The Philippine Moro struggle for self-determination dates back to the Spanish and American colonial eras. Centuries of colonization had given birth to a new nation but at the same time forced the integration of a largely Muslim population to what became eventually the majority Christian population. The Muslims lost control over territories and resources, and felt politically, economically and culturally discriminated against.
An armed movement finally erupted in the 1970s, seeking Moro separation from the Philippines. With its own highs and lows, as well as permutations (self-determination, autonomy, separation, secession, lately, Islamic state, fundamentalism, and so on) the movement has persisted until today.
Scholars cite two factors that triggered the Moro rebellion of the 1970s.
One, the terrible abuses of the “Ilaga,” which were military-backed militia groups formed by Christian migrants to Mindanao. Ilaga-military depredations in Moro territories are said to have resulted in the deaths, some by massacres, of some 10,000 Muslims from 1970 to 1971. Ilagas and government constabulary troops went into rampages of looting and burning of mosques and killing sometimes accompanied by mutilation. Children survivors of the Manili massacre in Cotabato in 1971 still talk of having seen “dead people lying in a pool of ankle-deep blood, a child with head hacked, an old man with a dagger left stuck on his waist.” As the Muslim communities fled from their homes, their lands were then taken over by powerful Christian political leaders, creating a double whammy for them.
The Marcos administration did little to stop the Ilaga abuses. One of the most notorious Ilaga leaders, Commander Toothpick (true name, Feliciano Lucas), had various warrants of arrest issued against him, was “arrested,” brought to a red-carpet reception in Malacañang and then released with military escorts to the safety of his hometown.
And two, the massacre in March 1968 of about 60 Muslim military recruits by their trainers, in what in history is now called the Jabidah massacre. The recruits were going through training in the island of Corregidor, off Manila Bay, for a secret mission to seize Sabah island to the south. When the plan became known to them, however, the trainees refused to cooperate, after which their own trainers went on to shoot them. One managed to escape and give testimony. His revelations triggered widespread outrage in both Christian and Muslim populations.
Both factors were outcomes of policies of the Ferdinand Marcos government/dictatorship. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was organized in the time surrounding these events.
Ilaga abuses waned shortly before Marcos began his dictatorship in 1972 but the Moros had launched the MNLF-led rebellion by then. This war itself, with the ensuing militarization of the Muslim countryside, would lead to 120,000-200,000 more Moro lives lost and over 1 million people displaced from their homes and communities. Some 300 mosques were also casualties of that war.
Datu Masiding Alonto Sr. was a Maranaw, coming from the well-known Alonto family of politicians. His father, Sultan Alauya Alonto, served as senator for three terms (1934-1935; 1941-1945 and 1946-1947). His relatives include Senator Ahmad Domocao Alonto, Lanao del Sur governor Abdul Ghaffur Madki Alonto, and Tarhata Alonto-Lucman, wife of the late Lanao del Sur congressman Rashid Lucman who died in exile during martial law.
Datu Masiding Alonto started on a pre-law course at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, but decided not to pursue it. Business and not politics was his preferred career, and in it he became successful and prosperous. He went into merchandise and trading, started a construction company, among other businesses. His family was also part-owner of a school. He travelled to countries around Asia and Europe, and read widely.
Datu Masiding Alonto believed in a Moro nation. He lamented how backward and poor the Moro people found themselves in. He thought they would fare much better under their own government. He often privately voiced out these ideas. He also never favored Ferdinand Marcos, and harbored suspicions against him as early as in 1965 when the latter started his presidency. He admired senators Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and Lorenzo Tañada, who were critics of the Marcos regime. He sometimes went with his brother-in-law, the late Rashid Lucman, in meetings with Ninoy Aquino.
When the Jabidah massacre exploded in the news and the Ilaga killings grew worse, Masiding Alonto decided to act on his views.
He started meeting with various Moro leaders until the core leadership called “the ’90” of what would become the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formed. They included Nur Misuari and Abul Khayr Alonto.
Datu Masiding went into confidential missions in different provinces and abroad, seeking to build support for what would become known as the Muslim rebellion. He travelled so much his children remember him that time as mostly being away.
Information on the crucial role he played in the birth of the Moro movement has mostly stayed only within members of his family and close friends.
At this time in his mid-40s, he did not fight in the battlefield. He stayed aboveground, undertaking risky missions for the MNLF.
Among the stories told in the family is when he flew out of the country a Moro boy to give testimony before a special session of the Organization of Islamic Conference in 1971. The boy survived an Ilaga raid, where the Ilaga killed his parents and neighbors, cut his ears off and left him for dead. The child’s testimony earned for the Marcos regime the condemnation of the Muslim world and roused international support for the Moro cause.
In no time, the dictatorship cracked down on him. They banned him from travelling abroad. His family home was confiscated, and his businesses closed, causing his family much suffering. He stayed mostly in Marawi City after this, keeping touch only with some rebellion leaders.
His contacts included his own son Robert Maulana who had in the meantime joined the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and his nephew, Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, then vice-chairman of the MNLF Central Committee.
Datu Masiding had prior knowledge of Ninoy Aquino’s plan to return and so he flew to Manila and was at the airport with the group of Senator Salvador ‘Doy’ Laurel to welcome the senator and provide support on that day of August 21, 1983 when Ninoy was assassinated. He stayed in Manila throughout the ten-day wake for Ninoy and joined the throng that marched through Manila’s streets to accompany the bier. Alonto and his companion, the late UP Professor Jalaludin ‘Joel’ delos Santos, stayed in the march, drenched as they were by sweat and pouring rain.
He was becoming sickly but he joined many rallies that erupted against the dictatorship after the Aquino assassination. Once in Iligan City, the datu helped convince the then mayor, Camilo Cabili, who belonged to Marcos political party Kilusang Bangong Lipunan (KBL), to grant a permit for a huge anti-Marcos rally. (The mayor is related to the royal families of Lanao and thus is the datu’s relative.)
When the Marcos dictatorship finally fell in 1986, Datu Masiding Alonto, even in bad health, travelled to Manila wanting to “savor the air of freedom” brought about by the fall of the dictator.
His health condition continued to grow worse and he passed away in 1997. His friends, especially those who knew of his confidential role in the Moro struggle, came to his wake to give silent tribute.
