The history of the little Moro capital of Jolo reads like the plot of a war novel. The town was officially captured by the Spanish forces on five occasions and in each case was almost immediately evacuated. Eleven unsuccessful assaults were made by Spain between the period from 1598 and 1899. The Moro capital was a bone of contention for 321 years, beginning with the first raid of De Sande's expedition of 1578 and ending with the evacuation of the Spanish troops in may, 1899. In all of this long struggle, the town was garrisoned by Spain for a total of but thirty-one years, as against Moro control of 290 years.

Spain's final assault on the Moro capital was led by Admiral Malcampo in 1876, and resulted in the permanent occupation by Spanish troops until Spain relinquished the post to the United States in 1899. The Malcampo expedition consisting of more than 9,000 men, occupied the town after a heavy shelling which drove the defenders from the walls. The steam gunboats laid a cordon about the town which prevented the import of arms and ammunition. The Moros fought with their bared kris against the rifles of the Spaniards but were overwhelmed with terrific slaughter.

Jolo was occupied by a garrison composed of two regiments of infantry, one company of artillery and one company of engineers under the command of Captain P. Cervera, who became the first military governor of Jolo.

Following the successful engagement at Jolo, the troops were marched into the interior in an attempt to subjugate the back country. The large Spanish force was ambushed and forced to withdraw after suffering heavy casualties.

When the expedition returned to manila, the Spanish garrison as Jolo controlled the are of ground encompassed by the walls of the town. The remainder of the island was wholly in Moro hands.

For two years the Moros made almost daily assaults in an effort to win back their capital, but their armed forces failed to penetrate the walls. Jolo was well fortified with two outer forts named Picesa de Asturias and Torre de la Reina and by three inner forts named Puerta Blockaus, Puerta Espana and Alfonso XII. The town was completely encircled with a brick, loopholed wall.

Failing in organized attempts at recapture, the Moros adopted a system of guerilla warfare. Juramentados penetrated the walls daily, inflicting heavy losses upon the garrison.

Captain Cervera relinquished governorship of Jolo to Brigadier General Jose Paulin, who in turn was relieved by Colonel Carlos Martinez in 1877. Conditions went from bad to worse in Jolo, and by 1880, when Colonel Rafael Gonzales de Rivera assumed the government, juramentados were so active that Spain supplanted their regular troops with convict battalions.

The Spaniards were confined so closely and were under such constant attack that the place became a disciplinary station where troops were compelled to serve as a punishment.

The year 1880 saw the beginning of Spanish attempts to secure a foothold in the lower islands of Sulu near the Borneo coast. The sixth regiment of Spain was sent to garrison Siasi and Bongao.

The historian Foreman visited Jolo in 1881 and wrote in detail of the conditions of that period. He says in part:

I was dining with the governor when the conversation ran to details of an expedition which was to be sent to Maybun in a day or two, to carry out despatches to the Sultan. The Governor seemed surprised that I expressed a wish to join the party as the journey was not unattended with risk of one's life."

Maybun was the seat of the Sultanate and was located on the opposite side of the small island of Jolo, less than three hours by horseback from the Spanish post.

But although Maybun was only a few miles from the Spanish post, practically all dispatches were sent around by sea on a gunboat as the island was not safe for travel. Only a few days before, a young Lieutenant had been sent on a patrol on a short distance from the fort and had come back with one of his hands cut off.

During the year 1883, juramentados ran wild in the streets of Jolo and hardly a day passed that did not see Spanish soldiers killed by these fanatics. Montero, in his "Historia de la Pirateria del Mindanao y Jolo," preserves one incident for us:

"The second of July, 1883, three juramentados succeeded in penetrating the plaza of Jolo. They entered a Chinese store for the purpose of making purchases and when no one was looking, drew their krises and hurled themselves upon various officers who were seated at the door of the establishment. With the very first blow, Lt. Don Pedro Bordas of the Disciplinary Company was killed and Lt. Caledonio Manrique of the same company mortally wounded and died in a few hours. Dr. Juan Dominguez of the sixth regiment and a soldier of the guard were seriously wounded, the latter dying the next day. They further wounded another private and a corporal."

