As I had predicted- well "predicted" isn't necessarily the most apt word since I knew- President Aquino formally had former Congressman Mujiv Hataman as the OIC (Officer in Charge, as in "Appointed") Governor of the ARMM, or Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. I will get to that in my upcoming third and final entry on the Mujiv Hataman saga. Meanwhile, Ishak "Cocoy" Veloso Mastura, Chairman of the ARMM Regional Board of Investments has stuck his foot deep into his mouth with the just announced claim that 2011 has been a record breaking year for private investment within the ARMM. According to Mastura, there was not only a record breaking injection of capital, but investors outdid all previous years by nearly 400%. Fantastic, right? Let's examine the claim;
Ishak Mastura correctly notes that in 2011, from January 1st up until December 15th, the region saw P1,656.24 Billion, that IS Billion, you read correctly. Now, in 2010, it is ALSO true that the ARMM merely saw P91 Million. So, so far so good, neigh, perfect. Let us see just what caused this massive (nearly) 400% increase; a grand total of THREE investments:
1) EA Trilink Corporation, in the Second Quarter, landed a telecom franchise for the entire ARMM worth, and this is what is all boils down to, P1.5 Billion. Wow, great, but how did this company land it? EA Trilink is a private corporation CREATED BY the ARMM during the tenure of Governor Nur Misuari, the MNLF Chairman handed the keys to the autonomous kingdom by then-President Ramos as a way in which to seduce Misuari into signing Jakarta 1996, the mis-named Final Peace Agreement that still hasn't been implemented. The "company" was liscenced by the ARMM, becoming its sole franchisee long before cellular service even came to Manila. Setting up a small office in the ARMM Capital Complex in Cotabato City, it began funneling cash to various money laundering schemes.
Today this company has a grand total of eight employees, including office staff in Makati where Doctor Alfredo Panizales beguiles foreign visitors. Serving as CEO AND President, he is wise enough to have a token Muslim, Datu Hadji Nasser D.Sampaco as "Chairman." The company only landed it first deal in 2008 but since then has become a huge blackhole. Its course du jour is a plan to create 2,000 electronic kiosks in thirty ARMM municipalities. Using a sattelite hub in Cebu City, signals will be fed into a main centre in each of the five main ARMM provinces. So far, this involves ZERO employment opportunities. The company is bragging that it will create 6,000 long term jobs within the ARMM. How? It will hire three people for each of the kiosks. At two thousand kiosks times three employees, there will be six thousand jobs.
These kiosks will provide telephone, email, and internet services, with one employee for every eight hour shift. Forget that the Central Governments placement of these kiosks in 60% of all Philippine municipalities has so far been a resounding failure- how could it not be in a nation awash with cybercafes and the highest per capita usage of cellphones IN THE WORLD-what counts to Ishak "Cocoy" Mastura is the bottom line, P1.5 Billion. What Mastura doesn't say however, is that the entire sum comes from Government coffers. Granted, most of that will by NGO and Foreign Aid monies BUT, how can you brag about "private investment" when it is entirely Government generated? It is an intellectual shell game, Economics 101 for scam artists. Of course Ishak happens to be the son of MILF Peace Panelist Datu Michael Ong Mastura, and so one then calms down and realises that poor little Ishak is probably as clueless as the people he aims to swindle.
Ishak, ironically, began his career as Andal Ampatuan Sr's legal lapdog before joining the Manila firm of Siguion and Reina. Not able to keep up with his caseload he asked Bapa Andal for another handout and was placed at the beck and call of Andal's son, Zaldy, then the Governor of the ARMM. Before long, Ishak became Chairman of the Regional Board of Investments...and...voila.
2) Matling Industrial and Commercial Corporation, in the Third Quarter, announced that it was building a biomass electrical generation sub-station at their main cassava starch facility in the municipality of Malabang, in Lanao del Sur Province. The project, pegged at P23.90 Million will use dried cassava/rhiozome chips to power a steam turbine generator, utilising a good many advances made with regard to cassava as a biomass source. They already have a 1,500MW hydroelectric facility on the Matling River, the waterway upon which the company is centered.
As much as I would like to rip into the project, the company being notorious for shi**ing all over its employees (refer to two cases, former Financial Director Ricardo R.Coros and former Executive Vice President Armando T.de Rossi, just as examples- and they are at the top of the pyramid), I can't really frown because it is a self-centered project taking place on property owned by the company since the 1930s. Unlike the two other projects being discussed, this one is on the up and up. Ergo, chock up P23.90 Million as ACTUAL investment, although, since it is entirely internal, it isn't going to help the ARMM in any real manner.
3) Agumil Philippines Incorporated, a multi-national consortium building the latest addition to its burgeoning palm oil empire on the Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat Provincial borders, is earmarking P132 Million for the Fourth Quarter, to construct a palm oil processing refinery on a 20 hectare tract in the municipality of Buluan, in Maguindanao Province. Buluan of course is the seat of power of Maguindanao Governor, Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu. Toto, and his clan paramilitary, the Buayan sa Lanao (Crocodiles of the Lake, the "Lake" being Lake Bualan) have been at the centre of the project.
In Second and Third Quarter of 2011 "MILF Armed Contact" entries I described the shooting war between the Buayan sa Lanao and the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the MILF's armed wing is known. That conflict, which has been ongoing for years, revolves around the Mangudadatu Clan snatching up parcels of land, often by force, to end up on the right side of the Aguimil venture. The company, dominated by a Maylasian-Singaporean consortium holding 40% outright and most of the rest through Philippine registered shell companies, is, like so many agrobiz multi-nationals, contracting with local landholders to gain a targetted 9,000 hectare presence on that Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat Provincial border. The municipality of Buluan sits directly on that border. On the other side, Sultan Kudarat Province is also controlled by the Mangudadatu Clan, with Governor "Toto's" first cousin, Datu Suharto "Deng" Mangudadatu, sitting as Governor. The municipality of Colombio is being primed for 6,000 hectares in the project. In both Buluan and Colombio it is the Mangudadatu Clan, backed by the Buayan, who controls the vast majority of the tracts.
The refinery is being built because, until now, there are only four such refineries in existence:
1) Kenram Industrial Development Incorporated, in the town of Isulan, the capital of Sultan Kudarat Province
2) Filipina Palm Oil Processing Incorporated- Caraga Oil Refining Incorporated (FPPI-COPI), Agusan del Sur Province, in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur Province, the processor at what used to be known as Guthrie Plantation cum Guthrie Estates
3) ABERDI in Bukidnon Province
4) Agumil, in Trento, in Agusan del Sur Province
The Agumil operation utilises its own refinery, in, Agusan del Sur, a long haul of 9 hours over roads that are often impassable. However, until the project obtained at least 2,000 hectares it didn't pay to build a refinery closer to Maguindanao Province. Instead, it sank its capital into the parallel operation in the municipality of Brooke's Point, on Palawan and bided its time until it had aquired the targetted amount of land. The fact that the entire amount invested for the project goes towards enriching the Mangudadatu Clan, who of course will be constructing it as well as staffing it renders this project as well, a ZERO investment into the community, into labour pool, and into the Local Government Unit.
In fact, none of these projects offer true investments. Matling is building a powerplant for its own cassava factory, utilising a foreign consulting firm and a foreign construction firm. Agumil is building a dedicated mill to serve its own plantations, on land owned by the Mangudadatus, by a firm owned by the same clan, to service contact acerage owned by them as well. Finally, the EA Trilink "bonanza" is being paid for by Manila- IF it even materielises. Uh, thanks Ishak Mastura, for illustrating everything that's wrong with the ARMM.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part XIII: Front Feliciano Proves it is Not Extinct
The Front Feliciano, Wilson Feliciano Command is the single front of the weakest of the five CPP/NPA Regional Commands on the island, the Western Mindanao Regional Committee, or WMRC. With an AOR, or, Area of Responsibility (as in Area of Operation), controlling most of Misamis Occidental Province, a tiny part of Lanao del Norte Province, and the entire Zamboanga Peninsula with its three provinces:
1) Zamboanga del Norte
2) Zamboanga del Sur
3) Zamboanga Sibugay
and theoretically at least, all the islands south of Mainland Mindanao, in the three provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. Of course, in real life there are no Communists in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi Provinces, or, there are, they wisely keep their mouths shut (like Mujiv Hataman but that is another sordid tale).
The single Front is sub-divided into five Section Committees and Commands, known as "SECOMs":
1) Joji, centered on Mount Malindang on the Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga Border
2) Sendong, covering the bulk of the WMRC's AOR in Misamis Occidental Province
3) Kara, covering all of the Zamboanga Peninsula
4) Traka, covering five municipalities in Lanao del Norte Province, closest to the border of the Zamboanga Peninsula, now defunct
5) White, known to AFP and PNP Intelligence as "Special Sub-Section," covers all White Areas within the WMRC's AOR. To the CPP/NPA, and agencies dealing with them, NPA AORs are divided into "White Areas" and "Red Areas." Red covers those areas under which the NPA operates in what, to it, constitutes an ideal environment, rural, firm mass base of support, and a fairly to well developed structure. "White Areas" are primarily urban, and while there is a mass base of support, it isn't geographically contigous as well as it often lingering in the grey netherworld between legal and illegal. White Area Operations are primarily concerned with urban Revolutionary Taxes (i.e. "Extortion") and SPARU Operations. "SPARUs," or Special Armed Partisan Units, are the NPA assassination teams that publicly execute informers, defectors, and other targets of retribution. The term is often misstated as "Sparrow," as in the bird. This SECOM is likewise defunct. Aside from the AOR not being powerful enough to make such public "examples," its Secretary, or, commander, was taken down at the end of 2008 after being inactive since 2006.
WMRC has fallen quite a few pegs from its formerly self assured slot as the third most powerful of the Regional Committees. Although the CPP/NPA first arrived on Mindanao before Martial Law was declared at the end of 1972, it wasn't until 1977 that the cadres began migrating out of the two cities in which the movement originally landed, Davao City and Cagayan del Oro City. By that time, only Davao City remained active. That year, the movement began expanding northward out of Davao City at an exponential rate. It thrust upwards into the southern reaches of the Caraga Region, and in 1979, finally settled in North Cotabato Province. North Cotabato's demographical divide of Muslim and non-Muslim runs more or less along the borders of that province's First and Second Congressional Districts. The Second District is the region in which the Ilonggo and other Chrsitian Filipino tribes and ethnicities hold sway.
Christianity, especially Catholicism, came under the Leftist orbit in the early 1960s, and by 1979, Liberation Theology had taken control of the Catholic Church, and to a slightly lesser extent, leading Protestant Denominations within that general area as well. There was no parallel liberalisation anywhere in the Islamic World, least of all in Central Mindanao. Yet, in communities where Christians and Muslims co-existed, the CPP/NPA made moderate gains with Muslims. The now extinct Central Mindanao Committee of the CPP/NPA had a significant Muslim minority within its ranks, and not long after,the Western Mindanao Committee (now the WMRC) could claim the samething.
With the physical, and then ideological purges that stressed the CPP/NPA on Mindanao (and later, nationwide), from 1983 to 1994, that minority would all but disappear. Whatever Muslim cadres remained active almost all jumped ship to the RPM-P/RPA (Rebolusyonaryong Partido Manggagawa-Pilipinas, aka, Worker's Party of the Philippines, and its military wing, the Revolutionary Proletariat Army, or RPA), later known as the RPM-M/RPA, after the organisation broke with the mother organisation over disagreements over the RMP-P's 1999 engagement of the Estrada Government in a Peace Process.
With the RPM-P, the Central Mindanao Committee ceased functioning. Its remaining cadres, and there weren't many, joined the Northern Mindanao Comittee which was then remade into the Northcentral Mindanao Regional Committee, or NCMRC, and the Northeast Mindanao Regional Commiittee, or NEMRC. The Muslim cadres ended up in NCMRC, which absolutely vacated Central Mindanao in concentrating on Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon Provinces (its AOR also includes slivers of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Misamis Occidental Provinces). Muslim cadres were so isolated culturally that most simply dropped out of the organisation as a whole.
In the WMRC, the secession into the RPM-P/RPA was also a mass exodus but enough of the Committee and its guerilla Fronts remained so that the Committee remained viable, even if "just barely." Its remaining guerilla Fronts were consolidated into a single Front, as noted earlier, "Front Feliciano," with an AOR that for the most part remained as it had been, the one difference being a significant reduction in its Lanao del Norte AOR, which had been subsumed by the RPM-P (later re-named RPM-M) and RPA's SR 2. WMRC's single Front was then sub-divided into "Sections" with smaller AORs in hopes of eventually regaining what had heretofore been a considerable and well developed apparatus. Sadly for the NPA, it never worked out. Until today, the WMRC remains the weakest of the five Regional Committees, which concurrently serve as Regional NPA Commands as well. Only Front Feliciano remains and until a month ago, had pretty much been on the verge of collapse.
The destruction began at the end of 2004 with the death of WMRC's Secretary, Mario "Ka Jolly" Bagundol (also known by earlier noms de guerre Ka Dorek and Ka Orlan). Bagundol had been the driving force that re-charted the organosation's presence in that large AOR. After the exodus I mentioned, the Committee stood tottering on the abyss. By force of personality and great strategical planning Bundol managed to correct what had been a precipitous decline. However, central figures in any Cult of Personality become lax, too self-assured. Stupidly, Ka Jolly had personally led the armed engagements of what had become a very lean but nevertheless lethally effective Front in a series of TACOPs (Tactical Operations). They were going well until the morning of October 27th, 2004. That morning, Jolly led nearly two dozen guerillas on an assault of an AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines patrol base in the municipality of Sindangan, in Zamboanga del Norte Province. The post, in Barangay Datagan, held two squads (fourteen men total) from the 44IB (Infantry Battalion). As usual, the goal wasn't ground, buy rather guns. Killing two of the soldiers and critically wounding eight more, the NPA entered the post after the remaining three soldiers surrendered...or so Ka Jolly believed. As they began collecting weapons from the fallen soldiers, the fourteenth man popped up out of a foxhole and dropped Ka Jolly with a three round burst from his M14. As the shots rang out, another guerilla, Ka Marlo, ran over to aid his fallen commander and was himself killed instantly by another three round burst before a third guerilla was able to kill the soldier with rifle grenade.
Withdrawing from the post after collecting all weapons, his guerillas deposited their leader with a nearby peasant family who were instructed to transport Ka Jolly to a local public hospital. With a P500,000 ($11,500) Bounty on his head the peasant family promptly informed the Municipal Police Office instead, which then arrived with two platoons from the local AFP garrison. Taken to that hospital by the AFP, Bagundol slash Jolly died as he was being transferred to a better equipped hospital in Dipolog City. Ka Jolly was buried in his hometown of Plaridel, in Misamis Occidental Province on November 5th. More than a thousand people attended his funeral. For a rural hamlet in the hills of Misamis Occidental that is an astronomical number, all the more so for someone firmly associated with an illegal, underground movement. It serves as just another indication of how popular the man was. Afterwards, it was if what remained of Front Feliciano and WMRC simply melted away...until six weeks ago.
On Saturday, November 5th, 2011, in the municipality of Kabasalan's Barangay Palinta, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, village children warned their elders that as many as fifty armed men were fast approaching their settlement, in Purok #3. Gathering all villagers in a central area, under gunpoint, guerillas began searching the homes of Barangay Captain Geronimo Dango and his predecessor, Florencio Genese, as well as CAAs and retired soldiers (see the following incident for an explanation about "CAAs"). Looking for weapons, they merely captured three 45 caliber pistols, as well as several CAA and AFP uniforms. Then, they searched the crowd gathered under gunpoint, scanning faces before finally picking out Felix Obordo, a CAA in the local CAFGU garrison (CAFGU is also explained in that aforementioned following incident listed below). The guerillas, from the NPA's SECOM Kara, in Front Feliciano (WMRC), and led by Ka Luis, told the villagers that Obordo had served as an AFP Scout on an attack on two of the Section Committee's camps, including its main camp, in that same town in the late Summer of 2010.
In the first incident, on Sunday, September 12th, 2010, CAA Obordo led the 10IB, under First Lieutenant Franco Salvador Suelto through the bush in that same town's Barangay Tampilisan. What seemed to be a mere goose chase based upon the ramblings of a recent defector from SECOM Kara, Ronald Esic, alias Ka Brix, suddenly turned out much better when the soldiers from the 10IB literally stumbled right into an NPA camp. Easily capable of holding eighty people, by NPA standards, it easily qualified as a large encampment. With the WMRC however, the site would just as easily qualify as the entire Regional Committee's main camp. Unknown to their defector, Ka Brix, Section Committee Kara had vacated that camp exactly one month earlier, on August 12th, having only spent two months there. The guerillas had then moved to a smattering of different isolated camps, one of which was also in that same town of Kabasalan, in Barangay Penaranda, in Sitio Tipangi, near the border of Sitio Logdeck.
Upon returning to their post they relayed their findings to 1ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters. Having been briefed on the existence of that second camp, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters deployed another detachment, this one from the 53IB, who after picking up CAA Obrodo the next day, September 13th, began working its way through the jungle towards Sitios Tipangi and Logdeck. Approaching this second camp the 53IB drew fire from the NPA but managed to remain unscathed as they out maneuvered what had merely been a pair of sentries guarding a thirteen guerilla encampment. While ten escaped, beating a hasty withdrawl with nothing but their weapons, three were left behind after being blocked into a corner. The three:
1) Ronel B.Simacas
2) Elmer A.Flores
3) Jenilyn F.Flores, wife of Elmer
Aside from two rounds of rifle grenades, there were no weapons captured. Although CAA Obrodo was serving as a Scout in both cases, he was utilised only because of his considerable knowledge of the local terrain, not because he knew the location of even one NPA camp. It was Ka Brix feeding the Military its Intelligence. After having a guerilla tie Obordo's hands together and hobbling his legs with more rope, the NPA withdrew, taking their prisoner with them.
Nearly two hours later, after villagers had calmed down enough and reported the incident to the PNP-PPO, or, Philippine National Police- Police Provincial Office, they began following the trail left by the NPA, hoping to zero in on CAA Obordo's location. They never got farther than 400 meters from the site where they had all been held hostage. Walking to the banks of a creek that skirts Purok #3, they found Felix Obordo hogtied, laying face down in the mud. Having been stabbed nine times he had been killed minutes after leaving the village. While executing such people is actually pretty common as far as how the NPA deals with people it perceives as going beyond the bounds of reluctant, tacit co-operation with the AFP, they usually dispose of such people in a much different manner. Stabbings very rarely fit the bill.
On Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, a four man team from the AFP's MIG-9 (Military Intelligence Group for Region 9) departed 1ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters on a mission to assist a multi-national mining corporation who were being targeted by the NPA for "Revolutionary Taxes." The corporation, Canadian based TVIRD (Toronto Ventures Resources and International Development) operates a very profitable venture in the municipality of Siocon's Mount Canatuan, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Although that mine is itself embroiled in paramilitary-related violence, it is the company's third test drilling site in the town of Bayog that is currently being targeted by the NPA. Because the WMRC has been on its last legs, neigh, on the verge of extinction, there was a great deal of uncertainty as to whether TVIRD was actually being targeted by the NPA, or simply one of the many local extortion outfits who do- from time to time- target businesses while claiming to represent one of the various insurgent organisations as a pretence. The four man MIG team was joined by two CAAs, one of whom was a retired soldier.
CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are soldiers serving in a hybrid entity of the same name, the CAA, with features of paramilitaries as well as military reserves. Like paramilitaries they are in active duty mode, and like military reserves they are issued AFP serial numbers, are trained by the AFP, and armed by the AFP. There are two CAA entities, the CAFGU (Civilian Active Force Geographical Unit) and SCAA (Special Civilian Active Auxiliaries). CAFGUs serve directly under the AFP's cadre battalions, which deploys non-commisioned officers as detachment commanders. CAFGU can only operate within their own municipality, funded by the AFP. SCAAs are funded by and dedicated towards securing specific private businesses though, in the last five years, LGUs (Local Government Units, as in municipal and provincial governments) have begun employing them as well. Whereas a municipality must go through a somewhat lengthly process before getting a trained CAFGU detachment, an SCAA can be on the ground within sixty days of an initial request, although they often take quite abit longer- unless the funding entity wants it expedited.
The CAAs with MIG-9 were in TVIRD's SCAA, deployed on Mount Canatuan in Siocon, but accompanying all work crews, such as the crews that have been sinking test holes In the municipality of Bayog's Sitio Balahay. TVIRD's presence on the Zamboanga Peninsula is highly contentious with both environmentalists as well as the Subanen, the Lumad (Hilltribe) indigenous to the peninsula. I have actually been trying to piece together a series on the corporation and its nefarious activities since March of this year, 2011. That month, a CAA serving in TVIRD's SCAA blew away a local man during a protest on the Mount Canatuan Mine's access road but alas, like so many entries, it remains a work in progress. Aaaaah, the joy of being anal rententive about fact checking and overall accuracy.
Using a TVIRD pickup truck, the six men, all in civilian attire, but well armed, were heading to Bayog in hopes of catching an expected representative of the extortionists. However, as the truck entered the municipality of Diplahan's, Barangay Guinoman in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, they ran into a PNP, or, Philippine National Police checkpoint in Sitio Mahayahay. Driving a company vehicle, dressed in civilian clothes, Major Ramon Tores, Intelligence Officer for the 102nd Infantry Brigade, and Commanding Officer for that MIG-9 team was aggravated when instructed by the Checkpoint Commander to dismount from the truck and approach the actual checkpoint on foot. As Major Torres began to comply, he noticed that some of the "police officers" manning the checkpoint were actually dressed in the white vest and name tags issued to media representatives on Mindanao.
As Major Torres was putting two and two together he glanced ahead of the checkpoint position and saw approximately thirty NPA guerillas, and realised he was actually at an NPA Checkpoint. When the "police" quickly moved towards the company vehicle and surrouded the pickup truck screaming, Major Torres quickly grabbed the opportunity and ran three meters and into the jungle and dived into a deep flowing creek. Back at the checkpoint the NPA was grabbing the five men as others rushed into the jungle after Major Torres.
After searching both the vehicle and the five remaining prisoners the guerillas from the NPA's SECOM Kara of Front Feliciano divested the AFP and TVRDI of three M16s, one M14, five 45 caliber pistols, and one 9MM pistol. After an hour of interrogation all five were released when the guerillas tracking Major Torres radioed back to the main group that the officer had disappeared- though the five prisoners weren't privy to that communication. The pickup truck was burned and the five men forced to walk to the nearest settlement, 4 kilometers away, but having dodged a career-ruining detention by the NPA they were not entirely in the worst of spirits.
Finally making their way into town, the three soldiers and two CAAs made contact with 1ID and reported their situation. A detachment from the 53IB was scrambled to retrieve them and a Search and Rescue Operation was hatched to try and rescue Major Torres from what the AFP then believed to be, yet another NPA detention of an AFP member. As 1ID worked on sewing that together Major Torres sucessfully evaded capture although he had fractured his wrist ehile diving into the creek. Surfacing down creek he followed the waterway until he was able to ascertain the location of the nearest CAA detachment. Just before midnite, wet, cold, and in intence pain, Major Torres contacted Division Headquarters from the CAA garrison in Barangay Guinoman, the same barangay in which his ordeal had began, early that morning. Again, 53IB was scrambled and transported Major Torres directly to 102nd Infantry Brigade Headquarters in the provincial capital of Ipil. In a way Torees' mission had been sucessful. After all, the AFP AND TVIRD now knew that it was in fact the NPA that was targetting the corporation for extortion.
1) Zamboanga del Norte
2) Zamboanga del Sur
3) Zamboanga Sibugay
and theoretically at least, all the islands south of Mainland Mindanao, in the three provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. Of course, in real life there are no Communists in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi Provinces, or, there are, they wisely keep their mouths shut (like Mujiv Hataman but that is another sordid tale).
The single Front is sub-divided into five Section Committees and Commands, known as "SECOMs":
1) Joji, centered on Mount Malindang on the Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga Border
2) Sendong, covering the bulk of the WMRC's AOR in Misamis Occidental Province
3) Kara, covering all of the Zamboanga Peninsula
4) Traka, covering five municipalities in Lanao del Norte Province, closest to the border of the Zamboanga Peninsula, now defunct
5) White, known to AFP and PNP Intelligence as "Special Sub-Section," covers all White Areas within the WMRC's AOR. To the CPP/NPA, and agencies dealing with them, NPA AORs are divided into "White Areas" and "Red Areas." Red covers those areas under which the NPA operates in what, to it, constitutes an ideal environment, rural, firm mass base of support, and a fairly to well developed structure. "White Areas" are primarily urban, and while there is a mass base of support, it isn't geographically contigous as well as it often lingering in the grey netherworld between legal and illegal. White Area Operations are primarily concerned with urban Revolutionary Taxes (i.e. "Extortion") and SPARU Operations. "SPARUs," or Special Armed Partisan Units, are the NPA assassination teams that publicly execute informers, defectors, and other targets of retribution. The term is often misstated as "Sparrow," as in the bird. This SECOM is likewise defunct. Aside from the AOR not being powerful enough to make such public "examples," its Secretary, or, commander, was taken down at the end of 2008 after being inactive since 2006.
WMRC has fallen quite a few pegs from its formerly self assured slot as the third most powerful of the Regional Committees. Although the CPP/NPA first arrived on Mindanao before Martial Law was declared at the end of 1972, it wasn't until 1977 that the cadres began migrating out of the two cities in which the movement originally landed, Davao City and Cagayan del Oro City. By that time, only Davao City remained active. That year, the movement began expanding northward out of Davao City at an exponential rate. It thrust upwards into the southern reaches of the Caraga Region, and in 1979, finally settled in North Cotabato Province. North Cotabato's demographical divide of Muslim and non-Muslim runs more or less along the borders of that province's First and Second Congressional Districts. The Second District is the region in which the Ilonggo and other Chrsitian Filipino tribes and ethnicities hold sway.
Christianity, especially Catholicism, came under the Leftist orbit in the early 1960s, and by 1979, Liberation Theology had taken control of the Catholic Church, and to a slightly lesser extent, leading Protestant Denominations within that general area as well. There was no parallel liberalisation anywhere in the Islamic World, least of all in Central Mindanao. Yet, in communities where Christians and Muslims co-existed, the CPP/NPA made moderate gains with Muslims. The now extinct Central Mindanao Committee of the CPP/NPA had a significant Muslim minority within its ranks, and not long after,the Western Mindanao Committee (now the WMRC) could claim the samething.
With the physical, and then ideological purges that stressed the CPP/NPA on Mindanao (and later, nationwide), from 1983 to 1994, that minority would all but disappear. Whatever Muslim cadres remained active almost all jumped ship to the RPM-P/RPA (Rebolusyonaryong Partido Manggagawa-Pilipinas, aka, Worker's Party of the Philippines, and its military wing, the Revolutionary Proletariat Army, or RPA), later known as the RPM-M/RPA, after the organisation broke with the mother organisation over disagreements over the RMP-P's 1999 engagement of the Estrada Government in a Peace Process.
With the RPM-P, the Central Mindanao Committee ceased functioning. Its remaining cadres, and there weren't many, joined the Northern Mindanao Comittee which was then remade into the Northcentral Mindanao Regional Committee, or NCMRC, and the Northeast Mindanao Regional Commiittee, or NEMRC. The Muslim cadres ended up in NCMRC, which absolutely vacated Central Mindanao in concentrating on Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon Provinces (its AOR also includes slivers of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Misamis Occidental Provinces). Muslim cadres were so isolated culturally that most simply dropped out of the organisation as a whole.
In the WMRC, the secession into the RPM-P/RPA was also a mass exodus but enough of the Committee and its guerilla Fronts remained so that the Committee remained viable, even if "just barely." Its remaining guerilla Fronts were consolidated into a single Front, as noted earlier, "Front Feliciano," with an AOR that for the most part remained as it had been, the one difference being a significant reduction in its Lanao del Norte AOR, which had been subsumed by the RPM-P (later re-named RPM-M) and RPA's SR 2. WMRC's single Front was then sub-divided into "Sections" with smaller AORs in hopes of eventually regaining what had heretofore been a considerable and well developed apparatus. Sadly for the NPA, it never worked out. Until today, the WMRC remains the weakest of the five Regional Committees, which concurrently serve as Regional NPA Commands as well. Only Front Feliciano remains and until a month ago, had pretty much been on the verge of collapse.
The destruction began at the end of 2004 with the death of WMRC's Secretary, Mario "Ka Jolly" Bagundol (also known by earlier noms de guerre Ka Dorek and Ka Orlan). Bagundol had been the driving force that re-charted the organosation's presence in that large AOR. After the exodus I mentioned, the Committee stood tottering on the abyss. By force of personality and great strategical planning Bundol managed to correct what had been a precipitous decline. However, central figures in any Cult of Personality become lax, too self-assured. Stupidly, Ka Jolly had personally led the armed engagements of what had become a very lean but nevertheless lethally effective Front in a series of TACOPs (Tactical Operations). They were going well until the morning of October 27th, 2004. That morning, Jolly led nearly two dozen guerillas on an assault of an AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines patrol base in the municipality of Sindangan, in Zamboanga del Norte Province. The post, in Barangay Datagan, held two squads (fourteen men total) from the 44IB (Infantry Battalion). As usual, the goal wasn't ground, buy rather guns. Killing two of the soldiers and critically wounding eight more, the NPA entered the post after the remaining three soldiers surrendered...or so Ka Jolly believed. As they began collecting weapons from the fallen soldiers, the fourteenth man popped up out of a foxhole and dropped Ka Jolly with a three round burst from his M14. As the shots rang out, another guerilla, Ka Marlo, ran over to aid his fallen commander and was himself killed instantly by another three round burst before a third guerilla was able to kill the soldier with rifle grenade.
Withdrawing from the post after collecting all weapons, his guerillas deposited their leader with a nearby peasant family who were instructed to transport Ka Jolly to a local public hospital. With a P500,000 ($11,500) Bounty on his head the peasant family promptly informed the Municipal Police Office instead, which then arrived with two platoons from the local AFP garrison. Taken to that hospital by the AFP, Bagundol slash Jolly died as he was being transferred to a better equipped hospital in Dipolog City. Ka Jolly was buried in his hometown of Plaridel, in Misamis Occidental Province on November 5th. More than a thousand people attended his funeral. For a rural hamlet in the hills of Misamis Occidental that is an astronomical number, all the more so for someone firmly associated with an illegal, underground movement. It serves as just another indication of how popular the man was. Afterwards, it was if what remained of Front Feliciano and WMRC simply melted away...until six weeks ago.
On Saturday, November 5th, 2011, in the municipality of Kabasalan's Barangay Palinta, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, village children warned their elders that as many as fifty armed men were fast approaching their settlement, in Purok #3. Gathering all villagers in a central area, under gunpoint, guerillas began searching the homes of Barangay Captain Geronimo Dango and his predecessor, Florencio Genese, as well as CAAs and retired soldiers (see the following incident for an explanation about "CAAs"). Looking for weapons, they merely captured three 45 caliber pistols, as well as several CAA and AFP uniforms. Then, they searched the crowd gathered under gunpoint, scanning faces before finally picking out Felix Obordo, a CAA in the local CAFGU garrison (CAFGU is also explained in that aforementioned following incident listed below). The guerillas, from the NPA's SECOM Kara, in Front Feliciano (WMRC), and led by Ka Luis, told the villagers that Obordo had served as an AFP Scout on an attack on two of the Section Committee's camps, including its main camp, in that same town in the late Summer of 2010.
In the first incident, on Sunday, September 12th, 2010, CAA Obordo led the 10IB, under First Lieutenant Franco Salvador Suelto through the bush in that same town's Barangay Tampilisan. What seemed to be a mere goose chase based upon the ramblings of a recent defector from SECOM Kara, Ronald Esic, alias Ka Brix, suddenly turned out much better when the soldiers from the 10IB literally stumbled right into an NPA camp. Easily capable of holding eighty people, by NPA standards, it easily qualified as a large encampment. With the WMRC however, the site would just as easily qualify as the entire Regional Committee's main camp. Unknown to their defector, Ka Brix, Section Committee Kara had vacated that camp exactly one month earlier, on August 12th, having only spent two months there. The guerillas had then moved to a smattering of different isolated camps, one of which was also in that same town of Kabasalan, in Barangay Penaranda, in Sitio Tipangi, near the border of Sitio Logdeck.
Upon returning to their post they relayed their findings to 1ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters. Having been briefed on the existence of that second camp, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters deployed another detachment, this one from the 53IB, who after picking up CAA Obrodo the next day, September 13th, began working its way through the jungle towards Sitios Tipangi and Logdeck. Approaching this second camp the 53IB drew fire from the NPA but managed to remain unscathed as they out maneuvered what had merely been a pair of sentries guarding a thirteen guerilla encampment. While ten escaped, beating a hasty withdrawl with nothing but their weapons, three were left behind after being blocked into a corner. The three:
1) Ronel B.Simacas
2) Elmer A.Flores
3) Jenilyn F.Flores, wife of Elmer
Aside from two rounds of rifle grenades, there were no weapons captured. Although CAA Obrodo was serving as a Scout in both cases, he was utilised only because of his considerable knowledge of the local terrain, not because he knew the location of even one NPA camp. It was Ka Brix feeding the Military its Intelligence. After having a guerilla tie Obordo's hands together and hobbling his legs with more rope, the NPA withdrew, taking their prisoner with them.
Nearly two hours later, after villagers had calmed down enough and reported the incident to the PNP-PPO, or, Philippine National Police- Police Provincial Office, they began following the trail left by the NPA, hoping to zero in on CAA Obordo's location. They never got farther than 400 meters from the site where they had all been held hostage. Walking to the banks of a creek that skirts Purok #3, they found Felix Obordo hogtied, laying face down in the mud. Having been stabbed nine times he had been killed minutes after leaving the village. While executing such people is actually pretty common as far as how the NPA deals with people it perceives as going beyond the bounds of reluctant, tacit co-operation with the AFP, they usually dispose of such people in a much different manner. Stabbings very rarely fit the bill.
On Saturday, December 3rd, 2011, a four man team from the AFP's MIG-9 (Military Intelligence Group for Region 9) departed 1ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters on a mission to assist a multi-national mining corporation who were being targeted by the NPA for "Revolutionary Taxes." The corporation, Canadian based TVIRD (Toronto Ventures Resources and International Development) operates a very profitable venture in the municipality of Siocon's Mount Canatuan, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Although that mine is itself embroiled in paramilitary-related violence, it is the company's third test drilling site in the town of Bayog that is currently being targeted by the NPA. Because the WMRC has been on its last legs, neigh, on the verge of extinction, there was a great deal of uncertainty as to whether TVIRD was actually being targeted by the NPA, or simply one of the many local extortion outfits who do- from time to time- target businesses while claiming to represent one of the various insurgent organisations as a pretence. The four man MIG team was joined by two CAAs, one of whom was a retired soldier.
CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are soldiers serving in a hybrid entity of the same name, the CAA, with features of paramilitaries as well as military reserves. Like paramilitaries they are in active duty mode, and like military reserves they are issued AFP serial numbers, are trained by the AFP, and armed by the AFP. There are two CAA entities, the CAFGU (Civilian Active Force Geographical Unit) and SCAA (Special Civilian Active Auxiliaries). CAFGUs serve directly under the AFP's cadre battalions, which deploys non-commisioned officers as detachment commanders. CAFGU can only operate within their own municipality, funded by the AFP. SCAAs are funded by and dedicated towards securing specific private businesses though, in the last five years, LGUs (Local Government Units, as in municipal and provincial governments) have begun employing them as well. Whereas a municipality must go through a somewhat lengthly process before getting a trained CAFGU detachment, an SCAA can be on the ground within sixty days of an initial request, although they often take quite abit longer- unless the funding entity wants it expedited.
The CAAs with MIG-9 were in TVIRD's SCAA, deployed on Mount Canatuan in Siocon, but accompanying all work crews, such as the crews that have been sinking test holes In the municipality of Bayog's Sitio Balahay. TVIRD's presence on the Zamboanga Peninsula is highly contentious with both environmentalists as well as the Subanen, the Lumad (Hilltribe) indigenous to the peninsula. I have actually been trying to piece together a series on the corporation and its nefarious activities since March of this year, 2011. That month, a CAA serving in TVIRD's SCAA blew away a local man during a protest on the Mount Canatuan Mine's access road but alas, like so many entries, it remains a work in progress. Aaaaah, the joy of being anal rententive about fact checking and overall accuracy.
Using a TVIRD pickup truck, the six men, all in civilian attire, but well armed, were heading to Bayog in hopes of catching an expected representative of the extortionists. However, as the truck entered the municipality of Diplahan's, Barangay Guinoman in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, they ran into a PNP, or, Philippine National Police checkpoint in Sitio Mahayahay. Driving a company vehicle, dressed in civilian clothes, Major Ramon Tores, Intelligence Officer for the 102nd Infantry Brigade, and Commanding Officer for that MIG-9 team was aggravated when instructed by the Checkpoint Commander to dismount from the truck and approach the actual checkpoint on foot. As Major Torres began to comply, he noticed that some of the "police officers" manning the checkpoint were actually dressed in the white vest and name tags issued to media representatives on Mindanao.
As Major Torres was putting two and two together he glanced ahead of the checkpoint position and saw approximately thirty NPA guerillas, and realised he was actually at an NPA Checkpoint. When the "police" quickly moved towards the company vehicle and surrouded the pickup truck screaming, Major Torres quickly grabbed the opportunity and ran three meters and into the jungle and dived into a deep flowing creek. Back at the checkpoint the NPA was grabbing the five men as others rushed into the jungle after Major Torres.
After searching both the vehicle and the five remaining prisoners the guerillas from the NPA's SECOM Kara of Front Feliciano divested the AFP and TVRDI of three M16s, one M14, five 45 caliber pistols, and one 9MM pistol. After an hour of interrogation all five were released when the guerillas tracking Major Torres radioed back to the main group that the officer had disappeared- though the five prisoners weren't privy to that communication. The pickup truck was burned and the five men forced to walk to the nearest settlement, 4 kilometers away, but having dodged a career-ruining detention by the NPA they were not entirely in the worst of spirits.
Finally making their way into town, the three soldiers and two CAAs made contact with 1ID and reported their situation. A detachment from the 53IB was scrambled to retrieve them and a Search and Rescue Operation was hatched to try and rescue Major Torres from what the AFP then believed to be, yet another NPA detention of an AFP member. As 1ID worked on sewing that together Major Torres sucessfully evaded capture although he had fractured his wrist ehile diving into the creek. Surfacing down creek he followed the waterway until he was able to ascertain the location of the nearest CAA detachment. Just before midnite, wet, cold, and in intence pain, Major Torres contacted Division Headquarters from the CAA garrison in Barangay Guinoman, the same barangay in which his ordeal had began, early that morning. Again, 53IB was scrambled and transported Major Torres directly to 102nd Infantry Brigade Headquarters in the provincial capital of Ipil. In a way Torees' mission had been sucessful. After all, the AFP AND TVIRD now knew that it was in fact the NPA that was targetting the corporation for extortion.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
History of Mindanao Part XXIII: Zamboanga City, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi Circa 1892
The following is an excerpt from the book, "The Philippine Islands and Their People" by Dean Conant Worcester (New York City:MacMillan) (1899). Worcester was an Assistant Professor of Zoology at the University of Michigan who had been to the Philippines twice at that point, visiting the Philippines in the last few years of Spanish rule. While a Graduate Student at the University of Michagin in 1887, at age 21, he was plucked from obscurity by the eminent Dr.Steele and chosen to assist Steele on a tour of the Philippines in which they were keen on cataloguing the islands' unique bird species. Speaking of that time Worcester admitted that he never wanted to see the Philippines again.
Then, offered a generous grant while employed as an Assistant Professor of Zoology at that same university, Worcester and a colleague once again accompanied Steele, although this time with much more independence due to their own grants. Again they concentrated on unique bird species although they also looked far and wide for other flora and fauna. This trip was originally funded for two years but was then extended a third year so that it covered 1890 to 1893, an interesting epoch in Philippine History, politics, and culture.
Worcester didn't intend on writing this, his first of several books and papers, and only did so in 1899 because he became involved in an acadamic "battle" with John Barrett, another American academic of that same era whose work I have included in a prior entry. America had just grabbed the country ("grabbed" is exactly the right word) and its government badly needed "experts" to explain their shiny new trinket to them. Worcester's book landed him a role on the first Philippine Commission, from 1899 to 1901, hand picked by then-President of the United States, William McKinley. He left that position to become the Secretary of the Interior of the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, a lofty sounding position and one that gave Worcester incredible power over the colony's resources, though at the time it was mostly timber, abaca (hemp), and rubber that were being exploited the most- apart from land allotment, an exploitable resource if ever there was one. It was Worcester whom we have to thank for those early land laws which gave Christians more lands than any other group, etc., etc.
Worcester is well known for a couple of reasons. In 1908 a Manila-based Spanish periodical, the hyper-nationalist "Aves de Rapina," was created just to politically assassinate the man. Worcester was a Zoologist by training, as noted, one who specialised in the study of birds. The title "Ave de Rapina" was a double entendre in which two Filipino nationalists, possibly funded by Americans hoping to muscle in on Worcester's honeypot, did everything but come out and actually say Worcester's name as they outlined greedy scheme after greedy scheme, all they said, the evil doings of "someone who isn't Secretary of the Interior."
In that same year, 1908, Worcester sued both the author and publisher for Libel, a case that eventually wound its way to the US Supreme Court, a case which eaerned the publisher and author twelve and six months in prison respectively. Although these sentences were upheld by every court, including the aforementioned US Supreme Court, Worcester's arch nemesis, Governor General Burton Harrison, pardoned the two two defendants in 1914. Ironically, Worcester himself publicly accused Harrison of the same type of pernury and corruption, or in Filipino-speak, "Plunder."
Worcester is controversial in a number of other ways. A deep interest in Ethnography led to such admirable works as his book, "The Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon" (1906) but it also led to Worcester's habit of photographing nude male and female tribespeople in ways that appear to transcend the late 19th/early 20th Century fascination with Eugenics and veer straight into pornography. McCoy has actually labeled it as porn, though I am not sure that was what was at stake. If one actually read's Worcester's full body of work Eugenics is often a touchstone and in that era, perfectly normal. Noone accuses the National Geographic Society of publishing porn (OK, some do but they are usually of the ilk who imagine Adam and Eve rode dinasours) and yet Worcester's photographs were no more risque than any NG magazine of the era. Anyway, it isn't something really worth debating at this point. Worcester's "sins" are catalogued far and wide and most greatly outweigh whatever sexual exploitation may or may not have taken place.
Worcester remained in the Philippines for most of his life, dying in 1924, at age 58. His work, "Slavery and Peonage in the Philippine Islands" (1913) should earn the man at least enough acclaim to mitigate his inequities, real or perceived, and make all his output worthy of consideration.
As for this book I am covering with this entry...Worcester's memoir is quite interesting for a number of reasons; on one hand, this book was written mere weeks after the Americans invaded- and "invaded" is EXACTLY what they did- and ran roughshod over a newly independent group of nations. Most Filipinos, let alone foreigners, imagine that the Philippines would have been independent in its current form if America had never came on the scene. In fact, the Americans arrived and invaded several nations. Zamboanga was an independent republic, Butuan was nearly there as was Cotabato. Cebu was on its own, the Ilonggos on the other end of the Visayas had formed their nation, and of course, on Luzon, there were at least three such nations. America merely co-opted the Spanish model of colonialist counter-intuitive cartography and with a few strokes of the pen managed to erase the national aspirations of at least seven different young nations.
Although it was basically a bloodless invasion, the blood-LOTS of it coming a bit later on- had been spilled before arrival, remembering that the Americans HAD fought a very bloody couple of rounds in the Caribbean. Cuba for example, and that had come to fruition only after a disgusting anti-Spanish propaganda campaign in the American Media, "Remember the Maine" probably being the best example of ho-hokumness arising from the buildup to the confrontation in Havana Bay. Worcester was not a media hack. He was an academic, and yet he was a man of the late 19th Century. The "White Man's Burden" was alive and well, as was "Manifest Destiny." This juxtaposition of proto-fascist ideologies produced a curious intersection that had- in Worcester's mind abyway- the Negrito, or "Savage," some steps above the slovenly, backwards, corrupt, and brutal Spaniard. Yet, being who he was, Worcester could not deny his inner superiority complex and we end up seeing what he REALLY thinks of the "Filipino" (an invented term if ever there was one), the Catholic Church, and just about everything else Worcester spends time with.
Some interesting points: Worcester, while not being a rigirous academic, did offer some very important observations; My concentration, of course, is on Mindanao, which includes Mindanowan islands to the south in what is today the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. On these perhaps the most valuable insights involve Zamboanga City's Barangay Ayala (in this entry). However, in his musings upon Palawan Worcester mentions the Tagbauna Tribe's system of writing on knots of bamboo. He personally observed this and this is EXTREMELY important since most believe that the Tagbauna lost this practice in the 17th Century. Aside from the Tagbauna, whose system of writing has been believed to have been extinct for centuries, only Mindoro's Mangyan Tribe has produced a unique and organic system of writing that has managed to survive into the Modern Era. Islamicised Tribes of course co-opted Arabic lettering- sans vowels and accent marks- to phonetically compose omportant documents in both tribal languages like Maranaw (Maranaon) and Maguindanaw (Maguindanaon), but also Bahasa Malaya, the lingua franca of littoral Southeast Asia. Yet that is a world apart from the organic development of a unique, specific writing system.
Also, this book was written at a time when the gorilla had just been discovered in Africa. Westerners were somewhat obsessed about larger apes. Worcester mentions that the Tagbauna believe in the existence of a large ape on Palawan, a creature they call "Pakda," along with the much less interesting- to me- feral goats they say live in the mountains around them. They also have a version of that pan-Malayan bogeyman Tagalogs call "Awang," only the Tagbauna don't see it as a beautiful alluring female, but rather as an old man with very long fingernails, who after flying through the night skies lands upon their thatched roof, and then, with a very long tongue that slips through their thatched roofs, licks their necks. According to Worcester, they also believe body lice to play an integral part in their version of the "Afterlife," but alas, here I am touching upon all this and I haven't even included Palawan in my excerpt (don't you hate me?); I begin in the Chapter where Worcester and his party board an inter-island steamer sailing south out of Puerto Princessa, then like now, the capital of Palawan. Travelling south, stopping on the Islamicised island of Balabac, administratively attached to Palawan now, and onto Jama, then called Cagayan de Sulu (and decades letter renamed "Cagayan de Tawi" before recently being renamed its current label), one of the Tawi Tawi Islands, but far from the main group. Veering east and slightly north, the ship lands in Zamboanga City and here is where most of my excerpt takes place. One quick note, when they land at "Sulu," they are landing at today's Jolo City.
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Chapter VI
Balabac, Cagayan Sulu, Mindanao, and Basilan
Our first stop on the voyage to Sulu was at Balabac, a small island just south of Palwan. It is inhabited by Moros, who, while not so warlike as their brethren in Sulu and Mindanao, are still very far from being good citizens.
Balabac is hilly, and is almost entirely covered with forest, but in the few places where attempts have been made to cultivate the soil, it has proved very fertile.
The island is extremely unhealthful. Fever, of a virulent type, is very common, and so is that disgusting disease Biri-Biri. An appointment as Governor of Balabac is not ordinarily regarded as a compliment. In fact, it is quite generally understood that this honour is, as a rule, reserved for someone who could be conveniently spared should he be providentially removed. This was at all events the view of the case taken by the Governor who came off of our steamer. His face and neck were covered with the evil brown spots that are the sure sign of bad malarial poisoning, and he openly avowed his belief that he had been sent to the accursed place to die. We at first thought he had a very bad case of "funk," but when, a few minutes later, Marines from one of the gunboats were brought out from our ship for removal to the hospital, and we saw that they were swollen into utter shapelessness with Biri-Biri, we decided to drop Balabac from our list of islands to be visited.
Our next stop was a little volcanic island in the midst of the Sulu Sea, called Cagayan, where we put in to load more cattle. It is inhabited almost exclusively by Moros, the only Government representative being a "Mestizo" interpreter. The people seemed to be peacable, and on our second visit to the Philippines, we planned to make a stop there. Unfortunately, they had in the meantime fallen into bad ways. While we were at Sulu, a boatload of them were brought in by gunboat. They had been caught selling firearms and ammunition in Tawi Tawi. General Arolas put them to work on his streets. Among their number were two chiefs who felt that they had been mortally insulted, and when finally allowed to return to their homes, they promptly stirred up so much ill feeling that their island became a very unsafe place for whitemen; so we were forced to abandon our proposed visit.
When we arrived at Sulu, we found things unusually lively. General Arolas had sacked Malibun, the Moro stronghold, only two days before, and the island, dangerous enough at any time, was in ferment. Arolas objected strongly to our going outside of the walls, saying that he felt personally responsible for our safety, and, if we insisted on hunting, he should have to send a strong escort of troops with us. It was useless to attempt to collect under such circumstances, so we remained on the steamer until we reached Zamboanga, at the extreme southwestern point of Mindanao, and disembarked there.
Mindanao is nearly as large as Luzon, and many times larger than any of remaining islands of the Philippine group. Until within a short time, next to nothing has been known of its interior; but the priests of the Jesuit mission have persistently and fearlessly pushed explorations until they have gathered data for a fairly complete and accurate map.
They recognize twenty-four distinct tribes of people, of whom seventeen are pagan, six Mohammedan (Moro), while the remainder are Christian Visayans, who have come in from the northern islands and settled at various points, especially along the Northern Coast.
Most of the wild tribes are of Malayan origin, but there still remain in Mindanao a considerable number of the little black Negritos, and with them some of the Malay tribes have intermarried.
The warlike Moros are especially dreaded. They are found along the Southern and Southwestern Coasts, and near the large rivers and inland lakes.
Although the island is nominally divided into provinces, Spanish control is, as a matter of fact, effective only in narrow and more or less isolated strips along the sea and near a few of the rivers which afford the only means of communication with the interior. There are no roads, and the futility of attempting to move troops inland was beautifully demonstrated by General Weyler during our second visit.
For some reason best known to himself, he saw fit to send an expedition against the Moros. It was broadly hinted by his countrymen that he had an itching for the rank of Marshall and hoped to win it. Whatever the cause, all the available forces in the archipelago were concentrated, and marched into the Mindanao forest. An officer who accompanied the expedition told me that the enemy simply ran away, and they were never able to overtake them, while eighty percent of their own men were disabled by starvation and fever. Although the starvation might have been avoided, it is certainln that the fever was inevitable.
The mortality was certainly terrible. We saw the wreck of the expedition come back, and in spite of the fact that the priests from all the towns near Zamboanga were called in, they could not shrive the soldiers fast as they died. Sick men were sent away by the shipload. Meanwhile, Weyler was directing operations from a very safe distance, spending much of his time on a despatch-boat.
We learned, later, that several glorious victories were announced in Manila, and were celebrated with processions, fireworks, and great rejoicing.
The scenery in Mindanao is very fine. The largest known flower, measuring some three feet in diameter, has been discovered there. There are several active volcanoes on the island, of which the most famous is Mt.Apo, near Davao. Extinct volcanoes are numerous.
Extensive areas are covered with magnificent trees, and apart from the valuable forest products which Mindanao has in common with several of the other islands, gutta-percha is abundant in several localitiesm
As might be inferred from its name, which signifies "Man of the Lake," Mindanao is well watered. Its rivers are more important than those of Luzon. The Butuan rises within a few miles of the South Coast, and runs north, traversing the whole island. The Rio Grande, on the other hand, rises near the North Coast, and flows south and west. Important lakes are connected with the Rio Grande and the Butuan, while Lake Lanao, situated just where the Western Peninsula joins the main body of the island, empties into the sea by the river Agus.
The soil, especially in the river and lake regions, is enormously productive. Little is known of the mineral wealth, but it is certain that gold exists in paying quantities at a number of points. Diggings have long been worked by the natives near Misamis and Surigao.
Zamboamga, the port at which we landed, is the capital of a province bearing the same name. It is the oldest of the Spanish setlements, having been taken and fortified in the early days as a base of operations against the Moros. It still has an old stone fort into which the inhabitants might retreat if attacked.
The town is large and clean. It has a pier extending out to moderately deep water, but large vessels have to lie some distance offshore. The port would be a convenient place for Australian steamers to call, and as a matter of fact they used to stop there but the excessive harbour fees and senseless Customs restrictions have long since caused it to be shunned.
We established ourselves at a small and very poor hotel, on our arrival, and while there, had an opportunity to see how natives are sometimes treated. There was a grey headed old fellow about the place, who did some work in the stables. He one day chanced to pass through a room in which we were sitting, in company with several Spanish officers, and one of the latter ordered him to bring a drink. Although he was not a waiter, he set off on the errand; but he was old and slow, and when he returned the officer flew into a passion because he had been gone so long, knocked him down, and kicked his ribs in. We found him, later, dying in a horse-manger.
The natives of the town and vicinity, known as "Zamboanguehos," are an odd lot. Perhaps a majority of them are descended from Visayans who migrated to the island long ago; certainly a very considerable portion are the offspring of slaves who have contrived to escape from the Moros. As the latter people were not at all particular where they obtained captives, so long as they got them, the result has been that representatives of most of the Philippine coast tribes have found their way to Zamboangan where their intermarriage has given rise to to a people of decidedly mixed ancestry. On account of the multiplicity of native dialects, Spanish became the medium of communication, but they have long since converted it into a Zamboangueno patois which is quite unintelligible to one familiar only with pure "Castellano.'
Many of these people have the best of reasons for hating the Moros, and on one occasion they displayed such bravery in helping the troops to repel an attack on the town that a special decree was issued declaring them all "Spaniards of the first rank." This honour seems to be without practical value, however.
It happened that our boy Mateo was a Zamboangueno, born of a Tagalog father and a Visayan mother, both of whom were escaped Moro slaves. Thirteen years before, Dr.Steere had picked him up at the little native village called Ayala, some eighteen miles from town. Having gone almost immediately to America and remained there ever since, without once hearing from his own people, he was naturally anxious to find them, and at once set off on horseback for his old home.
As there was no good collecting ground near Zamboanga, we decided to follow him by sea, as soon as we could get a boat to take us and our belongings. We soon found one, but unfortunately the Doctor paid the owner in advance. He promptly got very drunk, and remained in that condition for three days, at the end of which time we got off.
The boat was a clumsy dugout, kept upright in the water by means of bamboo outriggers, lashed to heavy cross-pieces, which held them parallel to its sides, and about eight feet out. If the craft tipped, the bamboos on each side were sunk in the water, while those on the other were lifted out, and the bouyancy of the former combined with the weight of the latter to right it at once. An arched nipa shade at the stern protected us from the sun. Our men were obliged to row with oars made by tying board blades onto poles of suitable length. Although we started early and had a good crew, it was long past noon when we reached our destination; for one of the strong currents which sweep the coast of Mindanao ran against us all the way.
Mateo met us with a very sober face. He had long counted on seeing his father and mother, but they had both died of cholera, and of his large family of brothers and sisters, all but three had met the same fate.
At Ayala we saw, for the first time, a village of decent, civilized natives completely under Spanish control. There is a good deal of similarity between such villages. Each has a church, a "Convento," and a "Tribunal." The church is usually the most pretentious office of the place, and the "Convento," or "priest's house," the most comfortable.
The "Tribunal" is the one which chiefly concerns travellers. It is a sort of town-hall, where the head men of the village meet to transact business. It contains a pair of stocks, or some other contrivance for the detention of prisoners. It is frequently used as a barracks for troops, and, last, but not least, any traveller who chooses to do so has a right to put up there.
Hanging on the wall is ordinarily to be found a list of the proper local prices for rice, fowl, eggs, meat, and other articles of food,as well as horse-hire, buffalo-hire, carriers, etc. The object of this list is to protect strangers from extortion.
The priests and friars in the smaller towns and villages are, as a rule, very hospitable, and are frequently glad to have the monotony of their lives broken by a visit from a stranger. They are often imposed upon, however, and as our party was so large, and our work so dirty, we made it a rule not to stay at a Convento even when urged to do so.
Upon our arrival at Ayala we at once started for the Tribunal, where the "Gobernadorcillo" immediately set about making us comfortable.
A "Gobernadorcillo" (literally "Little Governor") is to be found in every Philippine town or village, and is a very important personage. He is aleays a native or "Mestizo," and is the local representative of the Governor of his province, from which he receives instructions, and to whom he sends reports. His headquarters are at the Tribunal. He is addressed as "Capitan" during his term of office, and after his successor had been chosen is known as the "Capitan Pasado."
He settles all local questions except those which assume a serious legal aspect and therefore properly belong to the Justice of the Peace; but his most important duty is to see that the taxes of his town are collected, and to turn them over to the administrator of the province. He is personally responsible for these taxes, and must obtain them from his "Cabezas" or make good on the deficit. He is obliged to aid the Guardia Civil in the capture of criminals, and to assist the parish friar in promoting the interests of the Church, frequently, also, in advancing his private ends. Finally, he is at the beck and call of all the public officials who visit his town. He often has to entertain them often at his own expense, and not infrequently finds it advisable to make them presents. He is liable at any time to be called to the capital of the province, but is given no compensation for the cost of travelling or the loss of time. If he does not speak Spanish, he must employ a Clerk ("Directorcillo").
There is a great deal of writing to be done at the Tribunal, and as the allowance for "Clerk-Hire" is usally utterly insufficient, the Gobernadorcillo must make up the difference. In return for all this, he is allowed a salary of Two US Dollars per month, and is permitted to carry a cane! If he does not squeeze his fellow townsmen, or steal public funds,he is apt to come out badly behind.
While the office is nominally filled by election every two years, the elective system is such a nature that service can readily be made compulsory. Wealthy men are chosen for the place, if any such can be found, and are often kept in office for two years, sorely against their will. Yet there is nothing quite so dear to the heart of the average Philippine heart as a little authority over his fellows, and in spite of the numerous drawbacks, the position is sometimes earnestly sought.
