attended this assembly.
On 5 February 1990, the leaders of the communities, with Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Fr. Ronilo Villamor, and Congressman Gregorio Andolana met with Brig. Gen. Orlando Soriano, commanding officer of the 6th Infantry Brigade and other high ranking officials. The agenda included: military recognition of the peace initiative, the suspension of the restriction on the delivery of the relief supplies including food and the release of confiscated goods for the peace zone residents. General Soriano responded positively by assuring them of the immediate pullout of troops in the area on the condition that NPA would also withdraw. Fr. Villamor relayed this through the radio station DXND and the rebels agreed.

The Return

The people were so determined that while the negotiation was still going on, they started to clear the peace zone area, which is Bituan. On the 10th of February 1990, they were all prepared for the return. It started with a mass celebration officiated by Fr. Ronilo Villamor. Immediately after the Liturgy of the Word, the people started to pack up their belongings, got hold of their livestock and started to move out. The military stopped them for a picture-taking According to the military, the photo would serve as survey record for an effective monitoring of the people residing in the peace zone. After the picture-taking, the procession continued. Upon reaching the big mango tree at the entrance of the proposed area, the caravan stopped and the celebration of the mass continued. Just before the final blessing was made, the presider sounded a reminder, “Now that you have declared the Peace Zone, be faithful to its provisions. No to power of the guns and let Yahweh God be your chief security guard, no longer the NPA nor the military!” After the mass, a child was baptized, then everyone sat down to a thanksgiving meal.
A series of dialogue was still conducted even after the return to Bituan. Representatives from the Church, the local government, the military, and non-government organizations attended these dialogues. The military consented to the peace zone concept but allowed only a one-kilometer radius. That meant that beyond the one-kilometer radius, military operations may take place. Because of the strong determination of the people, the local government also adopted and approved the request of the evacuees to recognize Bituan as a zone of peace.
One major dialogue that really ensured the success of the Bituan experiment was the one held with Commissioner Haydee Yorac of the Commission on Elections and Senator Rodolfo Biazon in Miatub. Senator Biazon drafted and sponsored a resolution in the Congress of the Philippines urging the Executive Department to declare Bituan with other areas in Tulunan a zone of peace. Eventually,
on June 23, 1993 Bituan and the other peace zones in Tulunan were declared a special development area by the national government (interview with Maximo Casulocan).

Sitio New Alimodian

New Alimodian is the lone sitio of Barangay Banayal. All of the pioneers of this place came from Alimodian, in Iloilo, thus the name New Alimodian. It became a sitio in 1955, its population being big enough to warrant the status of a sitio.
As a Catholic community, New Alimodianons also held a yearly fiesta celebration as a form of thanksgiving for the abundance they received in the past year. This was particularly displayed in the way they welcomed and treated their fiesta guests. All of the households offered sumptuous food to anybody who came into the house, a practice that gave them favorable reputation among other barangays.
Peace reigned among the sitio populace until the 1970s, when after the declaration of martial law in the country, the people began to live again in constant fear. Their livelihood was greatly disrupted. As a matter of fact, they experienced displacements from their homes and farms every time the Moro armed band attacked.
In later part of the 1970s peace was restored in New Alimodian. People went back to their farms. But they realized the need to forge stronger unity and to work harder for the rehabilitation of their place. This led to the establishment of a farmers’ organization called Hiniusang Mag-uuma sa New Alimodian (United Farmers of the New Alimodian) in 1982. They also formed a sectoral council, called the Babaye Barug Alang sa Kalingkawasan in 1986. These organizations were affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (KMP), a militant national movement of farmers and rural workers. Because of this, the people of New Alimodian were suspected as members of the NPA. And so, a series of military operations was conducted in the area. Military detachments were also established in Barangay Banayal and Barangay Tuburan.
The poor civilians were caught in the middle of these armed forces. They suffered salvaging and tortures committed by the military. An unforgettable incident occurred on 19 July 1989. New Alimodian was subjected to intense mortar shellings at four thirty in the afternoon. The perpetrator of the grave abuse of authority was the Alpha Company of the 27th Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army under the command of 2nd Lt. Espiritu, and based in Barangay Tuburan. The New Alimodian residents promptly abandoned their homes and evacuated to Banayal Elementary School. Residents of other barangays such as Bituan and Lampagang joined them.

Birth of the New Alimodian Peace Zone

The New Alimodian peace zone is a child of the Bituan peace zone. Actually, the residents of New Alimodian were part of the Bituan experiment, which created the Bituan peace zone. While at the Bituan peace zone, the residents of New Alimodian were experiencing an economic crisis on account of the scarcity of farmland to till. But they realized that they had their own place and properties.

