Pacifying the Moros: American Military Government in the Southern Philippines, 1899-1913
2005; The MIT Press; Volume: 85; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0026-4148
Autores Tópico(s)Asian American and Pacific Histories
ResumoAS AMERICA'S Armed Forces face the intimidating task of maintaining order and developing civil institutions in Iraq, it is useful to recall that early in the 20th century the U.S. Army had a similar mission in another Muslim land-the southern Philippines, where around 300,000 Muslims, commonly known as Moros, met the Army's efforts to establish U.S. sovereignty with great suspicion and, at times, violent resistance. Understanding past U.S. actions in the southern Philippines is important because of the region's status as a front in the current war on terrorism. The terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf has its refuge there, and U.S. Special Forces advisers have helped the Philippines Armed Forces operate against the group. In fact, in early 2002, a joint U.S.-Philippine action on Basilan drove the Abu Sayyaf from the island, but the group remains active.1 The Army's experience with the Moros demonstrates how religious and cultural differences between a local people and the Americans sent to govern them can complicate efforts to bring about pacification. Still, despite these differences, the Army had considerable success in reducing Moro resistance to U.S. control, achieving success by combining a policy of attraction to persuade the Moros of the advantages of U.S. rule and an aggressive response to those who defied U.S. authority. The Army and the Moros U.S. involvement in the region began shortly after the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish-American War. When U.S. soldiers first arrived in 1899, they began a period of military rule over a people few Americans knew much about. The Moros made up most of the population of the SuIu Archipelago and the southern half of the large island of Mindanao. Although the Moros belonged to 13 culturallinguistic groups, Islam gave them a sense of common identity and often set them at odds with their Christian Filipino neighbors. The Moros' reputation as fierce fighters was well established before the U.S. Army's arrival. Moro culture encouraged young men to be courageous, to develop their skills as warriors, and to defend their honor to the death. The Spanish had never achieved much more than nominal control over them, and Spanish soldiers had rarely ventured far from fortified seacoast towns.2 Indirect rule. Preoccupied with defeating Filipino nationalists in the northern islands, the U.S. initially avoided any assertion of authority over the Moros that might spark resistance. Most of the functions of government continued to be carried out by the datus (local leaders), and traditional Moro laws remained in force. The Bates Agreement of 1899 gave the Sultan of SuIu governing authority in the Sulu Islands in exchange for his recognition of U.S. sovereignty.3 The system of indirect American rule, modeled in part on the British experience in their Asian colonies, proved satisfactory in some respects. Fighting between the Moros and U.S. forces was rare. Over time, however, the colonizers became increasingly dissatisfied with the arrangement. The Moros continued to conduct raids against each other and against Christian Filipinos and, occasionally, attacked American surveying and road-building crews. The practice of slavery among the Moros drew condemnation from critics in the United States, who denounced the Bates Agreement for permitting its continuation. American officers serving in the southern Philippines grew frustrated with the Sultan of SuIu and other Moro leaders and began agitating for direct U.S. rule. Determined to modernize the Philippines, these officers saw Moro leaders as hostile to the values Americans hoped to nurture and as being incapable of maintaining order.4 Direct rule. By 1903 the U.S. Government decided to bring the Moros under direct rule. The end of major fighting between the U.S. Army and Filipino nationalists meant more troops were available for the effort. The Philippine Commission created the Moro Province (southern Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago) and placed it under the command of a military governor. …
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