RAIDERS OF

THE SULU SEA

EBALIN | SANDRINO | TABANGAY

 Raiders of the Sulu Sea
Documentary Film
Directed by Idzwan Othman
Produced by Lim Suat Yen, Zuzanita Zakaria, and Yeon-Hwa Kim
Anthropologist/Ethnographer: Idzwan Othman
Published by Looking Glass International, 2013 at Victoria, Australia
Produced by Oakfilms3 based on Singapore for Q channel,
Discovery Channel and National Geographic for International
Release
Contributors and Guest Appearances: Art Historian Icelle Gloria D.
Borja-Estrada together with Dr. Samuel Tan and Margarita
Cohuangco and other International Asian Historians
Duration: 49 minutes
Original Release Date: 2008
Documentary Film Contributors

Icelle Gloria B. Estrada

• A direct descendant of Vicente
Avarez
• One of Zamboanga City’s premiere
artist – painter and sculptor
• Currently working as an executive
assistant in the Office of the City
Mayor, and is overlooking the City
Hall restoration
• Writes a weekly arts column
• Does extensive research in the arts
and culture of Zamboanga
Documentary Film Contributors

Dr. Samuel kong Tan

• Historian, National Historical
Institute
• Sama-Tausug-Chinese Filipino
• An authority on the issue of Moro
history
• Armed struggle and quest for
self-determination
Documentary Film Contributors

Prof. Barbara Watson

Andaya
• Historian, National University of
Singapore
• Professor of Asian studies in hawaii
with specialization in Southeast
Asian History
Documentary Film Contributors

Dr. Julius Bautista

• Historian, Asia Research
Institute, National University
of Singapore
Documentary Film Contributors

Dr. Margarita Cojuangco

• Author, Kris of Valor
• Researched the history of Sama
in Sulu archipelago
Documentary Film Contributors

Halman Abubakar
• A Tausug descendant from Jolo,
Sulu
• He’s an exponent of the martial
art of Silat – historic and significant
on Tausug bladed weapons
• City councilor in Jolo
• Shared the sentiments of his
people by resenting the
characterization of Western
Colony and Filipino
historiography as “pirates”
 Raiders of the Sulu Sea
A Historiography Documentary film depicting the 01
Southeast Asia flourishing free trading in the Sulu Sea

WARSHIPS, PIRACY (pirates) 02

Reflects the adverse effects of slave raiding as retaliation when 03
English, Dutch and Spanish wanted to control the economy as
well to colonize and Christianize the Zamboanga City

Depicts how the Spaniards defended the Fort del Pilar at 04

Zamboanga City as Spain’s last stronghold and upholder of
defense and economic expansion in the Southern Philippines
 Zamboanga City
• Sits at the tip of the southernmost peninsula
of the Philippines, strategically located
along an important sea route between then
north and south regions of the Philippines.
• Its geographical advantage made it
valuable to the Catholic Spaniards who
colonized it in the 16th century.
• Spanish colonist built forts to protect
their interests in the city and to
discourage potential invaders.
└ The frontline of these defenses
was Fort del Pilar, a ten meter
high fortress that sprawled over
two acres.
The Raiders
 The Raiders
Indigenous People Defending their Way of Life Against an Oppressor

1. SAMAL BALANGINGI (Raiding Tribe)

2. ILLANUN (Raiding Tribe)

3. TAUSUG (Warriors)

• They came from Muslim Tribes • Deadly swordsman

• Considered brutal pirates, bandits,
freedom fighters
• Excellent mariners and expert sailers –
they could go into shallow waters
• Builders of the most superior sea going
vessels of their time
• Fearless warriors, skilled fighters
• They were called Moros by Spanish
• They use compasses, brass telescopes,
and the stars to navigate
• They are knowledgeable about the
tempestuous monsoon winds of the
region
 What do these raiders did?

SLAVE RAIDING
• had been practiced among some tribes in the
Philippines before the arrival of the Western powers
• it was legal during the 18th century
• the arrival of Spanish and their interests triggered this
activity
└ they would bore a hole through the captured
people’s palm and put a string into it
└ they use the people they captured as the boat
rowers in raiding the Sulu sea
 What do these raiders did?

SLAVE RAIDING
• most of the raids were sanctioned by the sultanates
in the name of a higher cause: the spread of Islam
and elliminate the presence of Christian Spanish in
Zamboanga
• Increase in slaves and demand for them fed into a
situation by the mid-18th century when something
unprecedented happened in the Malacca Straits
region – the seasonal arrival of a very large number
of raiders from the Southern Philippines.
Equipments
Used in
Raiding
 Equipments Used in Raiding

Vessels/Warships 0
• traditional war canoes of Maritime Southeast Asia
• Historically utilized for sea raids
• These ancient warship was three times faster than
1
the Spanish Galleon

Lanong Garay Salisipan

 Lanong/Juangas
• These ships had a large, wide keel
(tip) for stability and three large cloth
sails on sturdy collapsible, tripod-like
masts
• 24 to 27 meters long with six meter
wide hulls (exteriors)
• had cannons mounted at the bow
• Each vessels carried 100 -150 men,
a captain, a steersman and
warrior sailors & slaves to power
the 34 oars each side, and
captured local guides to help
navigate unknown waters
 Garay
• Smaller, faster, more
maneuverable than Juangas
• They were the fast attack boats
of the Samal raiding tribes
• It was built from bamboo, wood,
and nipa palm
• It could carry more than 100
sailors
• It was 25 meter long, 6 meter
across, has 30-60 oars on each
side and housed a powder
magazine and cannon at the
bow
 Salisipan
• Auxiliary (support) vessels
• Small boats designed for coastal
raids
• In reaching the coast, they
usually hide their big boats, and
use Salisipans to row into the
shorelines and pretend that they
are fishermen and harmless
people.
 Equipments Used in Raiding

