The Mahometans on the Great Mindanao River, from Cottabato[9] upwards, openly defied Spanish authority; and in the spring of 1886 the Government were under the necessity of organizing an expedition against them. The Spaniards had ordered that native craft should carry the Spanish flag, otherwise they would be treated as pirates or rebels. In March, 1887, the cacique of the Simonor ranche (Bongao Is.), named Pandan, refused any longer to hoist the christian ensign, and he was pursued and taken prisoner. He was conveyed on the gunboat Panay to Sulu, and on being asked by the Governor why he had ceased to use the Spanish flag, he haughtily replied that “he would only answer such a question to the Captain-General,” and refused to give any further explanation. Within a month after his arrest the garrison of Sulu (Joló) was strengthened by 377 men, in expectation of an immediate general rising, which indeed took place. The Spanish forces were led by Majors Mattos and Villa Abrille, under the command of Brig.-General Seriná. They were stoutly opposed by a cruel and despotic chief, named Utto, who advanced at the head of his subjects and slaves. With the co-operation of the gunboats up the river, the Mahometans were repulsed with great loss.
Scores of expeditions had been led against the Mindanao natives, and their temporary submission had usually been obtained by the Spaniards—on whose retirement, however, the natives always reverted to their old customs, and took their revenge on the settlers. Moreover, the petty jealousies existing between the highest officers in the south rendered every peaceful effort fruitless.
Datto Utto having defiantly proclaimed that no Spaniard should ever enter his territory, an armed expedition was fitted out; and from the example of his predecessor in 1881 (vide p. [124]) the Gov.-General, Emilio Terrero, perchance foresaw in a little war the vision of titles and more material reward, besides counterbalancing his increasing unpopularity in Manila, due to the influence of my late friend, the Government Secretary Felipe Canga-Argüelles. Following in the wake of those who had successfully checked the Mahometans in the previous spring, he took the chief command in person in the beginning of January, 1887, to force a recantation of Datto Uttoʼs utterances.
The petty Sultans of Bacat, Buhayen and Kudaran͠gan in vain united their fortunes with those of Utto. The stockades of cocoanut trunks, palma-bravas (q.v.) and earth (cottas) were easily destroyed by the Spanish artillery, and their defenders fled under a desultory fire. There were very few casualties on either side. Some of the Christian native infantry soldiers suffered from the bamboo spikes (Spanish, puas) set in the ground around the stockades, but the enemy had not had time to cover with brushwood the pits dug for the attacking party to fall into. In about two months the operations ended by the submission of some chiefs of minor importance and influence; and after spending so much powder and shot and Christian blood, the General had not even the satisfaction of seeing either the man he was fighting against or his enemyʼs ally, the Sultan of Kudaran͠gan. This latter sent a priest, Pandita Kalibaudang, and Datto Andig to sue for peace and cajole the General with the fairest promises. Afterwards the son and heir of this chief, Rajahmudah Tambilanang, presented himself, and he and his suite of 30 followers were conducted to the camp in the steam launch Carriedo. Utto, whose residence had been demolished, had not deigned to submit in person, but sent, as emissaries, Dattos Sirun͠gang, Buat and Dalandung, who excused only the absence of Uttoʼs prime minister. Capitulations of peace were handed to Uttoʼs subordinates, who were told to bring them back signed without delay, for despatches from the Home Government, received four or five weeks previously, were urging the General to conclude this affair as speedily as possible. They were returned signed by Utto—or by somebody else—and the same signature and another, supposed to be that of his wife, the Ranee Pudtli (a woman of great sway amongst her people) were also attached to a letter, offering complete submission.
The Spaniards destroyed a large quantity of rice-paddy, and stipulated for the subsequent payment of a war indemnity in the form of cannons (lantacas), buffaloes, and horses.