During the last eight years of the Spanish government of Jolo more than 300 soldiers were killed by juramentados in the city alone. Spain had absolutely no control over Sulu, as is shown by the interesting circumstances which led to the opening of the customs port of Zamboanga in 1831. The Spaniards claimed suzerainty over the Island of Jolo but were not strong enough to establish and protect a customhouse there. In consequence, a regulation was imposed which required foreign ships loading in Sulu to clear through the customs at Zamboanga ninety miles away. British ships refused to make this long sail, saying that if Sulu was a Spanish territory, a customhouse should be maintained there. This Spain was unable to do, and upon receiving a British ultimatum that Sulu must either have a customhouse or be declared a free port, chose the latter.

A customs decision of 1909 was based upon the assumption that the Moros were never subject to Spain. The colors of Leon and Castille were carried back to Spain, leaving the Moro province in much the same state as Magellan found it.

In the year 1887, and during the governorship of Colonel Juan Arolas, there was fear of a general Moro assault and the fortifications of Jolo were greatly strengthened. Arolas anticipated the Moro attack by ordering a severe Spanish attack on the seat of the Sultanate at Maybun. After a terrific struggle during which the Moros fought like beasts, the town was destroyed on April 15, 1887, The Sultan fled to the hills, returning to rebuild Maybun after the Spanish troops had withdrawn in Jolo.

During this period the Spaniards built the forts of Alfonso XIII at Tucuran, Infanta Isable at Lubig and Santa Maria at Lingtogod.

Arola was a merciless and aggressive campaigner, and a man of great resource and tremendous enthusiasm. His appointment as Governor of Sulu was not in the nature of a promotion; rather, he had been sent to Jolo to die. The Spanish government of this period had no place for aggressive republicans. It was not intended for Arolas to return from Jolo, for the Spanish crown planned on his final elimination by the Moros. But they counted without the spirit of the man himself. Arolas survived Jolo to earn the distinction of being the only Spaniard except Corcuera to win the respect of the Moros. With the meager forces at his command he fought the Moros upon every possible occasion and he was a consistent winner. He made the defenses of Jolo impregnable and constructed waterworks and improved the sanitation of the city. He built markets and school systems and a hospital. Without doubt, Arolas was one of the finest administrators of the entire Spanish regime. Like Corcuera, his efforts were wholly unappreciated.

When Weyler, the pig-like Spanish Governor-General, visited Jolo during his tour of office his expression of opinion upon leaving the island was characteristic of the brutish Governor-General himself, and an orchid to Arolas. Weyler said, "Demasiado limpieza y demasiado gobernador." (Too much cleanliness, too much governor.)

Arolas was a stern soldier and his rules were very strict. No Moro could enter the city of Jolo during the night. Between sunrise and sunset, entries could be made through a designated gate where a guard of twelve soldiers and a Lieutenant was posted. Some yards from the actual gate was a building called the Lanceria. Here was stationed a guard of four soldiers under a Sergeant. Some distance form the Lanceria was a small white stone which constituted a deadline. A Moro wishing to enter the town was expected to approach along this route. When the guard saw him the called out, "Moro armado," and the guard at the main gate turned out with full equipment. If the Moro attempted to pass the white stone, he was immediately shot down. If his intentions were peaceful, he halted before reaching the deadline and five men from the guard approached him. Ten paces from the Moro a halt was made while the Sergeant went forward to take his weapons, after which the Moro was allowed to enter.

These precautions did a great deal to stop the entrance of juramentado Moros during the governorship of Arolas, but even they were not sufficient to stop occasional raids. On one occasion a Moro entering the town passed through the guard in regular fashion, and upon leaving later in the day, drew out cigarettes to offer the guard as he was recovering his weapons. The guard was diverted from his usual vigilance by this offer and its watch relaxed for a moment. The Moro seized his barong and in a flash beheaded one of the guards. Tow more guardsmen received fatal injuries and the fourth was crippled for life in that mad moment before the Sergeant shot the Moro's head completely from his body.

The orders to sentries at Jolo were to hail once and then shoot. In one occasion a sentry shot a drunken Spanish officer who refused to respond to the hail. The unfortunate soldier was court-martialed but the matter came to the attention of Arolas and the guard was swiftly pardoned and promoted for carrying out his orders.