The families of every town are divided into groups of from fourty to sixty, each under a "Cabeza de Barangay" who is responsible for their taxes. If he cannot get them from the people, he must pay them out of his own pocket. Excuses are useless. For obvious reasons, men of means are chosen for this position, and though nominally elected every two years, they are actually kept in office as long as they have anything to lose, and sometimes longer. I have seen "Cabezas" suffer confiscation of property and deportation, because they could not pay debts which they did not owe.
The Gobernadorcillo has a "Ministry," consisting of the first and second "Tenientes" (Lieutenants) who take his place in his absence; other tenientes having charge of outlying districts; and chiefs of police, plantations, and cattle.
At the Tribunal is maintained a small force of "Cuadrilleros," who perform police duty, and who are supposed to defend the town against bandits and the like.
A man who has been elected Teniente or Gobernadorcillo, or who has served ten years as a Cabeza de Barangay, is numbered among the "Headmen" of the place.
The Headmen meet at the Tribunal from time to time, and discuss public affairs with great gravity. They assemble every Sunday morning, and headed by the Gobernadorcillo, and frequently also by a band playing very lively airs, they march to the Convento and escort the friar to the church, where they all attend mass. Their state dress is quite picturesque. Their white shirts dangle outside of their pantaloons after the Philippine fashion, and over them they wear tight fitting jackets without tails, which reach barely to their waists. When the jacket is buttoned, it causes the shirt to stand out in a frill, producing a most grotesque effect.
The Gobernadorcillo of Ayala proved to be a very accomodating old fellow. He speedily made us comfortable in one of the rooms of the Tribunal, which afforded space for our hammocks, and was furnished with a table abd wooden benches. As there were no conveniences for cooking about the building, we hired a man next door to prepare our meals and serve them to us, and the plan worked successfully after he had once gauged our appetites. We fared better than in Palawan, getting plenty of fruit, fowls, and eggs, but were forced to content ourselves with boiled rice in place of bread, as there was not an oven in the vicinity.
The villagers were a happy-go-lucky set. We were rather touched by their never failing hospitality. The Philippine native always seems ready to kill his last fowl for a stranger, or share with him his last pot of rice. When we stopped at a hut and asked for a drink, its inmates were loathe to offer us water in the coconut shell cups which served their own purpose, and hunted up and washed old tumblers, or even sent to some neighbour's to borrow them. With a glass of water they always gave us a lump of "Panoche" (Coarse Brown Sugar) that we might "have thirst"- an entirely unnecessary precaution.
Their houses were like those of the poorer civilized natives throughout the archipelago. The typical Philippine house rests on four or more heavy timbers which are firmly set in the ground, and its floor raised from five to ten feet into the air. There is not a nail or a peg in the whole structure. The frame is of bamboo, tied together by rattan. The sides and roof are usually of Nipa Palm, although the former may be made by splitting green bamboos, pounding the halves flat, and then weaving them together; while if Nipa is very scarce, the roof may be thatched with the long grass called "Cogon."
The floor is usually made of bamboo strips, with their convex sides up. They are tied firmly in place in such a way that wide cracks are left between them. The windows are provided with swinging shades, which can be propped open during the day. One has to climb a ladder to enter the house.
Often there is but one room for cooking, eating, and sleeping. The cooking is done over an open fire, built on a heap of earth in one corner, and smoke often makes a house almost uninhabitable. In the better dwellings there is a place partitioned off for cooking, usually just at the head of the ladder, while the body of the house is divided into two or more rooms.
Native houses of this sort have much to recommend them. If shaken down by an earthquake, or blown over by a typhoon, no one gets hurt; for the materials used are too light to do harm when they fall. The ventilation is perfect, and the air keeps much cooler than in a tightly controlled building.
Wealthy natives sometimes build houses of boards, with galvanized iron roofs and limestone foundations, but they are very much more expensive, and decidedly less comfortable, than the humbler dwellings of "Cana" (Bamboo) and "Nipa" (Palm).
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Glossary:
"Biri-Biri," mentioned in the third paragraph is a bastardisation of the Malay word for sheep, "Beri Beri," and denotes a disease primarily caused by thiamine deficiency. "Discovered" by a Dutch physician in 17th Century Indonesia, he christened according to the Bahasa-Malaya slang for the disease, labeled just so because it makes afflicted people walk like sheep.
The word "shrive" is now an anachronism synonymous with Roman Catholic "Last Rites."
"Despath-Boat" would today read "Dispatch-Boat" and is synonymous with "Courier," or "Messenger Vessel."
The name "Mindanao" does NOT mean "Man of the Lake," as the author claims, but rather, "Land of Innundation," or, "Land of the Flood Plain."
"Gutta-Percha" is an anachronism for a tree sap that was once a valuable commodity for water proofing.
"Butuan River" actually was then, as now, the "Agusan River" and contrary to the author's claim, it does not cross the entire island though it would certainly seem so to one unfamiliar with Mindanao.
"Horse Manger" is no longer used, instead people simply say, "Stable."
"Zamboanguehos" is actually "Zamboanguenos," or more simply, "Chavacanos."
The little "native village" where Dr.Steele had found Mateo is today's Barangay Ayala in Zamboanga City.
Then, offered a generous grant while employed as an Assistant Professor of Zoology at that same university, Worcester and a colleague once again accompanied Steele, although this time with much more independence due to their own grants. Again they concentrated on unique bird species although they also looked far and wide for other flora and fauna. This trip was originally funded for two years but was then extended a third year so that it covered 1890 to 1893, an interesting epoch in Philippine History, politics, and culture.
Worcester didn't intend on writing this, his first of several books and papers, and only did so in 1899 because he became involved in an acadamic "battle" with John Barrett, another American academic of that same era whose work I have included in a prior entry. America had just grabbed the country ("grabbed" is exactly the right word) and its government badly needed "experts" to explain their shiny new trinket to them. Worcester's book landed him a role on the first Philippine Commission, from 1899 to 1901, hand picked by then-President of the United States, William McKinley. He left that position to become the Secretary of the Interior of the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, a lofty sounding position and one that gave Worcester incredible power over the colony's resources, though at the time it was mostly timber, abaca (hemp), and rubber that were being exploited the most- apart from land allotment, an exploitable resource if ever there was one. It was Worcester whom we have to thank for those early land laws which gave Christians more lands than any other group, etc., etc.
Worcester is well known for a couple of reasons. In 1908 a Manila-based Spanish periodical, the hyper-nationalist "Aves de Rapina," was created just to politically assassinate the man. Worcester was a Zoologist by training, as noted, one who specialised in the study of birds. The title "Ave de Rapina" was a double entendre in which two Filipino nationalists, possibly funded by Americans hoping to muscle in on Worcester's honeypot, did everything but come out and actually say Worcester's name as they outlined greedy scheme after greedy scheme, all they said, the evil doings of "someone who isn't Secretary of the Interior."
In that same year, 1908, Worcester sued both the author and publisher for Libel, a case that eventually wound its way to the US Supreme Court, a case which eaerned the publisher and author twelve and six months in prison respectively. Although these sentences were upheld by every court, including the aforementioned US Supreme Court, Worcester's arch nemesis, Governor General Burton Harrison, pardoned the two two defendants in 1914. Ironically, Worcester himself publicly accused Harrison of the same type of pernury and corruption, or in Filipino-speak, "Plunder."
Worcester is controversial in a number of other ways. A deep interest in Ethnography led to such admirable works as his book, "The Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon" (1906) but it also led to Worcester's habit of photographing nude male and female tribespeople in ways that appear to transcend the late 19th/early 20th Century fascination with Eugenics and veer straight into pornography. McCoy has actually labeled it as porn, though I am not sure that was what was at stake. If one actually read's Worcester's full body of work Eugenics is often a touchstone and in that era, perfectly normal. Noone accuses the National Geographic Society of publishing porn (OK, some do but they are usually of the ilk who imagine Adam and Eve rode dinasours) and yet Worcester's photographs were no more risque than any NG magazine of the era. Anyway, it isn't something really worth debating at this point. Worcester's "sins" are catalogued far and wide and most greatly outweigh whatever sexual exploitation may or may not have taken place.
Worcester remained in the Philippines for most of his life, dying in 1924, at age 58. His work, "Slavery and Peonage in the Philippine Islands" (1913) should earn the man at least enough acclaim to mitigate his inequities, real or perceived, and make all his output worthy of consideration.
As for this book I am covering with this entry...Worcester's memoir is quite interesting for a number of reasons; on one hand, this book was written mere weeks after the Americans invaded- and "invaded" is EXACTLY what they did- and ran roughshod over a newly independent group of nations. Most Filipinos, let alone foreigners, imagine that the Philippines would have been independent in its current form if America had never came on the scene. In fact, the Americans arrived and invaded several nations. Zamboanga was an independent republic, Butuan was nearly there as was Cotabato. Cebu was on its own, the Ilonggos on the other end of the Visayas had formed their nation, and of course, on Luzon, there were at least three such nations. America merely co-opted the Spanish model of colonialist counter-intuitive cartography and with a few strokes of the pen managed to erase the national aspirations of at least seven different young nations.
Although it was basically a bloodless invasion, the blood-LOTS of it coming a bit later on- had been spilled before arrival, remembering that the Americans HAD fought a very bloody couple of rounds in the Caribbean. Cuba for example, and that had come to fruition only after a disgusting anti-Spanish propaganda campaign in the American Media, "Remember the Maine" probably being the best example of ho-hokumness arising from the buildup to the confrontation in Havana Bay. Worcester was not a media hack. He was an academic, and yet he was a man of the late 19th Century. The "White Man's Burden" was alive and well, as was "Manifest Destiny." This juxtaposition of proto-fascist ideologies produced a curious intersection that had- in Worcester's mind abyway- the Negrito, or "Savage," some steps above the slovenly, backwards, corrupt, and brutal Spaniard. Yet, being who he was, Worcester could not deny his inner superiority complex and we end up seeing what he REALLY thinks of the "Filipino" (an invented term if ever there was one), the Catholic Church, and just about everything else Worcester spends time with.
Some interesting points: Worcester, while not being a rigirous academic, did offer some very important observations; My concentration, of course, is on Mindanao, which includes Mindanowan islands to the south in what is today the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi. On these perhaps the most valuable insights involve Zamboanga City's Barangay Ayala (in this entry). However, in his musings upon Palawan Worcester mentions the Tagbauna Tribe's system of writing on knots of bamboo. He personally observed this and this is EXTREMELY important since most believe that the Tagbauna lost this practice in the 17th Century. Aside from the Tagbauna, whose system of writing has been believed to have been extinct for centuries, only Mindoro's Mangyan Tribe has produced a unique and organic system of writing that has managed to survive into the Modern Era. Islamicised Tribes of course co-opted Arabic lettering- sans vowels and accent marks- to phonetically compose omportant documents in both tribal languages like Maranaw (Maranaon) and Maguindanaw (Maguindanaon), but also Bahasa Malaya, the lingua franca of littoral Southeast Asia. Yet that is a world apart from the organic development of a unique, specific writing system.
Also, this book was written at a time when the gorilla had just been discovered in Africa. Westerners were somewhat obsessed about larger apes. Worcester mentions that the Tagbauna believe in the existence of a large ape on Palawan, a creature they call "Pakda," along with the much less interesting- to me- feral goats they say live in the mountains around them. They also have a version of that pan-Malayan bogeyman Tagalogs call "Awang," only the Tagbauna don't see it as a beautiful alluring female, but rather as an old man with very long fingernails, who after flying through the night skies lands upon their thatched roof, and then, with a very long tongue that slips through their thatched roofs, licks their necks. According to Worcester, they also believe body lice to play an integral part in their version of the "Afterlife," but alas, here I am touching upon all this and I haven't even included Palawan in my excerpt (don't you hate me?); I begin in the Chapter where Worcester and his party board an inter-island steamer sailing south out of Puerto Princessa, then like now, the capital of Palawan. Travelling south, stopping on the Islamicised island of Balabac, administratively attached to Palawan now, and onto Jama, then called Cagayan de Sulu (and decades letter renamed "Cagayan de Tawi" before recently being renamed its current label), one of the Tawi Tawi Islands, but far from the main group. Veering east and slightly north, the ship lands in Zamboanga City and here is where most of my excerpt takes place. One quick note, when they land at "Sulu," they are landing at today's Jolo City.
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Chapter VI
Balabac, Cagayan Sulu, Mindanao, and Basilan
Our first stop on the voyage to Sulu was at Balabac, a small island just south of Palwan. It is inhabited by Moros, who, while not so warlike as their brethren in Sulu and Mindanao, are still very far from being good citizens.
Balabac is hilly, and is almost entirely covered with forest, but in the few places where attempts have been made to cultivate the soil, it has proved very fertile.
The island is extremely unhealthful. Fever, of a virulent type, is very common, and so is that disgusting disease Biri-Biri. An appointment as Governor of Balabac is not ordinarily regarded as a compliment. In fact, it is quite generally understood that this honour is, as a rule, reserved for someone who could be conveniently spared should he be providentially removed. This was at all events the view of the case taken by the Governor who came off of our steamer. His face and neck were covered with the evil brown spots that are the sure sign of bad malarial poisoning, and he openly avowed his belief that he had been sent to the accursed place to die. We at first thought he had a very bad case of "funk," but when, a few minutes later, Marines from one of the gunboats were brought out from our ship for removal to the hospital, and we saw that they were swollen into utter shapelessness with Biri-Biri, we decided to drop Balabac from our list of islands to be visited.
Our next stop was a little volcanic island in the midst of the Sulu Sea, called Cagayan, where we put in to load more cattle. It is inhabited almost exclusively by Moros, the only Government representative being a "Mestizo" interpreter. The people seemed to be peacable, and on our second visit to the Philippines, we planned to make a stop there. Unfortunately, they had in the meantime fallen into bad ways. While we were at Sulu, a boatload of them were brought in by gunboat. They had been caught selling firearms and ammunition in Tawi Tawi. General Arolas put them to work on his streets. Among their number were two chiefs who felt that they had been mortally insulted, and when finally allowed to return to their homes, they promptly stirred up so much ill feeling that their island became a very unsafe place for whitemen; so we were forced to abandon our proposed visit.
When we arrived at Sulu, we found things unusually lively. General Arolas had sacked Malibun, the Moro stronghold, only two days before, and the island, dangerous enough at any time, was in ferment. Arolas objected strongly to our going outside of the walls, saying that he felt personally responsible for our safety, and, if we insisted on hunting, he should have to send a strong escort of troops with us. It was useless to attempt to collect under such circumstances, so we remained on the steamer until we reached Zamboanga, at the extreme southwestern point of Mindanao, and disembarked there.
Mindanao is nearly as large as Luzon, and many times larger than any of remaining islands of the Philippine group. Until within a short time, next to nothing has been known of its interior; but the priests of the Jesuit mission have persistently and fearlessly pushed explorations until they have gathered data for a fairly complete and accurate map.
They recognize twenty-four distinct tribes of people, of whom seventeen are pagan, six Mohammedan (Moro), while the remainder are Christian Visayans, who have come in from the northern islands and settled at various points, especially along the Northern Coast.
Most of the wild tribes are of Malayan origin, but there still remain in Mindanao a considerable number of the little black Negritos, and with them some of the Malay tribes have intermarried.
The warlike Moros are especially dreaded. They are found along the Southern and Southwestern Coasts, and near the large rivers and inland lakes.
Although the island is nominally divided into provinces, Spanish control is, as a matter of fact, effective only in narrow and more or less isolated strips along the sea and near a few of the rivers which afford the only means of communication with the interior. There are no roads, and the futility of attempting to move troops inland was beautifully demonstrated by General Weyler during our second visit.
For some reason best known to himself, he saw fit to send an expedition against the Moros. It was broadly hinted by his countrymen that he had an itching for the rank of Marshall and hoped to win it. Whatever the cause, all the available forces in the archipelago were concentrated, and marched into the Mindanao forest. An officer who accompanied the expedition told me that the enemy simply ran away, and they were never able to overtake them, while eighty percent of their own men were disabled by starvation and fever. Although the starvation might have been avoided, it is certainln that the fever was inevitable.
The mortality was certainly terrible. We saw the wreck of the expedition come back, and in spite of the fact that the priests from all the towns near Zamboanga were called in, they could not shrive the soldiers fast as they died. Sick men were sent away by the shipload. Meanwhile, Weyler was directing operations from a very safe distance, spending much of his time on a despatch-boat.
We learned, later, that several glorious victories were announced in Manila, and were celebrated with processions, fireworks, and great rejoicing.
The scenery in Mindanao is very fine. The largest known flower, measuring some three feet in diameter, has been discovered there. There are several active volcanoes on the island, of which the most famous is Mt.Apo, near Davao. Extinct volcanoes are numerous.
Extensive areas are covered with magnificent trees, and apart from the valuable forest products which Mindanao has in common with several of the other islands, gutta-percha is abundant in several localitiesm
As might be inferred from its name, which signifies "Man of the Lake," Mindanao is well watered. Its rivers are more important than those of Luzon. The Butuan rises within a few miles of the South Coast, and runs north, traversing the whole island. The Rio Grande, on the other hand, rises near the North Coast, and flows south and west. Important lakes are connected with the Rio Grande and the Butuan, while Lake Lanao, situated just where the Western Peninsula joins the main body of the island, empties into the sea by the river Agus.
The soil, especially in the river and lake regions, is enormously productive. Little is known of the mineral wealth, but it is certain that gold exists in paying quantities at a number of points. Diggings have long been worked by the natives near Misamis and Surigao.
Zamboamga, the port at which we landed, is the capital of a province bearing the same name. It is the oldest of the Spanish setlements, having been taken and fortified in the early days as a base of operations against the Moros. It still has an old stone fort into which the inhabitants might retreat if attacked.
The town is large and clean. It has a pier extending out to moderately deep water, but large vessels have to lie some distance offshore. The port would be a convenient place for Australian steamers to call, and as a matter of fact they used to stop there but the excessive harbour fees and senseless Customs restrictions have long since caused it to be shunned.
We established ourselves at a small and very poor hotel, on our arrival, and while there, had an opportunity to see how natives are sometimes treated. There was a grey headed old fellow about the place, who did some work in the stables. He one day chanced to pass through a room in which we were sitting, in company with several Spanish officers, and one of the latter ordered him to bring a drink. Although he was not a waiter, he set off on the errand; but he was old and slow, and when he returned the officer flew into a passion because he had been gone so long, knocked him down, and kicked his ribs in. We found him, later, dying in a horse-manger.
The natives of the town and vicinity, known as "Zamboanguehos," are an odd lot. Perhaps a majority of them are descended from Visayans who migrated to the island long ago; certainly a very considerable portion are the offspring of slaves who have contrived to escape from the Moros. As the latter people were not at all particular where they obtained captives, so long as they got them, the result has been that representatives of most of the Philippine coast tribes have found their way to Zamboangan where their intermarriage has given rise to to a people of decidedly mixed ancestry. On account of the multiplicity of native dialects, Spanish became the medium of communication, but they have long since converted it into a Zamboangueno patois which is quite unintelligible to one familiar only with pure "Castellano.'
Many of these people have the best of reasons for hating the Moros, and on one occasion they displayed such bravery in helping the troops to repel an attack on the town that a special decree was issued declaring them all "Spaniards of the first rank." This honour seems to be without practical value, however.
It happened that our boy Mateo was a Zamboangueno, born of a Tagalog father and a Visayan mother, both of whom were escaped Moro slaves. Thirteen years before, Dr.Steere had picked him up at the little native village called Ayala, some eighteen miles from town. Having gone almost immediately to America and remained there ever since, without once hearing from his own people, he was naturally anxious to find them, and at once set off on horseback for his old home.