On 5 February 1992, the Alimodianons called a meeting and decided to leave Bituan and go back to New Alimodian. They drafted a resolution and worked for the declaration of New Alimodian as a zone of peace. They negotiated with local, provincial and national government authorities. The proposal contained the following provisions:
1. The area to be declared as a peace zone is the whole of sitio New Alimodian.
2. No armed group shall dictate to the community in times of war or peace.
3. Members of the NPA and AFP who want to live peacefully are welcome in the peace zone.
4. Government line agencies, NGOs and religious sectors or groups are welcome to help in the total development of the community.
5. Violations of the provisions by the NPA will be reported to the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Return Part Two

On 15 February 1992, a second movement of people took place from Bituan to New Alimodian. Representatives from the local and national governments, the Church, the non government organizations and the media witnessed it. Just like the first exodus, it started with the celebration of the mass by Fr. Rondo Villamor as the presider. The journey started after the homily. When they reached the area, the mass continued and ended up with the baptism of two children and a thanksgiving meal. Immediately thereafter the residents of New Alimodian Peace Zone organized themselves by coming up with what was called the Sitio New
Alimodian Development Council. They put up a cooperative. They established linkage with the Bituan Peace Zone and other concerned agencies for the speedy declaration of their place as a peace zone. They joined in dialogues with the military and other government agencies until finally, they received national recognition as a peace zone on 23 June 1993 (interview with Francisco Abihon, Jr.).

Barangay Nabundasan

The story of the people of the Barangay Nabundasan is no different from that of the other barangays. It followed a storyline similar to the other peace zones in the neighboring barangays. They lived peacefully and in relative economic abundance from the time the place was established as a barangay up to the 1960s. All of the residents therein were likewise Ilonggos, which means their place of origin is Iloilo.
The secret underlying the peacefulness and abundance of the place was really the farmers’ organizing efforts, which gave rise to what was called the Banayal-Tuburan-Nabundasan Foundation or BATUNA. Essentially, it arose from the collaborative efforts of three barangays with the assistance of the Catholic Church parish of Tulunan. It had for its objectives the spiritual and economic upliftment of the residents. Ironically, this socio-economic development program aroused the suspicion of the military establishment. The local folks were suspected to be organized by the NPA. Undeniably, the presence of the NPA in the area was evident.
And so, military operations started to be launched by government forces in the 1970s, especially after martial law was declared. Many armed confrontations between two opposing forces took place in the barangay, causing disastrous economic dislocations among the residents. Oftentimes they were forced to vacate their homes, leaving their valuable belongings and livestock behind. Whenever the government military moved out of the area, they returned to their houses and took whatever useful things they needed in their places of refuge, including their goats, pigs, chickens and other livestock. There were times when the military burned down their houses, thus rendering them homeless when they emerged from their hiding places.
During military operations, the people experienced grave harassments and intimidations. Some people were tortured; others received threats of summary execution or salvaging. Certain cases left indelible marks in the memory of the people. Alfonso Fajardo, a teen-ager, was mercilessly tortured and killed; Ramon Panibayo and Felomino Nobleza were both tortured and salvaged; and Diosdado Tacalan suffered unbearable tortures that rendered him disabled and therefore unable to work in his farm for two years; and the most gruesome of all was what happened to Custodio Nim, a farmer leader, who was chopped to death.
Another experience that paralyzed the livelihood activities of the people was the so-called “hamletting” whereby all the villagers were herded by the military and made to stay in two chapels as hamlet centers for weeks or months on end, purportedly to monitor their daily activities. In the hamlet centers children got sick. An old man died. As a military strategy to counteract insurgency and ostensibly for the protection of the local people, the village menfolk were recruited to become members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU). But this was resented by the people because of the risks involved, aside from the fact that their livelihood would be affected with less time for farm work once they joined the para-military unit. In one instance, a group of village men was forcibly brought by the military to their detachment outpost in New Panay for the para-military training. But their wives went with them and refused to leave the outpost until their husbands were sent home together with them.

The Birth of the Nabundasan Peace Zone

Having gone through a series of militarization, the residents of Barangay Nabundasan decided to declare their area as a zone of peace. They drafted a resolution and submitted it to the Peace Commissioners, the Governor, Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, and Col. Cresencio Villanueva, to mention a few. Some provisions of the resolution were:
1. That we shall not allow arms to be brought within our barangay especially those borne by the military troops; neither shall we allow detachments within the barangay.
2. That we shall not allow the recruitment of civilians into the CAFGU or CVO.
3. That no armed groups shall be allowed to enter our barangay especially the military, the NPA and other armed groups.
4. We are united in declaring our Barangay Nabundasan as a zone of peace. They also established linkages with other peace zone areas and joined the dialogues held in relation to peace zones. Finally, Barangay Nabundasan won national recognition as a peace zone, along with those of Bituan, New Alimodian and Miatub on 23 June 1993 (Interview with Jerry Nim).

