Word: moslem
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Ironically, President Ferdinand Marcos hardly mentioned the Moslem insurgency when he proclaimed martial law throughout the Philippines last September. The major reason he cited then was the insurrection of a group of Maoist rebels in the far north. Now, all is relatively quiet on the northern front. Meanwhile, Marcos has had to pour some 13,000 troops into the southern islands (specifically, Mindanao and the Sulu group). As a result, the rest of his 70,000-man armed forces are stretched exceedingly thin...
Following the spread of Islam throughout Southeast Asia, Moslems dominated the southern Philippines for five centuries. They successfully defended their culture against the Spaniards who conquered the rest of the Philippines and against the Americans who replaced them. A Moslem decline began in 1938, when Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon proclaimed Mindanao the "land of opportunity," and Christian Filipinos from the crowded north started moving in. Better educated, the Christians gained control of Moslem land and of the region's economy. They also practiced religious discrimination in employment and education. Though the Moslems number more than 2,000,000, they...
Disputes over land ownership -some of them caused by opportunistic Moslems who sold the same piece of property to different people-finally erupted into sectarian violence in late 1969. Christian immigrants formed quasi-vigilante groups called Ilagas (rats) to ward off Moslems who were trying to seize land. The Moslems formed terrorist gangs known as Barracudas and Blackshirts. As the communal violence spread, young Moslem intellectuals began to oppose not only the Christian settlers and the government but even their own elderly Moslem leaders, whom they accused of corruption. The young dissidents preached secession...
...militants did not get far, though, until Marcos made a mistake last September: he included Mindanao in the martial law decree prohibiting the possession of firearms. To the Filipino Moslems, who regard guns as their most prized possessions, it was a direct threat. With a speed and solidarity that took the Philippine authorities by surprise, hundreds of hitherto law-abiding Moslems took to the hills. Since then, the hundreds have grown into thousands. Moslem insurgents are now estimated to number 13,500 in eastern Mindanao and 6,000 in the Sulu islands, chiefly Basilan and Jolo...
Impressive. Though their leadership varies, the best-trained and best-equipped groups seem to be under the command of well-educated militants in their late 20s. Knowledge of the hilly terrain helps make the Moslem rebels impressive foes. "These people are better fighters than the Viet Cong," says a Filipino colonel who spent 13 months in Viet Nam. "This is the cream of the Philippine army down here and they are teaching us how to fight...