On one occasion Arolas called the Datu Cotobato into his presence after the warriors of the chieftain had killed a number of Spaniards. The Datu disclaimed responsibility, saying, "I was unable to control my men. They are juramentados."

The presence of a man like Arolas, while it commanded respect from the Moros, was unfortunate in that such a worthy antagonist spurred the juramentados to greater efforts. It was considered a great coup among the Moros for single individuals to penetrate the walls and slay a few Spaniards right under the nose of the redoubtable Arolas. This oft-repeated occurrence was a source of terror to the Spanish garrison and resulted in the posting of four men to a guard post.

This reign of terror persisted in Jolo without respite until the town was finally evacuated to the American forces in 1899.

Turning to the island of Mindanao, we find conditions equally as bad. The Spaniards had attempted to lay down a railroad from the fort at Iligan to the Lake Lanao region. The effort was abandoned, for as fast as the rails were laid the Moros took them up for use in the manufacture of krises.

During the year 1886 troops under Terrero embarked for Cotobato to put down a serious rebellion among the Lake Moros. The Moros in Cotobato has openly defied the Spanish and had refused to honor the Spanish flag. Forces under Brigadier Serina, divided into two corps under Majors Mattos and Villa-Abrile, were bitterly opposed by detachments of Datu Utto, who had sworn to leave no Spaniard alive in Cotobato.

In 1891, General Weyler, the butcher of Cuba, was sent to Mindanao to take personal charge of the Cotobato campaigns, but no progress was made toward a permanent occupation of the Lake country. Weyler had ambitions to acquire the rank of Marshal, and his campaigns against the Moros were directed with that end in view. All available forces were concentrated and marched against the Moros. The expeditions was a complete failure, eighty percent of the Spanish force becoming casualties to kris and fever. When the expedition returned to Zamboanga the services of all priests in the district were required to shrive the soldiers, who died faster than the last rites could be performed. Weyler directed his campaign from the safety of a gunboat. Three hundred and seventy Moros under the Datu Ali attacked the town of Lepanto near the Spanish fort of Bugcaon, killing fourteen and looting the place, as the campaign ended.

As late as 1890, the district of Caldera Bay, within fifteen miles of Zamboanga, was untenable to the Spaniards. Professor Worcester, visiting that district on a tour devoted to the collection of zoological specimens, declared that the Moros never wearied of pantomiming how they would cut his throat if he were only a Spaniard. The lawlessness of Caldera, situated within a few miles of the great fortress of Nuestra Senora del Pilar, is indicative of the Spanish helplessness in Mindanao.

In 1895 General Blanco took the field against the Lanao Moros. Steam launches were used in conjunction with a determined land attack on the cottas made by Brigadier General Parraedo. The three months' campaign resulted in the destruction of several Moro cottas, which were rebuilt immediately upon the Spanish withdrawal.

In February, 1898, the last punitive expedition of Spain was undertaken against the Moros. General Buille took the field in Cotobato and the fighting lasted a few days only. Although neither antagonists knew it, this engagement sheathed forever the Toledo blades of Spain.

Spain left half of the Philippine Archipelago to be conquered. Opposing the Spanish in Mindanao in the year 1898 was a force of 19,000 armed Moros. During the last year of Spanish occupation more than $625,000 was spent in waging the campaign in Mindanao, and the appropriation for the Spanish army and navy was $10,000,000.

We have seen the Spaniards as late as 1877 solemnly executing, to the accompaniment of gales of laughter from the Moros, a decree exempting the Mohammedans from all tribute for a period of ten years. The decree, as ridiculous as it was, was as solemnly amended in 1887 to cover a new period extending down to the Spanish-American war.

If the Spaniards were unable to collect the tribute from the Moros, it would seem that the Moros were more fortunate in their financial dealings with the Dons. These Mohammedans of Mindanao and Sulu broke another historical precedent when they forced the conquistadores to dig deeply into pockets enriched by the thievery in Mexico and Peru.