As there was no good collecting ground near Zamboanga, we decided to follow him by sea, as soon as we could get a boat to take us and our belongings. We soon found one, but unfortunately the Doctor paid the owner in advance. He promptly got very drunk, and remained in that condition for three days, at the end of which time we got off.
The boat was a clumsy dugout, kept upright in the water by means of bamboo outriggers, lashed to heavy cross-pieces, which held them parallel to its sides, and about eight feet out. If the craft tipped, the bamboos on each side were sunk in the water, while those on the other were lifted out, and the bouyancy of the former combined with the weight of the latter to right it at once. An arched nipa shade at the stern protected us from the sun. Our men were obliged to row with oars made by tying board blades onto poles of suitable length. Although we started early and had a good crew, it was long past noon when we reached our destination; for one of the strong currents which sweep the coast of Mindanao ran against us all the way.
Mateo met us with a very sober face. He had long counted on seeing his father and mother, but they had both died of cholera, and of his large family of brothers and sisters, all but three had met the same fate.
At Ayala we saw, for the first time, a village of decent, civilized natives completely under Spanish control. There is a good deal of similarity between such villages. Each has a church, a "Convento," and a "Tribunal." The church is usually the most pretentious office of the place, and the "Convento," or "priest's house," the most comfortable.
The "Tribunal" is the one which chiefly concerns travellers. It is a sort of town-hall, where the head men of the village meet to transact business. It contains a pair of stocks, or some other contrivance for the detention of prisoners. It is frequently used as a barracks for troops, and, last, but not least, any traveller who chooses to do so has a right to put up there.
Hanging on the wall is ordinarily to be found a list of the proper local prices for rice, fowl, eggs, meat, and other articles of food,as well as horse-hire, buffalo-hire, carriers, etc. The object of this list is to protect strangers from extortion.
The priests and friars in the smaller towns and villages are, as a rule, very hospitable, and are frequently glad to have the monotony of their lives broken by a visit from a stranger. They are often imposed upon, however, and as our party was so large, and our work so dirty, we made it a rule not to stay at a Convento even when urged to do so.
Upon our arrival at Ayala we at once started for the Tribunal, where the "Gobernadorcillo" immediately set about making us comfortable.
A "Gobernadorcillo" (literally "Little Governor") is to be found in every Philippine town or village, and is a very important personage. He is aleays a native or "Mestizo," and is the local representative of the Governor of his province, from which he receives instructions, and to whom he sends reports. His headquarters are at the Tribunal. He is addressed as "Capitan" during his term of office, and after his successor had been chosen is known as the "Capitan Pasado."
He settles all local questions except those which assume a serious legal aspect and therefore properly belong to the Justice of the Peace; but his most important duty is to see that the taxes of his town are collected, and to turn them over to the administrator of the province. He is personally responsible for these taxes, and must obtain them from his "Cabezas" or make good on the deficit. He is obliged to aid the Guardia Civil in the capture of criminals, and to assist the parish friar in promoting the interests of the Church, frequently, also, in advancing his private ends. Finally, he is at the beck and call of all the public officials who visit his town. He often has to entertain them often at his own expense, and not infrequently finds it advisable to make them presents. He is liable at any time to be called to the capital of the province, but is given no compensation for the cost of travelling or the loss of time. If he does not speak Spanish, he must employ a Clerk ("Directorcillo").
There is a great deal of writing to be done at the Tribunal, and as the allowance for "Clerk-Hire" is usally utterly insufficient, the Gobernadorcillo must make up the difference. In return for all this, he is allowed a salary of Two US Dollars per month, and is permitted to carry a cane! If he does not squeeze his fellow townsmen, or steal public funds,he is apt to come out badly behind.
While the office is nominally filled by election every two years, the elective system is such a nature that service can readily be made compulsory. Wealthy men are chosen for the place, if any such can be found, and are often kept in office for two years, sorely against their will. Yet there is nothing quite so dear to the heart of the average Philippine heart as a little authority over his fellows, and in spite of the numerous drawbacks, the position is sometimes earnestly sought.
The families of every town are divided into groups of from fourty to sixty, each under a "Cabeza de Barangay" who is responsible for their taxes. If he cannot get them from the people, he must pay them out of his own pocket. Excuses are useless. For obvious reasons, men of means are chosen for this position, and though nominally elected every two years, they are actually kept in office as long as they have anything to lose, and sometimes longer. I have seen "Cabezas" suffer confiscation of property and deportation, because they could not pay debts which they did not owe.
The Gobernadorcillo has a "Ministry," consisting of the first and second "Tenientes" (Lieutenants) who take his place in his absence; other tenientes having charge of outlying districts; and chiefs of police, plantations, and cattle.
At the Tribunal is maintained a small force of "Cuadrilleros," who perform police duty, and who are supposed to defend the town against bandits and the like.
A man who has been elected Teniente or Gobernadorcillo, or who has served ten years as a Cabeza de Barangay, is numbered among the "Headmen" of the place.
The Headmen meet at the Tribunal from time to time, and discuss public affairs with great gravity. They assemble every Sunday morning, and headed by the Gobernadorcillo, and frequently also by a band playing very lively airs, they march to the Convento and escort the friar to the church, where they all attend mass. Their state dress is quite picturesque. Their white shirts dangle outside of their pantaloons after the Philippine fashion, and over them they wear tight fitting jackets without tails, which reach barely to their waists. When the jacket is buttoned, it causes the shirt to stand out in a frill, producing a most grotesque effect.
The Gobernadorcillo of Ayala proved to be a very accomodating old fellow. He speedily made us comfortable in one of the rooms of the Tribunal, which afforded space for our hammocks, and was furnished with a table abd wooden benches. As there were no conveniences for cooking about the building, we hired a man next door to prepare our meals and serve them to us, and the plan worked successfully after he had once gauged our appetites. We fared better than in Palawan, getting plenty of fruit, fowls, and eggs, but were forced to content ourselves with boiled rice in place of bread, as there was not an oven in the vicinity.
The villagers were a happy-go-lucky set. We were rather touched by their never failing hospitality. The Philippine native always seems ready to kill his last fowl for a stranger, or share with him his last pot of rice. When we stopped at a hut and asked for a drink, its inmates were loathe to offer us water in the coconut shell cups which served their own purpose, and hunted up and washed old tumblers, or even sent to some neighbour's to borrow them. With a glass of water they always gave us a lump of "Panoche" (Coarse Brown Sugar) that we might "have thirst"- an entirely unnecessary precaution.
Their houses were like those of the poorer civilized natives throughout the archipelago. The typical Philippine house rests on four or more heavy timbers which are firmly set in the ground, and its floor raised from five to ten feet into the air. There is not a nail or a peg in the whole structure. The frame is of bamboo, tied together by rattan. The sides and roof are usually of Nipa Palm, although the former may be made by splitting green bamboos, pounding the halves flat, and then weaving them together; while if Nipa is very scarce, the roof may be thatched with the long grass called "Cogon."
The floor is usually made of bamboo strips, with their convex sides up. They are tied firmly in place in such a way that wide cracks are left between them. The windows are provided with swinging shades, which can be propped open during the day. One has to climb a ladder to enter the house.
Often there is but one room for cooking, eating, and sleeping. The cooking is done over an open fire, built on a heap of earth in one corner, and smoke often makes a house almost uninhabitable. In the better dwellings there is a place partitioned off for cooking, usually just at the head of the ladder, while the body of the house is divided into two or more rooms.
Native houses of this sort have much to recommend them. If shaken down by an earthquake, or blown over by a typhoon, no one gets hurt; for the materials used are too light to do harm when they fall. The ventilation is perfect, and the air keeps much cooler than in a tightly controlled building.
Wealthy natives sometimes build houses of boards, with galvanized iron roofs and limestone foundations, but they are very much more expensive, and decidedly less comfortable, than the humbler dwellings of "Cana" (Bamboo) and "Nipa" (Palm).
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Glossary:
"Biri-Biri," mentioned in the third paragraph is a bastardisation of the Malay word for sheep, "Beri Beri," and denotes a disease primarily caused by thiamine deficiency. "Discovered" by a Dutch physician in 17th Century Indonesia, he christened according to the Bahasa-Malaya slang for the disease, labeled just so because it makes afflicted people walk like sheep.
The word "shrive" is now an anachronism synonymous with Roman Catholic "Last Rites."
"Despath-Boat" would today read "Dispatch-Boat" and is synonymous with "Courier," or "Messenger Vessel."
The name "Mindanao" does NOT mean "Man of the Lake," as the author claims, but rather, "Land of Innundation," or, "Land of the Flood Plain."
"Gutta-Percha" is an anachronism for a tree sap that was once a valuable commodity for water proofing.
"Butuan River" actually was then, as now, the "Agusan River" and contrary to the author's claim, it does not cross the entire island though it would certainly seem so to one unfamiliar with Mindanao.
"Horse Manger" is no longer used, instead people simply say, "Stable."
"Zamboanguehos" is actually "Zamboanguenos," or more simply, "Chavacanos."
The little "native village" where Dr.Steele had found Mateo is today's Barangay Ayala in Zamboanga City.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Asia Foundation Report on Rido: "Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao"
Whether one realises it or not, Clan Warfare plays a huge part in all three Islamic Insurgencies. Taking a very recent example, the BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, just had a large week long engagement in the municipality of Tulunan, in North Cotabato Province. One sub-Kumander (senior officer) from the BIAF 108 Base Command had taken his battalion, eighty odd men (BIAF battalions and brigades can be any size) and entered into an agreement with a physician from General Santos City (GenSan). In exchange for allowing his men to build "nipas" on the doctor's recently acquired property in Tulunan, he and his guerillas would serve as a combination live in security force slash plantation labour poole for the physician's nascent banana plantation ("Nipa" being the bamboo framed Nipa Palm leaf thatched huts that serve as the typical rural home on Mindanao).
Since the physician is a non-Muslim, and that portion of that municipality lies within the area of operation for the 108 Base Command, he needed a way in which to protect his expencive investment. The deal was beneficial to everyone involved. Learning of this sub-Kumamder's good fortune however, a fellow sub-Kumander from the 108 Base Command screamed bloody murder, and so, in an attack that utilised RPG-2s and 60MM mortars, the second group attacked the first. The sub-Kumander claims that 10 hectares on the plantation actually belong to him, ergo, it is now a blood feud, or "Rido."
The Asia Foundation is a Think Tank slash NGO but in reality, it is a CIA front. In fact, this is a publicised fact although the "Foundation" claims its CIA links were severed by the late-1960s to early-1970s depending on who is "confessing." Founded in 1954 to sell the Anti-Communist line through cultural and societal channels, one of its first targeted nations was the Philippines, then just getting a grip on its Huk Insurgency. In a tip of a hat to American forward thinking, it began finessing Mindanao's Muslim Tribes before even Egypt thought of doing so. Opening an office in Cotabato City, they hung out their shingle and went to work.
As the 1960s began, The Asia Foundation came under scrutiny for its connection to the CIA. Voila, prest-o-change-o, with the swish of a pen the CIA relationship disappeared, or so the NGO claimed. Fast forward to 1967 in the US, with the CIA's funding of Right Wing student organisations coming to light and generating controversy with then-President Lyndon B.Johnson's Administration. The CIA, very nervous after the Left Wing periodical "Ramparts" discussed the CIA's continued relationship with The Asia Foundation, decides once again, to claim all ties have been severed.
Indeed, today the organisation claims to subsist on entirely private donations. In 2007 for example, its annual budget was US 112 Million. Of that figure, 4.7 Million is generated by private donations. As for the "proof" that it severed its CIA relationship, it merely offers two inter-agency memos which would take all of 90 seconds to manufacture on any word processor. I suggest that any interested reader grab a hold of former CIA Operations Chief, Victor Marchetti's memoir, in which he discusses just how the CIA uses The Asia Foundation to recruit assets (as in "spies") and how assets then funnel intelligence through the NGOm
In a case of the message being much more important than the messenger, I decided to present the "Foundation's" excellent in depth, book length report on Rido, "Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management on Mindanao," Edited by Wilfredo Magno Torres III (Asia Foundation), (2007).
This, the first in a multi-part series, will transcribe the report's "Introduction," in which Torres discusses the Foundation's excellent study on the dynamic. Before I begin though, it is an academic study and therefore not the most exciting of reads, unless of course you really want to learn about a very pervasive social dynamic on Mindanao. This is the first portion of the book's introduction, the rest will follow in subsequent entries.
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Introduction- Wilfredo Magno Torres III
pp7
This volume presents several studies on feuding or clan conflicts, popularly known in Mindanao as "Rido." This effort is the result of a coordinated research conducted by Mindanao-based civil society organizations and academic institutions with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asia Foundation. The studies variously mapped the incidence of clan conflicts in Mindanao and conducted in depth investigations into the root causes of the conflicts, the parties involved, the conditions for their escalation and recurrences, the relationship to other forms of conflict, and the potential for conflict resolution. The studies investigated the dynamics of clan conflicts with the intention of informing and helping design strategic intervention to address such conflicts.
The studies in this volume deal with a type of violent conflict variously referred to as feuding, revenge killings, blood revenge, vendetta, inter-tribal warfare, and clan conflicts. Characterized by sporadic outbursts of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well as between comnunities, this phenomenon frequently occurs in areas where government or central authority is weak and in areas where there is a perceived lack of justice and security. Feuding and revenge killings are common to many societies throughout human history. Depending on periods in history, this phenomenon has been documented in places such as the Balkans, Sicily, Corsica, the Caucasus Region, the Middle East, and, in the remoter past, Scotland and the Appalachian region of the United States, as well as in some Southeast Asian cultures (the subject of feuding has often been subsumed under more dominant themes like maritime trading, slave raiding, and head hunting. Some authors have cited the prevalence of feuding and inter-suku warfare among indigenous communities in Borneo [see King 1993:83; Singh 2000:37-38,53-54] Torres has encountered a history of inter-island feuding in Semporna and Sulu [2006:282-283]. In addition, much like the genealogies of Sulu and Maguindanao sultanates, the Sejara Melayu [Malay Annals] mentions feuding among the royal families in the Malay Peninsula [Bastin 1970:169]).
pp8
While there ae studies that distinguish between the concepts of feuding and revenge, in this volume, feuding and revenge killing us considered part of the same continuum (Ginat [1997] and Boehm [1986], for instance, distinguish revenge from a feud. Revenge [or blood revenge] refers to a single killing to avenge a murder, whereas a feud involves a chain of reciprocal murders between rival groups).
In the Philippines, feuding between families and clans is also prevalent. The Cordilleras in Northern Luzon is famous for inter-village warfare and "revenge raids" caused by land and boundry disputes and competing economic interests such as sources of water or firewood. Feuding also occurs among lowland Filipinos, a famous example of which was in the Illocos in the early 1970s between the Crisologo and the Singson Clans. Depending on the ethnic group and region, feuding and revenge are known by various terms such as "pangayaw," "magahat," or "pagdumot" among some "Lumad" or indigenous groups in Mindanao, and "pagbanta," "pagbunuh," "mamauli," "kasaop," "pagbaos," and "lido," "ridu," and "rido" among some Moro groups. For the purpose of this book, the conflict under focus is referred to as "rido," feuding or clan conflicts. "Rido" refers to a state of recurring hostilities between families and kinship groups characterized by a series of retaliatory acts of violence carried out to avenge a perceived affront or injustice.
Rido has wider implications for conflict in Mindanao primarily because it tends to interact in unfortunate ways with separatist conflict and other forms of armed violence. Many armed confrontations in the past involving insurgent groups and the military were actually triggered by a local rido. Examples of such cases are illustrated in detail in this volume such as the feuds that escalated in Dapiawan (2004) and Linantangan (2005) in Maguindanao that eventually drew in the involvement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the paramilitary Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO), and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). A more recent case that demonstrated the interconnectedness of feuds and large scale conflicts was the Shariff Aguak incident in June 2006 that sparked a major armed confrontation between paramilitary forces under a political clan and some elements of the MILF. Such hostilities underscore the potential of local feuds and third party actors to frustrate the peace process between the government and the MILF (On June 23rd, 2006, a bomb exploded in Shariff Aguak allegedly intended for the Maguindanao Governor, killing seven members of his convoy. This incident sparked a major armed conflict that displaced thousands of families and endangered the peace process between the government and the MILF. This incident became a litmus test for the Joint-CCCH-IMT mechanism and civil society groups. To contain the violence, a buffer zone was jointly established by the GPH,or, Government of the Philippines and the MILF).
pp9
Meanwhile, a contrasting incident occurred in January 2006 in the efforts of the MILF to mobilize their troops to protect civilians from a raging rido between warring families in Tuburan, Lanao del Sur. Without a nuanced understanding of local conflict dynamics, such a commendable effort could have easily been misconstrued as an offensive.
Rido is only one aspect in the complex web of violence in Mindanao which includes Muslim separatism, Communist insurgency, and banditry. The interaction of these different conflicts has explosive consequences to the long running separatist war in Mindanao. Given this context, a deeper understanding of specific conflicts is crucial in disentangling the blurred lines of conflict and enable communities and the government to effectively address the problem.
The Mindanao Rido Study
The Process of Engagement
The coordinated study on clan conflicts had its origin in late 2002 when The Asia Foundation suported a household conflict survey in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and adjacent areas on the citizens' perceptions of conflict (the survey was conducted by TNS-TRENDS in partnership with the Office of the President with support from The Asia Foundation and Kewlett Foundation (see Dayag-Laylo 2004). The survey results showed that while the Muslim-Christian conflict in Mindanao dominates the attention of international and local preaa, clan conflicts are actually more pertinent in the daily lives of the people. Citizens are more concerned about the prevalence of clan conflict and its negative impact on their communities than the conflict between the state and rebel groups in Mindanao. These findings, which were again verified by the Social Weather Stations in the ARMM (Social Weather Station (2005:2, slide 9-11), illustrate the complexity of conflicts in Mindanao and encouraged the Foundation to help address the problem. With the assistance of USAID, the Foundation spearheaded a set of diagnostic activities to help design strategic interventions that enable communities and government agencies to prevent the escalation of conflicts.
pp10
The coordinated study was done by engaging Mindanao experts in a series of meetings and group discussions that involved reviewing the existing studies on rido, clarifying concepts, and setting directions for research in the area. The discussions revolved around the following questions:
• What constitutes clan conflict and what are the existing formal and informal mechanisms that people use to resolve these;
• When does clan conflict occur and what kind of issues escalate into clan conflicts;
• How are young people socialized into attitudes about it;
• What are the variations of clan conflicts among different ethnic groups;
• How does clan conflict overlap with government and separatist conflict;
• To what extent are clan conflicts mistaken by government to be separatist conflict;
• What can government and peace activists do to isolate these different kinds of conflixt so effective interventions can be put in place?
The studies in this volume are descriptive studies that employed qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The data collection techniques used include key informant and in depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, surveys, and secondary data gathering. During theresearch period, the participating institutions conducted regular meetings among themselves to critique methodologies, discuss findings abd address problems. Methodologies and research questions underwent several iterations based on new data encountered in the field. Community meetings were also held to validate the preliminary research findings.
