COLONIALISM AND TRADITION
Spanish Moro Policy
Spain's Moro Policy
Spanish Moro Policy
- Moro- Christian confrontation began in the 16th century.
- Rajah Sulayman and his uncle, Lakandula, relatives of the Sultan of Brunei became the stiffest opposition of Legazpi.
- The Spaniards drove Islam out of Luzon and the Visayas, and for over 3 centuries contained it in Mindanao and Sulu.
- Treaty of Zaragoza- King Charles of Spain relinquished claims to the Philippines in exchange for 350,000 gold ducats.
- The preparation of an expedition under Ruy Lopez de Villalobos from Mexico in 1542 confirmed the determination of Spain to lay hands on the islands.
- Moros responded to such design with violence and warfare. Moro buccaneers harassed Spanish shipping, and so were dubbed "pirates". Moro expedition carried "jihad" to the coasts of the Visayas and Luzon.
- Spaniards sent punitive expedition against the Moros.
- In the middle of the 1811 century there was a Jesuit mission in Jolo which achieved the conversion of Sultan Alimud Din I.
- The Moros fought for their home and country for freedom to pursue their religion and way of life.
- Spanish effort, were not successful.
- With the capitulation of the Moro sultanates to Spanish authority, there arose the "Juramentado"- the Muslim devotee swore an oath, as an individual, to offer his life in slaying infidels and defending dar-al-islam.
- In January of 1893, Luis de la Torre, a Spanish officer, wrote the Governor-General of the Philippines, "the Moro race completely antithetic to the Spanish... and will ever be our eternal enemy"
Spain's Moro Policy
Spanish Moro Policy
"You shall tell him that our object is that he be converted to Christianity; and that he must allow is freely to preach the law of the Christians, and the natives must be allowed to go and hear the preaching and to be converted, without receiving any harm from the chiefs. Furthermore, Rodriguez was to ascertain who were the preachers of Islam, arrest them and bring them before the governor-general. He was also to destroy any mosque he found..."
- Gov. Gen Francisco de Sande to Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa spelled out instructions of the Policy of Spain towards Moro.
1. Get them to acknowledge Spanish sovereignty over their territory.
2. Promote trade with them, limiting their trade to the Philippines islands and exploring natural resources of Moroland with a view to their commercial exploitation.
3. Bring an end to Moro "piracy" against Spanish shipping and an end to Moro raids on the Christianized settlements of the Visayas and Southern Luzon.
4. Hispanized and Christianize the Moros, along the same lines followed with respect to other lowland Filipino (indio) groups.
- The Spanish importation of superior weapon notably steam gunboats served to blunt the edge of the Moro Kris.
- The Spaniards were able to impose their own polotico-military "Government of Mindanao" which provided expansion of Jesuit mission work on the island.
- On 1876, Julu fell and two years later, the Sultan was obliged to sign a treaty which provided Sulu to retain its custom, laws and tradition, also provided that Catholic missionaries were free to visit.
- The spaniards placed garrisons at Jolo town, Siasi and Bongao, but their control was nominal.