To the Sultan of Sulu the Spanish paid $200 per month and they extended him the privilege of flying his own flag. To each of the three main advisers of the Sultan was paid a sum of $75 per month. To each of the secondary advisers Spain gave $60 per month. Just what commercial or social correspondence the savage Sultan conducted is not clear, but we find Spain contributing the sum of $50 per month to defray the salary of the secretary of the Sultan.

The Moros were refreshing in the nonchalance with which they reversed history. Over in Mexico, we find Cortez appropriating the daughter of Montezuma to make her the mother of his illegitimate sons. The fairest women of the Aztecs are casually handed out as rewards of merit to the Spanish officers and men. In the Philippines, we see the puzzled Spaniards reaching deep into the conquistadorial gold supply to provide $40 per month as salary of the Keeper of the Royal Harem of Sulu. To guarantee further against the despoiling of the Sulu beauties, the Spaniards dug deeper into the Papal pocket to provide a suitable emolument for the assistant Keeper of the Royal Harem of his Sultanic majesty.

The most subtle touch of this magnanimous gesture of Spain was that in the provision of harem guards for the Sultan, Spanish gold was aiding in the retention f Spanish beauties who added a certain fillip to the amatory excursions of the Sultan when he became bored between campaigns.

Another potent source of income for the Sultan was a convenient Spanish payment of $2.00 for each captive "rescued" and returned to Manila by the Sultan. Spain also added to the self-satisfaction of the Sultan by a payment of $3.00 for each pirate "captured" by the Sultan.

It was a simple matter to frown sultanicly upon a slave expedition to the Spanish cities and to return the most ill-favored of the captives to the Spaniards at $2.00 per head. The pirate clause in the Sultan's contract provided an extremely simple method of disposing of individuals who had lost the Royal favor, the Spaniards becoming their executioner upon payment of the customary $3.00.

By draining the coffers of Spain a monthly total of $680, plus the captive and pirate rebates, the Sultan proved himself to be a business man worthy of the best traditions of Spain!

While these delightful conditions were the order of the day in Jolo, the Christian subjects elsewhere were paying though the nose for the privilege of being conquered by Spanish arms. The Spanish conquest of the Philippines was not a labor of love. The conquistadores were out for gold, glory and converts - in that order of importance. While the Moros were conducting their casual and wholly successful warfare against Spain, the captive peoples of the north who had accepted the Spanish yoke, were living in peonage.

In the vicinity of Zamboanga (one of the few Spanish footholds in Mindanao) the systematic despoiling of the people was producing a very satisfactory revenue for the Crown of Spain. From this one city of Zamboanga there was sent to Spain each year, a surplus of more than $1,000,000 in addition to great amounts of tobacco grown by the forced labor of "converted" inhabitants.

Father Crevas, the eminent historian of the Spanish occupation, indicts his own countrymen as follows:

"The immense resources which the government derived from Mindanao proceed from revenues on monopolies, stamped paper, salt, wine of cocoa, tobacco and customs; all of which produce a revenue so considerable that there is ordered sent to Spain ninety thousand pesos ($45,000) each month as a surplus, with more than 700,000 pesos per year in tobacco."

It is a small wonder that the Moros would have no part with the Spaniards, and it is poetic justice that a great part of this surplus was devoted to fruitless campaigns against the Moros.

On may 23, 1899, all Spanish forces in Mindanao were massed in the fortress of Zamboanga. American troops arrived before the grand fortress of Nuestra Senora del Pilar and took over the city of Zamboanga on November sixteenth of the same year.

Thus came to an end one of the greatest feuds in history - the mighty struggle of kris against Toledo blade. Three hundred and seventy-seven years of bitter warfare left the Moro in command.

Well did Dean C. Worcester write of them:

"The Moros exemplify what may be considered the highest stage of civilization to which the Malays have ever attained unaided."

The Spanish guile which had so successfully and so quickly smothered the civilizations of the Incas and the Aztecs, failed to impress the Moros. In Peru and Mexico the incentive was untold wealth. In Mindanao the Spaniards had only the spur of military glory against a worthy foe.

The conquistadores met their masters.

Filipiniana Reprint Series © 1985 Cacho Hermanos, Inc.

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