The sensitive nature of the topic was a challenge for the researchers who often found themselves under suspicion by some locals. It took some time for the researchers to lay the groundwork and eaen the trust of key informants and families involved in rido. As the data started to come in and make sensezn the researchers realized there was a real danger that the issue of rido could be used by unscrupulous groups to reinforce the already negative stereotype of Mindanao and Muslims, or even used to manipulate situations and affect the peace process. Because of this, extra care was taken in dealing with sensitive data and ensuring the fair treatment of issues related to clan conflicts. Sensitive and ethical issues were taken into account and discussed thoroughly with researchers and the local people, and measures were agreed upon to ensure that the issues were adequately addressed. At the heart of this entire effort was the integrity of the researchers- their sincere and transparent engagement with the local people.
pp11
(Dissemination)
pp12
Overview of Findings
The coordinated studies documented a total of 1,266 rido cases that occurred between 1930s to 2005, killing more than 5,500 people and displacing thousands. Out of the total number of rido cases documented, 64% remain unresolved. The tope four provinces with the highest number of rido incidences are Lanao del Sur (377), Maguindanao (218), Lanao del Norte (160), and Sulu (145). The rido incidences in these provinces account for 71% of the total cases documented. The findings also show a steady rise in rido conflicts in the 11 provinces surveyed from the 1980s to 2004. 50 percent (637 cases) of the total rido incidences recorded by the studies occurred in the last five years (2000-2004), which is about 127 new cases per year.
The actors involved in a rido vary as the conflict can occur within kinship groups or involve members coming from different kinship groups and ethnic groups.
Rido has caused so much untold suffering. Its effects are often subsumed under the larger separatist conflicts. Aside from the numerous casualties, rido related armed confrontations have caused the destruction of properties crippled the local economy, displaced communities, and formented fear.
The causes of rido are contextually varied and may be further complicated by society's sense and concept of honor and shame. While the triggers of the conflicts can range from petty offenses like theft and jesting to more serious crimes like homicide, the studies show that land disputes and political rivalries are the most common causes of rido. The factors that aggravate a rido include the formation of alliances by the principals with other families and armed groups or the interaction of rido with state led conflicts (i.e. the conflict between the Moro liberation fronts and the state) and other armed conflicts (e.g. Banditry). The proliferation of firearms, lack of law enforcers and credible mediators in conflict prone areas, and an inefficient justice system all contribute to rido.
pp13
Key Concepts on Feuding and Revenge
Kinship, Self-Help, and Collective Responsibility
Feuding and revenge killing documented in other parts of the world are suprisingly similar to the endemic clan conflicts experienced in the Philippines (see Barton 1949; Dozier 1966; Prill-Brett 1987; Kiefer 1972; Rosaldo 1980; Hasluck 1954; Ginat 1997). Revenge killings and feuds are typical in small-scale societies where family and kinship ties are the main main sources of authority and where there is a lack of effective state control and authority. In such societies where the state is weak, decision making and enforcement become more decentralized and the provision of security is based mainly on self-help (see Philip Carl Salzman in Ginat 1997:vii-viii; Kiefer 1972:53). This means that in the absence of a strong state or central authority, the responsibility and the means for coercion are more widespread, such that governance and social control unusally rest in the local population. Under such circumstances, the distribution of responsibility and capacity for the provision of security are more likely to be organized along the lines of kinship.
Classic ethnographies dealing with revenge recognize that kinship forms and important basis for social relations and that the bond of kinship is a significant factor in the provision of security and revenge. In his study on violence and law in Tausug society, Thomas Kiefer observes that the sanctions of kinship justify a greater range of everyday behaviours for the sanctions of kinship justify a greater range of everyday behavior for the Tausug that may cover a variety of political, economic, and military obligations (1972:28). Roy Barton's pioneering work among the Kalinga and Ifugao shpws the primacy of preserving family and kinship unity and its importance in carrying out responsibilities such as providing support during times of crisis and revenge-taking (1949:69; 1969:8). The importance accorded to kinship unity may also translate on a wider community level. This is especially true with regard to maintaining the integrity and autonomy of more self-sufficient villages. In the Cordilleras, June Prill-Brett (1987:14) observes that there is a marked solidarity among autonomous Bontok villages (ili), wherein each village member cooperates for the total welfare of the community. Strong community ties are especially apparent during times of conflict. A harm done to a village member is considered a threat to the security and autonomy of the village itself. On such occasions, the village is expected to retaliate to assert its strength and defensive capacity and not lose the respect of other villages (Prill-Brett 1987:15).
pp14
Elsewhere, village life and blood feuds in the Albanian highlands, eloquently captured in the earlier work of Margeret Hasluck (1954), provide us with some important insights into the relationship of family and communal solidarity and revenge:
"The community sense was fostered by every art the mountaineers knew. Each member of a household was encouraged to regard everything in it and everything its other members said and did as his own. The humblest man was encouraged to regard his village as his personal property. If home, village, or group of villages prospered, he rejoiced as if he himself had been advanced. If they were insulted or injured, he burned to avenge a personal affront. If they were disgraced by misconduct on the part of another member, he felt his own honour to be smirched. The patriotism so bred was narrow, perhaps, but in emphasis on the need to keep the community's honour untarnished, a good deterrent from crime (1954:11).
These communities consisted in the narrower sense of the family, and in the wider sense, a tribe. If a person was injured, the family in most cases, and the tribe in a few cases, by the law of self-government punished the wrongdoer. Since the individual was almost completely submerged in his family, an injury to him was an injury to the whole family and might be punishrd by any of its members. When the tribal community was involved, the injury might again be avenged by any of its members. When the injury took the form of murder, vengance generally took the Mosaic form of a life for a life, but sometimes was achieved by the exaction of blood money or the imposition of exile (1954:219)."
This vivid description by Hasluck underscores the obligations of closely knit groups in providing mutual self-hp that covers various aspects of everyday living including revenge which, in the end, m) be necessary for the survival of the community.
Joseph Ginat (1997), in a more refined explanation of mutual self-help as a collective cultural response, used the notion of "collective responsibility (Barton's earlier works also proposed the ideas of "collective responsibility" and "collective procedure" in Ifugao's legal system [1949:71-72]; [1967:7]). In his study od blood revenge among Bedouins and Arabs in Israrl, Ginat explains that in a system of collective responsibility, "any act or mission by one individual reflects on the group as a whole in the sense that the group is responsible for, and must accept, the consequences of that act or omission" (1997:2). This means that each member of a group may be held responsible for the actions of any one member, such that an injury inflicted on a member of a group would be considered an injury to the whole group, and thus creating conflict with the injured group. The basis of collective responsibility is the need to help each other in a hostile environment. As agricultural and pastoral societies collectively held territory, they also had shared interests and shared commitments such as security. According to Ginat, "collective responsibility" is the "defining thread that runs through blood revenge, family honor, mediation, and outcasting" (1997:1-2).
pp15
Security based on collective responsibility is effective because, on the one hand, the possibility of retaliation from an individual's group serves as a detterent for cominto conflict and, on the other hand, an individual knows that he is also responsible for the actions of his group members, such that can also be a target for reprisal if his group member comes into conflict. Robert Bates (2001) in his discussion on the development of agrarian societies from nature and from the conduct of other people resulted in the development of social arrangements that not only allowed families to organize production but also provide security and protection through the private provision of coercion. In such societies, the threat of of retaliation from the private provision of coercion served as a deterrent that kept a fragile peace (Bates 2001:46-47).
Honor, Shame, and Reciprocity
The interplay of honor, shame, and reciprocity within the cultural context of a society may serve to regulate relations among its members, determine prestige and political influence, facilitate access to resources and economic distribution, reinforce social ties, and promote cohesion.
Julian Pitt-Rivers defines honor as the value of a person in his own eyes and also in the eyes of his society. "It is his estimation of his own worth, his claim to pride, but it is also the acknowledgement of that claim, his excellence recognized by society, his right to pride" (Pitt-Rivers 1966:21, Julian Pitt-Rivers discusses honor, social status, and shame in Western Europe and compares the range of this notion with modern Andalusian society [1966]). It must be noted, however, that the conception of honor varies across different social contexts (region, period, class, cultures, etc.). For instance, honor as understood in European society is quite different in the Arab world. In France (and somewhat similarly in England), the concept of honor originated from the ideology of noble military serbice that later on became associated with the idea of noble race through reproductive and inheritance strategies in order to keep wealth intact (Nye 1998). Depending on different periods, honor in Spanish society was connected to lineage and social class and the notion of "pure blood" (Baroja 1996). In Arab society, Abhou-Zeid (1966:256) differentiates the types of hinor such as "Sharaf" which can be accumulated or lost according to the man's behavior, and the "Ird" which is honor that only applies to female chadtity and can only be lost and even affect the man's honor. Among some indigenous groups in the Philippines, concepts of honor locally known as "Bansa" or "Bantug" are recognized through a person's capacity to help others or, in the case of the village headmen ("Datus"), in the capacity to settle disputes. Among the Meranao, the "Maratabat" approximates the concepts of honor, self-esteem, and prestige but is sometimes equated to lineage or social status in the community (the maratabat has a universe of meanings which can include honor, status, rank, self-esteem, dignity, pride, self-respect, etc. For a thorough discussion of maratabat, please refer to the studies of Abdullah 1982, Bartolome 2001, and to the chapters of Matuan, Burton, and Doro in this volume).
pp16
Across many societies, when honor is challenged it can be resolved through an appeal to some for$ of tribunal such as the court of public opinion, the monarch ("Sultan," "Datu"), and other ordeals such as judicial combat (as in the French "Duel"), which imply an appeal to God (see Pitt-Rivers in "Persistiany" 1966). Physical violence is usually the ultimate vindication of honor especially when other means to settle disputes fail. In Albania, the blood feud is considered the ultimate sanction in all cases where personal honor is concerned such that failure to seek redress for honor that is violated is severely criticized by society (Hasluck 1954:XII; According to Hasluck, the Albanian blood feud has its roots in the customary laws of the mountaineers which evolved as part of the legal framework they devised for every aspect of their life [1954:9]. Administered by a ruling rank collectively known as, "The Elders," these customary laws are enshrined in the "Janun" of Lek Dukagiini ["Code of Lek Duagiini"]. The "Kanun" contained methods for dealing with crimes against property and person, conventions that govern trespass, travel, the administration of oaths, the imposition of penalties, and conventions that govern the blood-feud [Hasluck 1954:xii]):
"Public opinion also spurred the avenger on. A man slow to kill his enemy was thought 'disgraced' and was described as 'low class' and 'bad.' Among the Highlanders, he risked finding that other men had contemptuously come to sleep with his wife, his daughter could not marry into a 'good' family, and his son must marry a 'bad' girl" (Hasluck 1954:231-232).
While honor can sometimes be a driving factor in revenge, this same sense of honor also demands that vengance is not taken indiscriminately. In many societies (like the communities in this study), revenge and blood feids are governed by multiplicity of rules. The Albanian blood feuds documented by Hasluck provide many examples of such conventions. For instance, it is considered dishonorable to kill and not tell, to steal from a victim, to hide a victimzks body, and to violate the sanctity of the "pledged word" such as a truce ("Bese") (1954:220). There are also practices governing house guests and women. House guests, for example, are considered under the protection of the host such that the host is obliged to avenge the guest when killed under one's protection, while killing women and persons who are physically fraul, feeble-minded, or not capble of carrying arms is abhorred (among the Kalinga, a host is similarly obliged to avenge the slaying or wounding of his guest [Barton 1949:83]). Curiously, other conventions exist concerning religious beliefs that demonstrate the persistence of customary laws despite the influence of Christianity and Islam. In some parts of Albania, an assailent is expected to face a dead man's body to the east if his victim is Christian and toward Mecca if the victim is Muslim (Hasluck 1954:229; According to Hutton [in Hasluck]: 'As a result of the Turkish conquest, several of the Albanian Tribes changed from Christianity to Islam, and there are now many Muslim Albanians as well as both Greek Orthadox and Roman Catholic Christians. The Mirdite, who constitute the biggest tribe, were perhaps at one time orthadox, and are now staunch Catholics. But their profession of faith seems to have affected but little adherance of the Albanians to their ancient customs [1954:xv]).
pp17
Complementing the concept of honor is the concept of shame. Ginat says that "just as honor is the value of a person in his own eyes, but in the eyes of his society, so should shame be seen not only in how the individual feels but also in what people will say (1997:131). Shame involves sensitivity to the opinion of others and includes a consciousness of public opinion and judgement (Pitt-Rivers 1966:52).
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I'll pick up on pp17 when I post my next entry in this multi-part entry.
Since the physician is a non-Muslim, and that portion of that municipality lies within the area of operation for the 108 Base Command, he needed a way in which to protect his expencive investment. The deal was beneficial to everyone involved. Learning of this sub-Kumamder's good fortune however, a fellow sub-Kumander from the 108 Base Command screamed bloody murder, and so, in an attack that utilised RPG-2s and 60MM mortars, the second group attacked the first. The sub-Kumander claims that 10 hectares on the plantation actually belong to him, ergo, it is now a blood feud, or "Rido."
The Asia Foundation is a Think Tank slash NGO but in reality, it is a CIA front. In fact, this is a publicised fact although the "Foundation" claims its CIA links were severed by the late-1960s to early-1970s depending on who is "confessing." Founded in 1954 to sell the Anti-Communist line through cultural and societal channels, one of its first targeted nations was the Philippines, then just getting a grip on its Huk Insurgency. In a tip of a hat to American forward thinking, it began finessing Mindanao's Muslim Tribes before even Egypt thought of doing so. Opening an office in Cotabato City, they hung out their shingle and went to work.
As the 1960s began, The Asia Foundation came under scrutiny for its connection to the CIA. Voila, prest-o-change-o, with the swish of a pen the CIA relationship disappeared, or so the NGO claimed. Fast forward to 1967 in the US, with the CIA's funding of Right Wing student organisations coming to light and generating controversy with then-President Lyndon B.Johnson's Administration. The CIA, very nervous after the Left Wing periodical "Ramparts" discussed the CIA's continued relationship with The Asia Foundation, decides once again, to claim all ties have been severed.
Indeed, today the organisation claims to subsist on entirely private donations. In 2007 for example, its annual budget was US 112 Million. Of that figure, 4.7 Million is generated by private donations. As for the "proof" that it severed its CIA relationship, it merely offers two inter-agency memos which would take all of 90 seconds to manufacture on any word processor. I suggest that any interested reader grab a hold of former CIA Operations Chief, Victor Marchetti's memoir, in which he discusses just how the CIA uses The Asia Foundation to recruit assets (as in "spies") and how assets then funnel intelligence through the NGOm
In a case of the message being much more important than the messenger, I decided to present the "Foundation's" excellent in depth, book length report on Rido, "Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management on Mindanao," Edited by Wilfredo Magno Torres III (Asia Foundation), (2007).
This, the first in a multi-part series, will transcribe the report's "Introduction," in which Torres discusses the Foundation's excellent study on the dynamic. Before I begin though, it is an academic study and therefore not the most exciting of reads, unless of course you really want to learn about a very pervasive social dynamic on Mindanao. This is the first portion of the book's introduction, the rest will follow in subsequent entries.
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Introduction- Wilfredo Magno Torres III
pp7
This volume presents several studies on feuding or clan conflicts, popularly known in Mindanao as "Rido." This effort is the result of a coordinated research conducted by Mindanao-based civil society organizations and academic institutions with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asia Foundation. The studies variously mapped the incidence of clan conflicts in Mindanao and conducted in depth investigations into the root causes of the conflicts, the parties involved, the conditions for their escalation and recurrences, the relationship to other forms of conflict, and the potential for conflict resolution. The studies investigated the dynamics of clan conflicts with the intention of informing and helping design strategic intervention to address such conflicts.
The studies in this volume deal with a type of violent conflict variously referred to as feuding, revenge killings, blood revenge, vendetta, inter-tribal warfare, and clan conflicts. Characterized by sporadic outbursts of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well as between comnunities, this phenomenon frequently occurs in areas where government or central authority is weak and in areas where there is a perceived lack of justice and security. Feuding and revenge killings are common to many societies throughout human history. Depending on periods in history, this phenomenon has been documented in places such as the Balkans, Sicily, Corsica, the Caucasus Region, the Middle East, and, in the remoter past, Scotland and the Appalachian region of the United States, as well as in some Southeast Asian cultures (the subject of feuding has often been subsumed under more dominant themes like maritime trading, slave raiding, and head hunting. Some authors have cited the prevalence of feuding and inter-suku warfare among indigenous communities in Borneo [see King 1993:83; Singh 2000:37-38,53-54] Torres has encountered a history of inter-island feuding in Semporna and Sulu [2006:282-283]. In addition, much like the genealogies of Sulu and Maguindanao sultanates, the Sejara Melayu [Malay Annals] mentions feuding among the royal families in the Malay Peninsula [Bastin 1970:169]).
pp8
While there ae studies that distinguish between the concepts of feuding and revenge, in this volume, feuding and revenge killing us considered part of the same continuum (Ginat [1997] and Boehm [1986], for instance, distinguish revenge from a feud. Revenge [or blood revenge] refers to a single killing to avenge a murder, whereas a feud involves a chain of reciprocal murders between rival groups).
In the Philippines, feuding between families and clans is also prevalent. The Cordilleras in Northern Luzon is famous for inter-village warfare and "revenge raids" caused by land and boundry disputes and competing economic interests such as sources of water or firewood. Feuding also occurs among lowland Filipinos, a famous example of which was in the Illocos in the early 1970s between the Crisologo and the Singson Clans. Depending on the ethnic group and region, feuding and revenge are known by various terms such as "pangayaw," "magahat," or "pagdumot" among some "Lumad" or indigenous groups in Mindanao, and "pagbanta," "pagbunuh," "mamauli," "kasaop," "pagbaos," and "lido," "ridu," and "rido" among some Moro groups. For the purpose of this book, the conflict under focus is referred to as "rido," feuding or clan conflicts. "Rido" refers to a state of recurring hostilities between families and kinship groups characterized by a series of retaliatory acts of violence carried out to avenge a perceived affront or injustice.
Rido has wider implications for conflict in Mindanao primarily because it tends to interact in unfortunate ways with separatist conflict and other forms of armed violence. Many armed confrontations in the past involving insurgent groups and the military were actually triggered by a local rido. Examples of such cases are illustrated in detail in this volume such as the feuds that escalated in Dapiawan (2004) and Linantangan (2005) in Maguindanao that eventually drew in the involvement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the paramilitary Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO), and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). A more recent case that demonstrated the interconnectedness of feuds and large scale conflicts was the Shariff Aguak incident in June 2006 that sparked a major armed confrontation between paramilitary forces under a political clan and some elements of the MILF. Such hostilities underscore the potential of local feuds and third party actors to frustrate the peace process between the government and the MILF (On June 23rd, 2006, a bomb exploded in Shariff Aguak allegedly intended for the Maguindanao Governor, killing seven members of his convoy. This incident sparked a major armed conflict that displaced thousands of families and endangered the peace process between the government and the MILF. This incident became a litmus test for the Joint-CCCH-IMT mechanism and civil society groups. To contain the violence, a buffer zone was jointly established by the GPH,or, Government of the Philippines and the MILF).
pp9
Meanwhile, a contrasting incident occurred in January 2006 in the efforts of the MILF to mobilize their troops to protect civilians from a raging rido between warring families in Tuburan, Lanao del Sur. Without a nuanced understanding of local conflict dynamics, such a commendable effort could have easily been misconstrued as an offensive.
Rido is only one aspect in the complex web of violence in Mindanao which includes Muslim separatism, Communist insurgency, and banditry. The interaction of these different conflicts has explosive consequences to the long running separatist war in Mindanao. Given this context, a deeper understanding of specific conflicts is crucial in disentangling the blurred lines of conflict and enable communities and the government to effectively address the problem.
