Title: Chapter 6: Raiders of Sulu Sea
Introduction:
Punta de Flechas, which means Point of Arrows, is a headland Where the Maguindanaoans would pass and shoot
arrows as a good omen for their attacks if they would sail westward and then northward to the Visayas and Luzon.
Christianity took root in the Philippines around 1521, when a Portuguese Explorer sailing for the Spanish crown
landed on the remote island of the arcapelago.
But before Christianity, Islam came as early as 1380 whem Mudum(Makhdum) arrives in SULU to plant the
foundation of Islam. Raja Baguinda from Sumatra, Indonesia then arrived in Sulu after Mudum. Islam Deepened
with the Arrival of abu Bakr who married Paramisuli, daughter of Raja Baginda.
A bigger transplantation came with the arrival of Shariff Kabungsuan from Jahore, who began to spread
Islamazation of groups in Mainland Mindanao.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this chapter, you would have:
a. compared the perspectives of the perpetrators (Moros) and the victims of the human piracy undertaken by socalled "Raiders of the Sulu Sea"; and
b. judged over their acts.
Topic:
"Raiders of the Sulu Sea" is a historical documentary film produced by Oak3 Films, a Singaporean -based
film outfit. It was first released in 2007 for Q Channel in South Korea and then internationally released in 2008
under Looking Glass International through Discovery Channel and History Channel.
Historical Context of the Film
In 1591, the Spanish colonial government decided to colonize Mindanao in order to force its
subjection under the colonial government. By colonizing it would mean Christianizing the natives. This
precipitated the Moro wars which took different turns.
The Spaniards wanted to control the trade from Sulu to other parts of Southeast Asia and by capturing Sulu
as a base to launch the invasion of Moluccas. In turn, the colonization of Mindanao thereby depriving the rajas of
their political control of their territories.
In April 1596, Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa was assigned as governor in Mindanao only to be hacked
on the head by a kampilan while in Cotabato.
Sultan of Tarnate, an island in Moluccas launched a preemptive attack not in Mindanao but in Spanishheld pueblo in the Visayas before the Spaniards could invade them.
The bigger problem for the Spaniards was that these sultans from Maguindanao and Sulu were sustained
by external help due to blood ties and previous alliances;
Sulu with Brunei and Maguindanao with Tarnate. From Maguindanao, 3,000 warriors launched a raid
on the Visayas in 1599 and took 1,600 Christians as captives.
In 1602, another attack was mounted on the coast of Southern Luzon which took 1,400 as prisoners. Series
of these raids were mounted for several years of attacks and counter-attacks as the Spaniards were busy with taking
Sulu.
What was bothering for the Spaniards was that Sulu and Maguindanao sultans, aside from the help in arms
and warriors from Tarnate and Brunei, were receiving help and insinuations from the Dutch which was intent at
challenging the Spanish colonial foothold in Manila (Adib Majul, 1975, pp. 1081-1084).
The Moro raids reached several parts of Luzon, which on the part of the Visayan and Luzon inhabitants
were not so much of religious but pratical attacks where the captives were then sold as slaves. Fray Joaquin
Martinez de Zuñiga's account of his travel and observation of Bataan had this to testify:
“The new province of Bataan included what is left of the district and absorbed the towns of Mariveles, Cabcaben,
Bagac, and Morong, but because of these towns had dwindled very much in population as a result of Moro invasions
and because they were so small (all together they constitute only one parish), it was found necessary to incorporate
with Pampanga portion big enough to form a town altogether it is within the limits of the new province.” (De
Zuñiga, 1973, p. 357).
In order to stop the pillaging and plunder of Christian towns in the Visayas and Luzon, Jesuit missionaries
advised Gov. Gen. Juan Cerezo de Salamanca to build a fort in Zamboanga. He approved of the plan in 1635 as a
staging assault to Sulu. In April 1635 Fray Melchor de Vera, a Jesuit engineer with 1,000 Visayan and 300
Spanish construction workers, embarked on a journey to Zamboanga and began the construction of the fort in June
1635. The building of the fortification was continued by the succeeding Gov. Gen. Sebastian Hortado de
Corcuera who came to relieve Gov. Gen. de Salamanca in 1635. Gov. Gen de Corcuera brought with him laborers
to as far as Cavite, Bohol, Cebu and Panay to quicken the construction (National Museum, 2018).
In order to finance this construction, the Spaniards imposed an additional tax called donativo de Zamboanga of 2
real. In addition, the natives of Bulacan and Pampanga chose to pay an additional tax of 2 real more as protection of
their coastline from Moro attacks and destruction (Plehn, 1901, pp. 689- 690). In Bataan, on the other hand, the
population of the province was greatly reduced due to the attacks of the raiders.
Again, because of its strategic location, Bataan was, on a daily basis, waylaid by pillaging Muslim pirates. By
hiding in the mangroves and swamps, the pirates preyed on and kidnapped unsuspecting fishermen and unwary
inhabitants and sold them as slaves in Jolo or Borneo. In fact, governor-generals were helpless in containing the
pirates for lack of arms.
An anecdote was told about the helplessness of the colonial government when the commander of Corregidor asked
for cannons and gunpowder to scare the pirates away. A governor-general could only quip when he told the harassed
commander to use spears instead (Bascara, 2010, p. 16).
On December 25, 1636, the Spaniards under the command of Capt. Nicolas Gonzales waged an assault on Datu
Tagal, the brother of Sultan Corralat (Kudarat) of Maguindanao and killed Datu Tagal in the Battle of Punta
de Flechas (Gutierrez, 1990, p. 205). In the succeeding year, Gov. Gen. Corcuera mounted his assault on the
brother of Datu Tagal to finally subdue Sultan Corralat and conquer Maguindanao. His armada set sail in
February 1636 and arrived in Zamboanga where the fort was being constructed and picked up Capt. Gonzales,
the hero of the Battle of Punta de Flechas, then they waged an assault on the Sultan in March 1636. First they
waged an attack on Lamitan which fell on Spanish hands on March 14. Then Gov. Gen. Corcuera pursued the
surviving warriors in Ilihan Hill which fell on March 18 (Mastrili, 1990, p. 210). 100 AD.
These victories and the construction of Fort Pilar in Zamboanga which would not be finished until the early years of
1700 will not end the Muslim raids in Luzon and the Visayas. The three ethnic-groups known as Balangigi- Samal,
Пlanuns, and Sulu employed sea-faring warriors known as Tausugs who were at the forefront of the raids. From
July to October, these raiders would pose as fishermen and hide themselves on mangroves or wait on land and
without warning draw their swords at the unsuspecting fishermen. Then they would bore holes on their palms where
they were slung and tied together. The captives were then loaded into their raiding boats and sold as slaves in
Southeast Asian communities (Pinoy Islands, 2011).
Key Informants (They where the one who made the making of the film possible)
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Idzman Othman (Director of the Film)
Icelle Gloria D. Borja-Estrada,
Dr. Samuel K. Tan,
Halman Abubakar,
Dr. Margarita Cojuanco,
Dr. Barbara Watson-Andaya, and
Dr. Julius Bautista.