Sitio Miatub

Miatub was created as a sitio of Barangay Tuburan only when some of the residents from Barangay Tuburan opted to live in a peace zone. Residents of this sitio came from Miag-ao and Tubungan of Iloilo, thus the name “Miatub” from the first syllables of both places.
Life in Barangay Tuburan was peaceful until the 1970s, when the NPA entered the place and started conducting teach-ins among the local residents. This was coupled with organizing. Some joined the NPA, but many refused to go with them. At any rate, the organization brought in some positive effects, as some of the vices in the community, like drunkenness, were eliminated.
In the 1970s, the barangay was one of the areas that figured in the counter-insurgency program of the government. A detachment outpost.. was put up in Barangay Tuburan, and the special operations team began to conduct counter-insurgency activities in the area. Armed engagements between the military and the NPA caused civilian casualties caught in the crossfire. Some people received harassments and intimidations from the military. What the people resented most was the violation of their dwellings. The military just entered their houses at night to see if there were NPAs around. Again, purportedly for the protection of the people, the military recruited men to join the CAFGU, but again the people resented this.
The Barangay Tuburan villagers likewise experienced evacuation runs even if only within the barangay. If the armed encounter between the military forces and the NPA was in the southern part of the village, they moved to the north and vice versa. Just the same, these movements were physically and emotionally exhausting.

The Birth of the Miatub Peace Zone

Having heard of the Bituan Peace zone, some of the barangay officials of Tuburan visited Bituan for an exposure. They were inspired by what they saw and observed so that they started to work for the establishment of a peace zone in their own barangay.
An assembly among the barangay residents was called to present the idea of a peace zone. A survey soon followed to determine how many to have their village become a peace zone. The result of the survey showed that eighty percent (80%) of the residents were in favor of a peace zone to be put up in the barangay.

Alternate Exodus

Immediately after the barangay council designated an area to be the peace zone, the people prepared a resolution requesting Sitio Miatub to be recognized and declared as a peace zone. In the drafting of the resolution, some individuals from Barangay Nabundasan were involved because many Miatub and Nabundasan residents were blood relatives, coming as they were from the same place in Iloilo. Consequently, the provisions proposed in the Miatub peace zone were a virtual replica of the Nabunadasan peace zone.
It was unfortunate that in the process of negotiation for the declaration of the Miatub peace zone, one of the active members was tortured and summarily executed. However, it did not deter nor discouraged the people. They became even more intent and courageous to pursue the undertaking One day, the people called for a bayanihan. Men were gathered to help transfer the houses from the barangay proper to the designated peace zone site. The womenfolk helped with other tasks, such as cooking and fixing the houses. The bayanihan of carrying the houses lasted for a day. At the day’s end, everybody was already in the designated Miatub Peace Zone.
The people recounted that at night some unidentified men were sometimes observed to be moving in the vicinity of the peace zone. To protect themselves, the people organized a group of six to seven men to do a round-the-clock night watch activity. An alert system was devised. The night watch was to beat apiece of bamboo in case unidentified persons were noticed or an untoward happening occurred. Every house would then respond by beating a similar instrument. This simultaneous sound alarm would rouse the entire community to be vigilant and be ready for whatever may happen.
The Miatub residents soon established linkage with other peace zones. They earnestly joined dialogues called to discuss matters related to the peace zone negotiations. They hosted the big dialogue that was participated in by the four peace zones and graced by the presence of Senator Rodolfo Biazon. Miatub, with the other areas, was declared a zone of peace on 23 June 1993 (Interview with Crispino Fajurano).

Structure of the Peace Zone

Each peace zone has its political structure. It has a Peace Zone Council composed of three representatives from the Church sector, three from the farmers’ group, and three from the barangay government. For a sound working relationship, the four peace zones decided I to form the Inter-Peace Zone Development Council (IPZDC) composed of three representatives from each peace zone. Among themselves, they elect the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer and auditor. The IPZDC has the power to decide and transact business in behalf of the peace zones. But after some reflection, the IPZDC was changed into Inter-Peace Zone Coordination Committee to emphasize the idea that the power to decide was with the people’s assembly and not with the council members.

Features of the Peace Zone

Principle
The assembly believes that we, the people, are the foundation of life, peace and progress based on the principle of divine providence and nationalism. We believe in the safeguard of our rights in harnessing our initiatives without reservation and free from the dictates of any armed group in times of war or peace; and we recognize, respect and uphold civilian authority at all times and in any situation.

Program
The assembly follows its own method of implementing and monitoring its programs. Our organization exercises no reservations in helping its member areas, especially when requested by the people.

Goal
The empowerment of the people is based on full participation in the decision-making and implementation of the undertakings for the upliftment of their economic, political and cultural life.

Mission
Solidarity of the people through education and organization in order to strengthen themselves towards sustainable peace and prosperity.

Objective
Seek and attain full security, justice, and development through people empowerment.

Method / Strategy
The assembly follows the democratic process of educating and organizing consultations, dialogues among the people, and forging alliances with groups having the same orientation and objectives as ours.