The Mindanao Rido Study
The Process of Engagement
The coordinated study on clan conflicts had its origin in late 2002 when The Asia Foundation suported a household conflict survey in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and adjacent areas on the citizens' perceptions of conflict (the survey was conducted by TNS-TRENDS in partnership with the Office of the President with support from The Asia Foundation and Kewlett Foundation (see Dayag-Laylo 2004). The survey results showed that while the Muslim-Christian conflict in Mindanao dominates the attention of international and local preaa, clan conflicts are actually more pertinent in the daily lives of the people. Citizens are more concerned about the prevalence of clan conflict and its negative impact on their communities than the conflict between the state and rebel groups in Mindanao. These findings, which were again verified by the Social Weather Stations in the ARMM (Social Weather Station (2005:2, slide 9-11), illustrate the complexity of conflicts in Mindanao and encouraged the Foundation to help address the problem. With the assistance of USAID, the Foundation spearheaded a set of diagnostic activities to help design strategic interventions that enable communities and government agencies to prevent the escalation of conflicts.
pp10
The coordinated study was done by engaging Mindanao experts in a series of meetings and group discussions that involved reviewing the existing studies on rido, clarifying concepts, and setting directions for research in the area. The discussions revolved around the following questions:
• What constitutes clan conflict and what are the existing formal and informal mechanisms that people use to resolve these;
• When does clan conflict occur and what kind of issues escalate into clan conflicts;
• How are young people socialized into attitudes about it;
• What are the variations of clan conflicts among different ethnic groups;
• How does clan conflict overlap with government and separatist conflict;
• To what extent are clan conflicts mistaken by government to be separatist conflict;
• What can government and peace activists do to isolate these different kinds of conflixt so effective interventions can be put in place?
The studies in this volume are descriptive studies that employed qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The data collection techniques used include key informant and in depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, surveys, and secondary data gathering. During theresearch period, the participating institutions conducted regular meetings among themselves to critique methodologies, discuss findings abd address problems. Methodologies and research questions underwent several iterations based on new data encountered in the field. Community meetings were also held to validate the preliminary research findings.
The sensitive nature of the topic was a challenge for the researchers who often found themselves under suspicion by some locals. It took some time for the researchers to lay the groundwork and eaen the trust of key informants and families involved in rido. As the data started to come in and make sensezn the researchers realized there was a real danger that the issue of rido could be used by unscrupulous groups to reinforce the already negative stereotype of Mindanao and Muslims, or even used to manipulate situations and affect the peace process. Because of this, extra care was taken in dealing with sensitive data and ensuring the fair treatment of issues related to clan conflicts. Sensitive and ethical issues were taken into account and discussed thoroughly with researchers and the local people, and measures were agreed upon to ensure that the issues were adequately addressed. At the heart of this entire effort was the integrity of the researchers- their sincere and transparent engagement with the local people.
pp11
(Dissemination)
pp12
Overview of Findings
The coordinated studies documented a total of 1,266 rido cases that occurred between 1930s to 2005, killing more than 5,500 people and displacing thousands. Out of the total number of rido cases documented, 64% remain unresolved. The tope four provinces with the highest number of rido incidences are Lanao del Sur (377), Maguindanao (218), Lanao del Norte (160), and Sulu (145). The rido incidences in these provinces account for 71% of the total cases documented. The findings also show a steady rise in rido conflicts in the 11 provinces surveyed from the 1980s to 2004. 50 percent (637 cases) of the total rido incidences recorded by the studies occurred in the last five years (2000-2004), which is about 127 new cases per year.
The actors involved in a rido vary as the conflict can occur within kinship groups or involve members coming from different kinship groups and ethnic groups.
Rido has caused so much untold suffering. Its effects are often subsumed under the larger separatist conflicts. Aside from the numerous casualties, rido related armed confrontations have caused the destruction of properties crippled the local economy, displaced communities, and formented fear.
The causes of rido are contextually varied and may be further complicated by society's sense and concept of honor and shame. While the triggers of the conflicts can range from petty offenses like theft and jesting to more serious crimes like homicide, the studies show that land disputes and political rivalries are the most common causes of rido. The factors that aggravate a rido include the formation of alliances by the principals with other families and armed groups or the interaction of rido with state led conflicts (i.e. the conflict between the Moro liberation fronts and the state) and other armed conflicts (e.g. Banditry). The proliferation of firearms, lack of law enforcers and credible mediators in conflict prone areas, and an inefficient justice system all contribute to rido.
pp13
Key Concepts on Feuding and Revenge
Kinship, Self-Help, and Collective Responsibility
Feuding and revenge killing documented in other parts of the world are suprisingly similar to the endemic clan conflicts experienced in the Philippines (see Barton 1949; Dozier 1966; Prill-Brett 1987; Kiefer 1972; Rosaldo 1980; Hasluck 1954; Ginat 1997). Revenge killings and feuds are typical in small-scale societies where family and kinship ties are the main main sources of authority and where there is a lack of effective state control and authority. In such societies where the state is weak, decision making and enforcement become more decentralized and the provision of security is based mainly on self-help (see Philip Carl Salzman in Ginat 1997:vii-viii; Kiefer 1972:53). This means that in the absence of a strong state or central authority, the responsibility and the means for coercion are more widespread, such that governance and social control unusally rest in the local population. Under such circumstances, the distribution of responsibility and capacity for the provision of security are more likely to be organized along the lines of kinship.
Classic ethnographies dealing with revenge recognize that kinship forms and important basis for social relations and that the bond of kinship is a significant factor in the provision of security and revenge. In his study on violence and law in Tausug society, Thomas Kiefer observes that the sanctions of kinship justify a greater range of everyday behaviours for the sanctions of kinship justify a greater range of everyday behavior for the Tausug that may cover a variety of political, economic, and military obligations (1972:28). Roy Barton's pioneering work among the Kalinga and Ifugao shpws the primacy of preserving family and kinship unity and its importance in carrying out responsibilities such as providing support during times of crisis and revenge-taking (1949:69; 1969:8). The importance accorded to kinship unity may also translate on a wider community level. This is especially true with regard to maintaining the integrity and autonomy of more self-sufficient villages. In the Cordilleras, June Prill-Brett (1987:14) observes that there is a marked solidarity among autonomous Bontok villages (ili), wherein each village member cooperates for the total welfare of the community. Strong community ties are especially apparent during times of conflict. A harm done to a village member is considered a threat to the security and autonomy of the village itself. On such occasions, the village is expected to retaliate to assert its strength and defensive capacity and not lose the respect of other villages (Prill-Brett 1987:15).
pp14
Elsewhere, village life and blood feuds in the Albanian highlands, eloquently captured in the earlier work of Margeret Hasluck (1954), provide us with some important insights into the relationship of family and communal solidarity and revenge:
"The community sense was fostered by every art the mountaineers knew. Each member of a household was encouraged to regard everything in it and everything its other members said and did as his own. The humblest man was encouraged to regard his village as his personal property. If home, village, or group of villages prospered, he rejoiced as if he himself had been advanced. If they were insulted or injured, he burned to avenge a personal affront. If they were disgraced by misconduct on the part of another member, he felt his own honour to be smirched. The patriotism so bred was narrow, perhaps, but in emphasis on the need to keep the community's honour untarnished, a good deterrent from crime (1954:11).
These communities consisted in the narrower sense of the family, and in the wider sense, a tribe. If a person was injured, the family in most cases, and the tribe in a few cases, by the law of self-government punished the wrongdoer. Since the individual was almost completely submerged in his family, an injury to him was an injury to the whole family and might be punishrd by any of its members. When the tribal community was involved, the injury might again be avenged by any of its members. When the injury took the form of murder, vengance generally took the Mosaic form of a life for a life, but sometimes was achieved by the exaction of blood money or the imposition of exile (1954:219)."
This vivid description by Hasluck underscores the obligations of closely knit groups in providing mutual self-hp that covers various aspects of everyday living including revenge which, in the end, m) be necessary for the survival of the community.
Joseph Ginat (1997), in a more refined explanation of mutual self-help as a collective cultural response, used the notion of "collective responsibility (Barton's earlier works also proposed the ideas of "collective responsibility" and "collective procedure" in Ifugao's legal system [1949:71-72]; [1967:7]). In his study od blood revenge among Bedouins and Arabs in Israrl, Ginat explains that in a system of collective responsibility, "any act or mission by one individual reflects on the group as a whole in the sense that the group is responsible for, and must accept, the consequences of that act or omission" (1997:2). This means that each member of a group may be held responsible for the actions of any one member, such that an injury inflicted on a member of a group would be considered an injury to the whole group, and thus creating conflict with the injured group. The basis of collective responsibility is the need to help each other in a hostile environment. As agricultural and pastoral societies collectively held territory, they also had shared interests and shared commitments such as security. According to Ginat, "collective responsibility" is the "defining thread that runs through blood revenge, family honor, mediation, and outcasting" (1997:1-2).
pp15
Security based on collective responsibility is effective because, on the one hand, the possibility of retaliation from an individual's group serves as a detterent for cominto conflict and, on the other hand, an individual knows that he is also responsible for the actions of his group members, such that can also be a target for reprisal if his group member comes into conflict. Robert Bates (2001) in his discussion on the development of agrarian societies from nature and from the conduct of other people resulted in the development of social arrangements that not only allowed families to organize production but also provide security and protection through the private provision of coercion. In such societies, the threat of of retaliation from the private provision of coercion served as a deterrent that kept a fragile peace (Bates 2001:46-47).
Honor, Shame, and Reciprocity
The interplay of honor, shame, and reciprocity within the cultural context of a society may serve to regulate relations among its members, determine prestige and political influence, facilitate access to resources and economic distribution, reinforce social ties, and promote cohesion.
Julian Pitt-Rivers defines honor as the value of a person in his own eyes and also in the eyes of his society. "It is his estimation of his own worth, his claim to pride, but it is also the acknowledgement of that claim, his excellence recognized by society, his right to pride" (Pitt-Rivers 1966:21, Julian Pitt-Rivers discusses honor, social status, and shame in Western Europe and compares the range of this notion with modern Andalusian society [1966]). It must be noted, however, that the conception of honor varies across different social contexts (region, period, class, cultures, etc.). For instance, honor as understood in European society is quite different in the Arab world. In France (and somewhat similarly in England), the concept of honor originated from the ideology of noble military serbice that later on became associated with the idea of noble race through reproductive and inheritance strategies in order to keep wealth intact (Nye 1998). Depending on different periods, honor in Spanish society was connected to lineage and social class and the notion of "pure blood" (Baroja 1996). In Arab society, Abhou-Zeid (1966:256) differentiates the types of hinor such as "Sharaf" which can be accumulated or lost according to the man's behavior, and the "Ird" which is honor that only applies to female chadtity and can only be lost and even affect the man's honor. Among some indigenous groups in the Philippines, concepts of honor locally known as "Bansa" or "Bantug" are recognized through a person's capacity to help others or, in the case of the village headmen ("Datus"), in the capacity to settle disputes. Among the Meranao, the "Maratabat" approximates the concepts of honor, self-esteem, and prestige but is sometimes equated to lineage or social status in the community (the maratabat has a universe of meanings which can include honor, status, rank, self-esteem, dignity, pride, self-respect, etc. For a thorough discussion of maratabat, please refer to the studies of Abdullah 1982, Bartolome 2001, and to the chapters of Matuan, Burton, and Doro in this volume).
pp16
Across many societies, when honor is challenged it can be resolved through an appeal to some for$ of tribunal such as the court of public opinion, the monarch ("Sultan," "Datu"), and other ordeals such as judicial combat (as in the French "Duel"), which imply an appeal to God (see Pitt-Rivers in "Persistiany" 1966). Physical violence is usually the ultimate vindication of honor especially when other means to settle disputes fail. In Albania, the blood feud is considered the ultimate sanction in all cases where personal honor is concerned such that failure to seek redress for honor that is violated is severely criticized by society (Hasluck 1954:XII; According to Hasluck, the Albanian blood feud has its roots in the customary laws of the mountaineers which evolved as part of the legal framework they devised for every aspect of their life [1954:9]. Administered by a ruling rank collectively known as, "The Elders," these customary laws are enshrined in the "Janun" of Lek Dukagiini ["Code of Lek Duagiini"]. The "Kanun" contained methods for dealing with crimes against property and person, conventions that govern trespass, travel, the administration of oaths, the imposition of penalties, and conventions that govern the blood-feud [Hasluck 1954:xii]):
"Public opinion also spurred the avenger on. A man slow to kill his enemy was thought 'disgraced' and was described as 'low class' and 'bad.' Among the Highlanders, he risked finding that other men had contemptuously come to sleep with his wife, his daughter could not marry into a 'good' family, and his son must marry a 'bad' girl" (Hasluck 1954:231-232).
While honor can sometimes be a driving factor in revenge, this same sense of honor also demands that vengance is not taken indiscriminately. In many societies (like the communities in this study), revenge and blood feids are governed by multiplicity of rules. The Albanian blood feuds documented by Hasluck provide many examples of such conventions. For instance, it is considered dishonorable to kill and not tell, to steal from a victim, to hide a victimzks body, and to violate the sanctity of the "pledged word" such as a truce ("Bese") (1954:220). There are also practices governing house guests and women. House guests, for example, are considered under the protection of the host such that the host is obliged to avenge the guest when killed under one's protection, while killing women and persons who are physically fraul, feeble-minded, or not capble of carrying arms is abhorred (among the Kalinga, a host is similarly obliged to avenge the slaying or wounding of his guest [Barton 1949:83]). Curiously, other conventions exist concerning religious beliefs that demonstrate the persistence of customary laws despite the influence of Christianity and Islam. In some parts of Albania, an assailent is expected to face a dead man's body to the east if his victim is Christian and toward Mecca if the victim is Muslim (Hasluck 1954:229; According to Hutton [in Hasluck]: 'As a result of the Turkish conquest, several of the Albanian Tribes changed from Christianity to Islam, and there are now many Muslim Albanians as well as both Greek Orthadox and Roman Catholic Christians. The Mirdite, who constitute the biggest tribe, were perhaps at one time orthadox, and are now staunch Catholics. But their profession of faith seems to have affected but little adherance of the Albanians to their ancient customs [1954:xv]).
pp17
Complementing the concept of honor is the concept of shame. Ginat says that "just as honor is the value of a person in his own eyes, but in the eyes of his society, so should shame be seen not only in how the individual feels but also in what people will say (1997:131). Shame involves sensitivity to the opinion of others and includes a consciousness of public opinion and judgement (Pitt-Rivers 1966:52).
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I'll pick up on pp17 when I post my next entry in this multi-part entry.
NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part XII: North Cotabato Still in the Thick of It
Large portions of Mindanao exist entirely off of the grid. By "grid" I mean modernity, life's luxuries like running water, and running electricity. Filipinos have been labeled the highest cellphone users in the world on a per capita basis, with SMS, or, "Text Messaging" being the primary form of communication. Imagine then, how frustrating it must be for the soldiers coming south from Luzon, who are already having to adjust to language and cultural differences on top of being dropped into a remote corner of Mindanao, one without cellular signals. One such maddening post is the 57IB (Infantry Battalion) garrison in the municipality of Makilala's Barangay Batasan. The detachment's post, in that barangay's Purok #6, is without running water, electricity, and yes, also without a cellular signal.
So it was on Friday, November 11th, 2011, when Corporal (Cpl.) Hassan Sarif was tasked with picking up the next three days worth of supplies, not one but two Privates First Class (Pfc.), volunteered to accompany Cpl.Sarif on the supply run. Like their Corporal, Pfc.Dandie Garbo and Pfc.Alex Calon changed into civilian attire. Although on duty, they would be trekking 6 kilometers to the main sector garrison for their supplies, as well as charging their cellphone batteries for those rare times when the unit moved through the hills near their post, locales that offered intermittent cellphone signals. The civilian attire is meant to remove the giant bullseye taped to their foreheads since they operate in one of the most dangerous sectors on Mainland Mindanao. Aside from the BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, there are two competitive factions of the MNLF/BMA (BMA being the Bangsamoro Army, the military half of the MNLF equation), the MNLF-Misuari, and the MNLF-EC15 (Executive Council of 15, led by the Vice Mayor of Cotabato City, Muslimin Sema). Additionally, there are the three Communist Insurgencies, the CPP/NPA, the RPM-M/RPA, and the Black Fighters. The second, Rebolusyonaryong Partido Manggagawa (Revolutionary Worker's Party), and its armed wing, the Revolutionary Proletariat Army, are at the tail end of a Peace Process and for all effective purposes, have been neutralised. The last group, the Black Fighters, are a B'laan Lumad group with roughly three dozen guerillas whose chief aim seems to be cattle rustling and cannabis trafficking, luckily for the Government.
The CPP/NPA however, remains a force to be reckoned with. Although the original NPA Regional Command covering that sector- the Second Congressional District of North Cotabato Province, the Central Mindanao Committee, or CMC, disintegrated under the internal pressures wrought by what the CPP now calls, its "Second Great Rectification," when the CMC rejected CPP founder and chief ideologue Jose Maria "Joma" Sison's strict "My way or the hiway" ethos vis a vis Orthadox Maoism, the sector has bounced back under NPA control quite strongly. Today the sector is controlled by the SMRC, or, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. The SMRC, whose AOR, or Area of Responsibility (as in "Area of Operation") is concentrated on Region 11, the Davao Region, but also covers what remains of the NPA's once extremely formidable presence in that province, North Cotabato. The specific Front, or guerilla unit operating in Makilala is Front 51, the Matanggol Roque Command. Covering Antipas, Arakan, and M'lang, as well as Makilala, Front 51 has proved itself equipped to dance toe to toe with the AFP for the long haul.
As Cpl.Sarif and Pfcs.Garbo and Calon left their post, they made a mistake all too common of lax soldiers, and stuck to a regular routine. Instead of following the ridge line, slowly, they traipsed down the footpath meandering next to a creek on the valley floor. Approaching them from the opposite direction was a 16 year old B'laan Tribesmen leading his goats to a higher pasture. The young shepard would later recall that Pfc.Calon, the only one of the three carrying a weapon, was walking to the rear as Cpl.Sarif and Pfc.Garbo were deep in conversation. The report of a rifle echoed all through the mountain valley.
Pfc.Alex Calon was killed instantly by a aniper's bullet that tore through the side of his head. As the shepard scrambled with his goats, Cpl.Sarif and Pfc.Garbo helplessly fell to their bellies, with no idea where the shot came from. In quick sucession both men were critically wounded as well. Playing dead, the two surviving men were able to recover Pfc.Calon's M16 and service issued 45 caliber pistol, before escaping under the cover of darkness. Almost always, NPA sniping incidents are the result of Irregulars, members of the NPA Irregular Force, "Milisya ng Bayan," or, "Village Militia."
So it was on Friday, November 11th, 2011, when Corporal (Cpl.) Hassan Sarif was tasked with picking up the next three days worth of supplies, not one but two Privates First Class (Pfc.), volunteered to accompany Cpl.Sarif on the supply run. Like their Corporal, Pfc.Dandie Garbo and Pfc.Alex Calon changed into civilian attire. Although on duty, they would be trekking 6 kilometers to the main sector garrison for their supplies, as well as charging their cellphone batteries for those rare times when the unit moved through the hills near their post, locales that offered intermittent cellphone signals. The civilian attire is meant to remove the giant bullseye taped to their foreheads since they operate in one of the most dangerous sectors on Mainland Mindanao. Aside from the BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, there are two competitive factions of the MNLF/BMA (BMA being the Bangsamoro Army, the military half of the MNLF equation), the MNLF-Misuari, and the MNLF-EC15 (Executive Council of 15, led by the Vice Mayor of Cotabato City, Muslimin Sema). Additionally, there are the three Communist Insurgencies, the CPP/NPA, the RPM-M/RPA, and the Black Fighters. The second, Rebolusyonaryong Partido Manggagawa (Revolutionary Worker's Party), and its armed wing, the Revolutionary Proletariat Army, are at the tail end of a Peace Process and for all effective purposes, have been neutralised. The last group, the Black Fighters, are a B'laan Lumad group with roughly three dozen guerillas whose chief aim seems to be cattle rustling and cannabis trafficking, luckily for the Government.
The CPP/NPA however, remains a force to be reckoned with. Although the original NPA Regional Command covering that sector- the Second Congressional District of North Cotabato Province, the Central Mindanao Committee, or CMC, disintegrated under the internal pressures wrought by what the CPP now calls, its "Second Great Rectification," when the CMC rejected CPP founder and chief ideologue Jose Maria "Joma" Sison's strict "My way or the hiway" ethos vis a vis Orthadox Maoism, the sector has bounced back under NPA control quite strongly. Today the sector is controlled by the SMRC, or, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. The SMRC, whose AOR, or Area of Responsibility (as in "Area of Operation") is concentrated on Region 11, the Davao Region, but also covers what remains of the NPA's once extremely formidable presence in that province, North Cotabato. The specific Front, or guerilla unit operating in Makilala is Front 51, the Matanggol Roque Command. Covering Antipas, Arakan, and M'lang, as well as Makilala, Front 51 has proved itself equipped to dance toe to toe with the AFP for the long haul.
As Cpl.Sarif and Pfcs.Garbo and Calon left their post, they made a mistake all too common of lax soldiers, and stuck to a regular routine. Instead of following the ridge line, slowly, they traipsed down the footpath meandering next to a creek on the valley floor. Approaching them from the opposite direction was a 16 year old B'laan Tribesmen leading his goats to a higher pasture. The young shepard would later recall that Pfc.Calon, the only one of the three carrying a weapon, was walking to the rear as Cpl.Sarif and Pfc.Garbo were deep in conversation. The report of a rifle echoed all through the mountain valley.
Pfc.Alex Calon was killed instantly by a aniper's bullet that tore through the side of his head. As the shepard scrambled with his goats, Cpl.Sarif and Pfc.Garbo helplessly fell to their bellies, with no idea where the shot came from. In quick sucession both men were critically wounded as well. Playing dead, the two surviving men were able to recover Pfc.Calon's M16 and service issued 45 caliber pistol, before escaping under the cover of darkness. Almost always, NPA sniping incidents are the result of Irregulars, members of the NPA Irregular Force, "Milisya ng Bayan," or, "Village Militia."
NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part XI: Front 16 Goes for the Gold in Alegria, or Does It?
Alegria, a tiny municipality sitting along the shores of Lake Mainit, in Surigao del Norte Province, has a storied past vis a vis the insurgency, more than one would expect for such a non-descript town. In 1999 the NPA finally decided to organise within the general area, after sewing up the adjacent municipality of Kitcharao, in Agusan del Norte Province, the town I have been discussing in other Fourth Quarter NPA entries regarding the 30IB (Infantry Battalion) terrorising the town's Mamanwa Tribe in the Zapanta Valley.
When the NPA first organises it deploys a seven to fifteen person guerilla unit known as the "SYP," short for Sandatahang Yunit Pagpropaganda, which translated from the Tagalog basically means, "Armed Propaganda Unit." The SYP only moves in after a small but effective mass base of support has been established. Peasant Organisations, KMP for example, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Organization of the Philippines) helps to incite dirt poor-almost always- landless farmers. Organising a local branch of such organizations, which, inevitably are themselves constituent to the NDFP, or, National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the above-ground umbrella for all Hard Left organisations in the Philippines. The NDFP was founded in the early 1970s, by the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), the political wing of the NPA equation, as a way in which to remain viable and at the forefront of the legal, above ground struggle versus the Marcos Dictatorship, but of course it has persevered for the quarter century since Marcos was toppled.
With a local chapter of a political organisation in place, NDFP activists agitate the local populace to organise, found "Barangay Committees" outside of the LGU (Local Government Unit) structure. In the Philippines, municipalities aren't constructed according to any Western model. There is a "municipality," which can very easily cover a 75 kilometer stretch of coastline. Within a given municipality there are "barangays," or "villages." Within each barangay, which can, like the municipality, be composed of disparate settlements, there are "sitios" or "puroks"- and one can even speak of another divisible unit within the purok or sitio, but for my purposes here, barangays are the smallest unit that needs to be examined.
Barangays are given de facto mayors known as "Barangay Chairmen," but usually referred to as "Barangay Captains." There is also a barangay council and both the Chairman and the Council are elected into office in an electoral process that is unsynchronised vis a vis the National Elections (which counter-intutively include the Mayoral and Provincial Gubernatorial Elections as well). As if that isn't confusing enough for you, Mindanao also has a Regional Election in the ARMM, or, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Again, this third election isn't synchronised with the other two.
The NDFP activists effectively organise a parallel, or "shadow government," but do so down to the sitio or purok level. Their "committees" are unlike the legal government's committees which devote time and energy to such non-sensical subjects (for Mindanao) as "tourism' and "sports." Instead, the parallel committees focus on real life issues that are incredibly important to villagers, issues like developing potable water systems that don't involve a two kilometer trek through hilly jungle. For the first time power is removed from the traditional Philippine power base, its ogliarchs and political dynasties, and instead offers the poorest of the poor the feeling (of course it is illusory) that their concerns and needs are finally being addressed.
Then the NPA SYP arrives and though they are armed, the villagers aren't afraid, because the SYP is presented as an extension of the previous organisational activity. The SYP organises village defence committees, what it calls, "Milisya ng Bayan," the Village Militia. Townspeople are drilled in the use of firearms and if by chance the guerilla unit, or "Front" with Operational Control of that given area, has somehow managed to fully arm its guerillas (which is almost never the case), the SYP may distribute revolvers and shotguns, or in extremly rare cases, a vintage Garand M1 to the "Milisya." Once a Milisya is organised, it serves mostly as an intelligence pool for a guerilla Front. Rarely, members will be utilised as NPA Irregulars, joining in large scale operations before melting back into their villages and returning to theor farm work and other day to day activities.
The most important purpose of the SYP is to provide cannon fodder for the NPA, young, expendable, men and women who take that small leap and become guerillas themselves, NPA Regulars. In 1999, in a town near Alegria, a 17 year old Lumad (Hilltribe) woman made that leap with her family's support and blessing. Jelyn Dayong was the eldest child of a landless peasant family. When the NPA's Front 16 (NEMRC or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee) stopped in the Zapanta Valley, on the Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte Provincial borders, and suggested that Jelyn had the makings of a natural defender of the defenceless, and promised to help her extremly poor family provide for its youngest children, she readily followed the group into the jungle.
Unfortunately for Front 16, and more unfortunately for Jelyn, her time with the NPA ended abruptly, not long after joining the group. While trying to train Jelyn as a guerilla the then-leader of Front 16, Eusebio Gumaquit, known by the nom de guerre "Ka Irak," realised she would be more of a hinderance than a help. Therefore, he deployed Jelyn to an SYP Team. Although she would carry a rifle, she would probably never be involved in an armed contact with the AFP. On February 16th, 1999, the SYP Team entered the municipality of Alegria, in Surigao del Norte Province, and made its way along the shores of Lake Mainit, finally entering Barangay Perdida, a barangay that has since been dissolved, where it was tasked with forming a new Milisya in Sitio Baglamag. Unfortunately for the SYP, the AFP's 20IB (Infantry Battalion, "AFP" being the Armed Forces of the Philippines) was also in the sitio that day. Having just been transferred into that AOR (Area of Responsibility, as in "Area of Operation"), replacing the 29IB, and was spending time in every sitio in the sector so as to acclimate itself to the terrain.
Jelyn's SYP team was joined by three other guerillas , so as to cross train a number of new members as they themselves trained villagers, but even with ten Regulars was still woefully undermanned when her small group inadvertently crossed paths with the 20IB. The AFP managed to capture five rifles and a seriously wounded Jelyn, though she fared the best since the AFP killed the other nine in her detachment. Shot in her leg and pelvic bone, she was first taken to Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City before being airlifted first to Camp Bancasi in Butuan City, in Agusan del Norte Province, the 4ID (Infantry Division) support base, and then again ro Camp Evangelista, the 4ID's main camp. There in 4ID Hospital, her true age, 17, came to light. Not one to miss a propaganda opportunity, the 4ID broke not only Philippine Law BUT International Humanitarian Law and LOAC, the Laws of Armed Conflict as well. Philippine Law requires that any combatant under the age of 18 be turned over to the DSWD, or, Department of Social Welfare and Development, within 72 hours of the AFP taking custody. International Humanitarian Law, or IHL, mandates that juveniles not be identified when charged with serious crimes. LOAC mandates that enemy prisoners of war not be subjected to media exposure- something the AFP willfully contravenes with most any captured NPA member.
Naturally Jelyn Dayong's case became a cause celebre amongst the NDFP "human rights" groups like "Karapatan" and ao, it was only after a Writ of Habeus Corpus was filed and approved in April of that year that Jelyn surfaced, but by then she "begged" to remain within the "safe arms" of the AFP. Indeed, they used Jelyn terribly. Getting cash allotments from General Headquarters to "pay" for her public school education (P21,000 alone went for a "subsistence allowance"), they even made the poor girl "star" in a propaganda play about her capture ("Batan-on pa lang sa Kamatayan, or, "Too Young to Die"). At age 23, in 2003, finally graduating highschool, she was inducted into the 4ID where she eventually was deployed to its CMO (Civil Military Operations) Battalion as a clerk, married to a fellow soldier. Her family hates her, despite the AFP trying to bribe them with a 3 hectare lot in the Zapanta Valley, but Jelyn claims to be happy.
Since that memorable armed contact at the beginning of 1999, the NPA has steered wide and clear of the small town of Alegria. Aside from isolated cases of transiting to and fro through the municipality, Front 16 has simply let it be. Then, on November 18th, 2011, at 8PM, ten "guerillas" barged into the home of Danny Evarita in Alegria's Barangay Ombong, and demanded...GOLD. Mr.Evarita is one of the many "Treasure Hunters" who dream of finding "Yamashita's Gold" here on Mindanao. Never mind that General Yamashita never set foot on Mindanao, it is ebough to know that there were Japanese soldiers here for suck dreamy eyed fools, I mean innocents, I mean fools. Tired of people poking fun at him, Mr.Evarita boldly announced that he had found the motherlode. Not long after, ten men brandishing M16s, M14s, and M1s paid the Evarita household a visit.
Demanding "the gold," the gunmen said that they needed it to sell for cash so as to buy medicines for wounded colleagues. Mr.Evarita stumbled as he tried to explain that the truth of the matter was, he hadn't actually found any gold...or anything of value. Naturally this didn't go over too well and one of the men squeezed off three rounds from his M16, all of which met their mark. As Mr.Evarita lay on the floor whimpering in pain, the gunmen searched the home from top to bottom before leaving disgustedly with a mere P6,000 ($140). Withdrawing into Barangay Camp Edward (the new name for Barangay Geotina) the "guerillas" melted back into the jungle. Of course these weren't NPA guerillas who have a full array of medicines along with hospitals that gladly assist them.
Danny Evarita survived and made his way to Caraga Regional Hospital.
When the NPA first organises it deploys a seven to fifteen person guerilla unit known as the "SYP," short for Sandatahang Yunit Pagpropaganda, which translated from the Tagalog basically means, "Armed Propaganda Unit." The SYP only moves in after a small but effective mass base of support has been established. Peasant Organisations, KMP for example, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Organization of the Philippines) helps to incite dirt poor-almost always- landless farmers. Organising a local branch of such organizations, which, inevitably are themselves constituent to the NDFP, or, National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the above-ground umbrella for all Hard Left organisations in the Philippines. The NDFP was founded in the early 1970s, by the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), the political wing of the NPA equation, as a way in which to remain viable and at the forefront of the legal, above ground struggle versus the Marcos Dictatorship, but of course it has persevered for the quarter century since Marcos was toppled.
With a local chapter of a political organisation in place, NDFP activists agitate the local populace to organise, found "Barangay Committees" outside of the LGU (Local Government Unit) structure. In the Philippines, municipalities aren't constructed according to any Western model. There is a "municipality," which can very easily cover a 75 kilometer stretch of coastline. Within a given municipality there are "barangays," or "villages." Within each barangay, which can, like the municipality, be composed of disparate settlements, there are "sitios" or "puroks"- and one can even speak of another divisible unit within the purok or sitio, but for my purposes here, barangays are the smallest unit that needs to be examined.
Barangays are given de facto mayors known as "Barangay Chairmen," but usually referred to as "Barangay Captains." There is also a barangay council and both the Chairman and the Council are elected into office in an electoral process that is unsynchronised vis a vis the National Elections (which counter-intutively include the Mayoral and Provincial Gubernatorial Elections as well). As if that isn't confusing enough for you, Mindanao also has a Regional Election in the ARMM, or, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Again, this third election isn't synchronised with the other two.
The NDFP activists effectively organise a parallel, or "shadow government," but do so down to the sitio or purok level. Their "committees" are unlike the legal government's committees which devote time and energy to such non-sensical subjects (for Mindanao) as "tourism' and "sports." Instead, the parallel committees focus on real life issues that are incredibly important to villagers, issues like developing potable water systems that don't involve a two kilometer trek through hilly jungle. For the first time power is removed from the traditional Philippine power base, its ogliarchs and political dynasties, and instead offers the poorest of the poor the feeling (of course it is illusory) that their concerns and needs are finally being addressed.
Then the NPA SYP arrives and though they are armed, the villagers aren't afraid, because the SYP is presented as an extension of the previous organisational activity. The SYP organises village defence committees, what it calls, "Milisya ng Bayan," the Village Militia. Townspeople are drilled in the use of firearms and if by chance the guerilla unit, or "Front" with Operational Control of that given area, has somehow managed to fully arm its guerillas (which is almost never the case), the SYP may distribute revolvers and shotguns, or in extremly rare cases, a vintage Garand M1 to the "Milisya." Once a Milisya is organised, it serves mostly as an intelligence pool for a guerilla Front. Rarely, members will be utilised as NPA Irregulars, joining in large scale operations before melting back into their villages and returning to theor farm work and other day to day activities.
The most important purpose of the SYP is to provide cannon fodder for the NPA, young, expendable, men and women who take that small leap and become guerillas themselves, NPA Regulars. In 1999, in a town near Alegria, a 17 year old Lumad (Hilltribe) woman made that leap with her family's support and blessing. Jelyn Dayong was the eldest child of a landless peasant family. When the NPA's Front 16 (NEMRC or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee) stopped in the Zapanta Valley, on the Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte Provincial borders, and suggested that Jelyn had the makings of a natural defender of the defenceless, and promised to help her extremly poor family provide for its youngest children, she readily followed the group into the jungle.
Unfortunately for Front 16, and more unfortunately for Jelyn, her time with the NPA ended abruptly, not long after joining the group. While trying to train Jelyn as a guerilla the then-leader of Front 16, Eusebio Gumaquit, known by the nom de guerre "Ka Irak," realised she would be more of a hinderance than a help. Therefore, he deployed Jelyn to an SYP Team. Although she would carry a rifle, she would probably never be involved in an armed contact with the AFP. On February 16th, 1999, the SYP Team entered the municipality of Alegria, in Surigao del Norte Province, and made its way along the shores of Lake Mainit, finally entering Barangay Perdida, a barangay that has since been dissolved, where it was tasked with forming a new Milisya in Sitio Baglamag. Unfortunately for the SYP, the AFP's 20IB (Infantry Battalion, "AFP" being the Armed Forces of the Philippines) was also in the sitio that day. Having just been transferred into that AOR (Area of Responsibility, as in "Area of Operation"), replacing the 29IB, and was spending time in every sitio in the sector so as to acclimate itself to the terrain.
Jelyn's SYP team was joined by three other guerillas , so as to cross train a number of new members as they themselves trained villagers, but even with ten Regulars was still woefully undermanned when her small group inadvertently crossed paths with the 20IB. The AFP managed to capture five rifles and a seriously wounded Jelyn, though she fared the best since the AFP killed the other nine in her detachment. Shot in her leg and pelvic bone, she was first taken to Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City before being airlifted first to Camp Bancasi in Butuan City, in Agusan del Norte Province, the 4ID (Infantry Division) support base, and then again ro Camp Evangelista, the 4ID's main camp. There in 4ID Hospital, her true age, 17, came to light. Not one to miss a propaganda opportunity, the 4ID broke not only Philippine Law BUT International Humanitarian Law and LOAC, the Laws of Armed Conflict as well. Philippine Law requires that any combatant under the age of 18 be turned over to the DSWD, or, Department of Social Welfare and Development, within 72 hours of the AFP taking custody. International Humanitarian Law, or IHL, mandates that juveniles not be identified when charged with serious crimes. LOAC mandates that enemy prisoners of war not be subjected to media exposure- something the AFP willfully contravenes with most any captured NPA member.
Naturally Jelyn Dayong's case became a cause celebre amongst the NDFP "human rights" groups like "Karapatan" and ao, it was only after a Writ of Habeus Corpus was filed and approved in April of that year that Jelyn surfaced, but by then she "begged" to remain within the "safe arms" of the AFP. Indeed, they used Jelyn terribly. Getting cash allotments from General Headquarters to "pay" for her public school education (P21,000 alone went for a "subsistence allowance"), they even made the poor girl "star" in a propaganda play about her capture ("Batan-on pa lang sa Kamatayan, or, "Too Young to Die"). At age 23, in 2003, finally graduating highschool, she was inducted into the 4ID where she eventually was deployed to its CMO (Civil Military Operations) Battalion as a clerk, married to a fellow soldier. Her family hates her, despite the AFP trying to bribe them with a 3 hectare lot in the Zapanta Valley, but Jelyn claims to be happy.
Since that memorable armed contact at the beginning of 1999, the NPA has steered wide and clear of the small town of Alegria. Aside from isolated cases of transiting to and fro through the municipality, Front 16 has simply let it be. Then, on November 18th, 2011, at 8PM, ten "guerillas" barged into the home of Danny Evarita in Alegria's Barangay Ombong, and demanded...GOLD. Mr.Evarita is one of the many "Treasure Hunters" who dream of finding "Yamashita's Gold" here on Mindanao. Never mind that General Yamashita never set foot on Mindanao, it is ebough to know that there were Japanese soldiers here for suck dreamy eyed fools, I mean innocents, I mean fools. Tired of people poking fun at him, Mr.Evarita boldly announced that he had found the motherlode. Not long after, ten men brandishing M16s, M14s, and M1s paid the Evarita household a visit.
Demanding "the gold," the gunmen said that they needed it to sell for cash so as to buy medicines for wounded colleagues. Mr.Evarita stumbled as he tried to explain that the truth of the matter was, he hadn't actually found any gold...or anything of value. Naturally this didn't go over too well and one of the men squeezed off three rounds from his M16, all of which met their mark. As Mr.Evarita lay on the floor whimpering in pain, the gunmen searched the home from top to bottom before leaving disgustedly with a mere P6,000 ($140). Withdrawing into Barangay Camp Edward (the new name for Barangay Geotina) the "guerillas" melted back into the jungle. Of course these weren't NPA guerillas who have a full array of medicines along with hospitals that gladly assist them.
Danny Evarita survived and made his way to Caraga Regional Hospital.
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