Hand-Held Weapons 0
2
Barong Moro Kris Kampilan
 Moro Barong
• Approximately one-meter long sword with single-edged leaf-shaped
blade made of thick tempered steel
• Was used in close hand-to-hand battle to cut down Spanish firearms
 Moro Kris/Calais
• A weapon of warfare and ceremony
• Measures up to 1.2 meters in length, is double-edged and with either a
smooth or wavy blade that could make quick work of any enemy in
close combat – easy slashing, bone penetrating
• Was not only carried by slave raiders into battle but also by noble and
highly ranking officials of the southern sultanates
 Kampilan
• Longest of the swords used primarily by the Illanun
• Heavy single-edged sword often adorned with hair to make it look even
more intimidating
• Also common to find with grooves cut onto the blade to indicate the
lives it had claimed
 Equipments Used in Raiding

Body Armor 0
• Used by wealthier raiders to
protect themselves
• It is a heavy armor made form
3
carabao horn or steel plates, and
was molded to fit the body and
held together with chainmail
• It could deflect the blows from a
sword
 TIMELINE OF THE RAIDING
AND SLAVE TRADING

December 8th 172

0
Maguindanao King Rajah Dalasi, King
of Bulig in Maguindanao, launched a
bloody attack on Fort Pilar, 180 Local Christian Village,
Zamboanga City, together with the
0s Central Philippines
3,000 strong forces of the Sulu
Sultanates against the 600 Spanish Raids to the north were so
soldiers. commonplace that even the Catholic
183 friars would stand up to protect their
flock. Christian communities were far
0 from main Spanish stronghold in
A smaller, faster, and more Manila so they faced the effect of an
maneuverable form of raiding boat increasing, exceeding demand for
called Garay replaced the slaves.
Lanongs/Juangas.

184
8 was charged with the task of attacking
All four Balangingi’s fort was
destroyed, and 350 Samal men and
women are captured alive. Paglima
was amongst them but they did
187
capture his pregnant wife, Noila.
Jolo Slave Market,
190
Southern Philippines
0s
Slave raiders journeyed beyond
waters of the Philippines to
neighboring Borneo, Java, and into
the Straits of Malacca.
184
5
An anti-slavery treaty was finally
enforced in the Philippines and a
colonial governor, General Narciso
Claveria, Paglima Taupan’s archenemy,
and destroying slave raiding bases:
including Taupan’s Balangingi fort.
0s
After the war, the market
for slaves of the Tausug
economy dried up and
was in marked decline
because it depended so
heavily on selling slaves for
revenue.
 195
8
Paglima decided to
surrender and was
Patian Island, brought to Zamboanga
190
Southern Philippines City by the Spaniards.
9
When the American colonized
the Philippines, they inherited
their predecessor’s problems
with the raiders. The thorn in the
American’s side was a Taosug
raider called Jikiri.
PRESENT
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT
DURING THOSE TIMES

Kingdoms: Sulu and Maguindanao

Sultanates
└King/Sultan
 RELIGIONS PRACTICED/EXISTED
DURING THOSE TIMES

• Christianity
└Christian/Catholic

• Islam
└Muslim
ECONOMIC COUNTERPARTS OF THE EVENTS
Slave Trading and Exchange
-
Products
 Spices
 Woods
 Tin
 Pepper
by the 18th century, these products were important in the China
trade, and Europeans wanted to be part and control it
The film Raiders of the Sulu Sea
is the battles between :

Slave Raiders and the Spanish,

Islam against Christianity,
the indigenous way of life
against the enforced values of
the occupiers,
the might of sword against the
destructive power of
gunpowder.
Contribution in understanding the
grand narrative of Philippine history:

• Filipino’s struggle for freedom

• Opposition towards Western
Imperialism
• Political dynasty
• “Bangsamoro” title was well-known
throughout the Malaysian
archipelago and among Muslim
community
• Insistent resistance may have
inspired Filipino revolutionaries
Today as in the past, the armed
conflict in Southern Philippines can be
viewed from different perspectives:

ECONOMIC – Freedom and right of the

Moros to exploit natural resources

CULTURAL – Revival of indigenous arts

and trade

SOCIAL – Tolerance and respect of

religious differences or diversity
Relevance in the Contemporary Time:
• Consciousness of the aftermath of the
“Moro Wars”
• Overlooks the plight of the captives and
slaves
• Antedates the separatist movements in
contemporary times Unceasing
resistance by the Muslim minority against
the state and Christian Majority
• Many coastal inhabitants who could not
bear the piratical raids moved inland for
safety
• Muslim and Christian conflict
Definitely, there is a need to
address the Muslim Filipino
Community’s struggle for self-
determination and autonomy
(independence) within the
context of Philippine national
sovereignty.
 THANK YOU!
Prepared by
Ebalin, Lander B.
Sandrino, Kristine Claire
Tabangay, Melrose

BSBA MM 1-1

Sources:
1. Acesuchan on Youtube. Raiders of the Sulu Sea film. https://youtu.be/CEtJ1mZdX10
2. Alexander Street. Raiders of the Sulu Sea summary and transcript. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2198135
3. Powepoint Template: www.premast.com