The General gave the emissaries some trifling presents, and they went their way and he his,—to Manila, which he entered in state on March 21, with flags flying, music playing, and the streets decorated with bunting of the national colours, to give welcome to the conqueror of the Mahometan chief—whom he had never seen—the bearer of peace capitulations signed—by whom? As usual, a Te Deum was celebrated in the Cathedral for the victories gained over the infidels; the officers and troops who had returned were invited by the Municipality to a theatrical performance, and the Gov.-General held a reception in the Palace of Malacañan. Some of the troops were left in Mindanao, it having been resolved to establish armed outposts still farther up the river for the better protection of the port and settlement of Cottabato.
Whilst the Gov.-General headed this military parade in the Cottabato district, the ill-feeling of the Sulu natives towards the Spaniards was gradually maturing. An impending struggle was evident, and Colonel Juan Arolas, the Governor of Sulu, concentrated his forces in expectation. The Sulus, always armed, prepared for events in their cottas; Arolas demanded their surrender, which was refused, and they were attacked. Two cottas, well defended, were ultimately taken, not without serious loss to the Spaniards. In the report of the slain a captain was mentioned. Arolas then twice asked for authority to attack the Mahometans at Maybun, and was each time refused. At length, acting on his own responsibility, on April 15, 1887, he ordered a gunboat to steam round to Maybun and open fire at daybreak on the Sultanʼs capital, which was in possession of the party opposed to the Spanish nominee (Harun Narrasid). At 11 oʼclock the same night he started across country with his troops towards Maybun, and the next morning, whilst the enemy was engaged with the gunboat, he led the attack on the land side. The Mahometans, quite surprised, fought like lions, but were completely routed, and the seat of the Sultanate was razed to the ground. It was the most crushing defeat ever inflicted on the Sulu Nationalist Party. The news reached Manila on April 29, and great praise was justly accorded to Colonel Arolas, whose energetic operations contrasted so favourably with the Cottabato expedition. All manner of festivities in his honour were projected in Manila, but Arolas elected to continue the work of subduing the Moro country. Notwithstanding his well-known republican tendencies, on September 20, 1887, the Queen-Regent cabled through her Ministry her acknowledgment of Colonel Arolasʼ valuable services, and the pleasure it gave her to reward him with a Brig.-Generalʼs commission.[10]
In 1895 an expedition against the Mahometans was organized under the supreme command of Gov.-General Ramon Blanco. It was known as the Marahui (or Marauit) Campaign. The tribes around Lake Lanao (ancient name Malanao) and the Marahui district had, for some time past, made serious raids on the Spanish settlement at Ylígan, which is connected with Lake Lanao by a river navigable only by canoes. Indeed, the lives and property of Christians in all the territory adjoining Yligan were in great jeopardy, and the Spanish authorities were set at defiance. It was therefore resolved, for the first time, to attack the tribes and destroy their cottas around the lake for the permanent tranquillity of Yligan. The Spanish and native troops alike suffered great hardships and privations. Steam launches in sections (constructed in Hong-Kong), small guns, and war material were carried up from Yligan to the lake by natives over very rugged ground. On the lake shore the launches were fitted up and operated on the lake, to the immense surprise of the tribes. From the land side their cottas were attacked and destroyed, under the command of my old friend Brig.-General Gonzalez Parrado. The operations, which lasted about three months, were a complete success, and General Gonzalez Parrado was rewarded with promotion to General of Division. Lake Lanao, with the surrounding district and the route down to Yligan, was in possession of the Spaniards, and in order to retain that possession without the expense of maintaining a large military establishment, it was determined to people the conquered territory with Christian families from Luzon and the other islands situated north of Mindanao. It was the attempt to carry out this colonizing scheme which gave significance to the Marahui Expedition and contributed to that movement which, in 1896, led to the downfall of Spanish rule in the Archipelago.
The last Spanish punitive expedition against the Mindanao Mahometans was sent in February, 1898, under the command of General Buille. The operations lasted only a few days. The enemy was driven into the interior with great loss, and one chief was slain. The small gunboats built in Hong-Kong for the Marahui Campaign—the General Blanco, Corcuera, and Lanao—again did good service.
There are three branches or tribes of the Malanao Moros around the Lake Lanao: