Political status of Sulu at the time of Spanish evacuation
The cause for which Governor Arolas shed the blood of several hundred Spanish soldiers and killed some thousands of Moros was utterly defeated. The tenacity with which the Sulus resisted Spanish domination, their obdurate opposition and bravery in battle, and their obstinate passive resistance in peace, baffled all Spanish efforts to subvert their political organization or gain a single point of advantage without paying too dearly for it. The Sulus succeeded at last in inaugurating their candidate as Sultan of Sulu. Their laws and the administration of their internal affairs were not interfered with. Their religion, social conditions, national usages and customs were unaffected by any change whatsoever. Spanish influence and jurisdiction did not extend beyond the limits of the garrison and no material reform or progress reached the Moro community through that channel. No effort was made by Spain to educate the Sulus and no adequate measure was proposed by her governors which was applicable to the needs of the Sulus and acceptable to their ideas. The Sulus felt that there was a strong inclination on the part of the Spanish Government or some of its recognized agents to change their religion and destroy their national unity, and consequently they never had complete confidence in Spanish officers and representatives and repulsed every influence that tended to establish close relations between them and the Christians of the Spanish garrison.
No tax or tribute was collected from the Sulus, and their territory was exempted from the operation of the laws of the Philippine Islands. Sulu imports could come in Sulu craft free of duty and unhampered by any vexatious regulation. Duties could be collected by Sulus at all ports unoccupied by Spain; and if hostilities could have been brought to an end, the Sulus, in their pursuit of the peaceful vocations of life, might have felt no appreciable difficulty or inconvenience from Spanish occupation of Jolo, except the loss of the revenues of the ports of Jolo and Siasi and some control over the trade of the Chinese.
Slavery remained an established institution of the land and its continued practice among the Moros was neither denounced nor restricted. The pearl industry remained in the hands of the Sulus and pearl fishers and shell dealers paid a variable tax to the sultan and local chiefs. Piracy was completely suppressed, and the invasion of Christian communities and the capture of Christians as slaves by Sulus terminated at the conquest of Jolo in 1876.
Before the campaign of 1876 the sultan ruled with a strong hand, lived in state, was prosperous and had considerable wealth. The principal datus lived at Jolo, and the Sulu forces were united. Jamalul Aʿlam remained rich until his death, but subsequent wars and licentiousness reduced the estate of his sons. The separation and dispersion of the datus, however, weakened the Sulus more than any other cause. Each datu began to feel more or less independent of the other, their jealousies increased and became more intense and effectual; their forces were disunited, and each chief relied solely upon his own fortifications and following. United action was ignored or became impracticable. Soon the subordinate chiefs began to feel their importance, gradually asserted their rights, and assumed greater dignity and power in proportion to their prosperity and the following they could command. Jamalul Aʿlam ruled firmly, had every chief under his control, and held the state intact. Three chiefs outside of his house were sufficient to sign the treaty he made with Spain. These were Datu Harun, Datu Raja Lawut Zaynul ʿAbidin (Asibi), the father of Datus Kalbi and Julkarnayn, and Datu Muluk Bandarasa Pula, the son of the famous Datu Daniel, and the father of the present Datu Pula-pula of Mubu or Tandu. No maharajas or hadjis figured prominently in those days, and the panglimas served as state messengers.
As soon as it became known that Jamalul Aʿlam was dying a condition bordering on anarchy arose and disorder prevailed as in the days of Badarud Din. Things grew worse during the regency of Datu Aliyud Din, and worse still during the civil strife between the latter and Raja Muda Amirul Kiram. General Arolas and Sultan Harun had to fight every chief in his turn and every island by itself. Each chief felt independent of the rest of the country and had his own ideas as to who should be appointed sultan. Each datu was defended by his own men only and each had to meet the Spanish forces by himself unaided. Even Maymbung had to face the mighty foe with forces which could be assembled from the immediate neighborhood only. Small detachments did sometimes reënforce the forts of their neighbors, but the proportion of help so extended to the actual strength of the forces that could have been united was so insignificant that no account can be taken of such coöperation.
Thus the total or combined strength of Sulu was reduced to small, insignificant and disunited entities; the power of resistance to outside invasion was diminished, but at the same time the susceptibility of the country to foreign influence became nil. It was an easy matter for General Arolas to defeat one party or chief alone, but the necessity of fighting each chief by himself defeated his purpose and efforts in the end. Unconsciously, Spain brought on an abnormal condition of affairs in Sulu, extremely difficult to manage and for which she never found the proper remedy. The ruling sultan, though well supported by the greater mass of the people, had neither the knowledge, the tact, nor the strength necessary to correct the wrong done, and things in general tended rather to the worse than to the better. The parties created by the civil strife of 1884 existed in 1899 with very little change, and their enmity had become deeply rooted and ineradicable. The whole northern portion of the island east of Jolo and eastern Tandu represented a distinct party unfavorable to Jamalul Kiram II and at times seemed to be wholly under the leadership of the two brothers, Datus Kalbi and Julkarnayn. Similar parties existed in Tapul, Lugus, Siasi, and the Tawi-tawi Group, many settlements having two chiefs, one representing the sultan and the other the hostile party. To add evil to existing wrong, the chiefs took advantage of this condition and vacillated in their alliance from one party to another as it seemed to them more advantageous for the time being. General Arolas fought both parties, incurred the bitter enmity of all chiefs and gained for himself and the cause of prosperity no advantage whatsoever. All the Sulus hated Spain at heart and welcomed the end of her sovereignty, with the hope of having more peace and better relations with her successor.