The Moro Rebellion (1902–1913) was an armed conflict between the Moro people and the United States military during the Philippine–American War. The rebellion occurred after the conclusion of the conflict between the United States and the First Philippine Republic, and saw the US move to impose its authority over the Muslim states in Mindanao, Jolo, and the neighboring Sulu Archipelago.
The Moros have a 400-year history of resisting foreign rule. The violent armed struggle against the Spaniards, against the Americans, against the Japanese, and against the Filipinos, is considered by current Moro leaders as part of the four centuries-long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro (Moro Nation). This conflict persisted and developed into their current war for independence against the Philippine state. A "culture of jihad" emerged among the Moros due to the centuries-long war against the Spanish invaders.
The ethnic Moro population of the southern Philippines resisted both Spanish and American colonization. The Moro areas of western Mindanao have been the most rebellious areas in the Philippines, along with Samar and Bicol. The Spaniards were restricted to a handful of coastal garrisons or forts, and they made occasional punitive expeditions into the vast interior regions. After a series of unsuccessful attempts during the centuries of Spanish rule in the Philippines, Spanish forces occupied the abandoned city of Jolo, Sulu, the seat of the Sultan of Sulu, in 1876. The Spaniards and the Sultan of Sulu signed the Spanish Treaty of Peace on July 22, 1878. Control of the Sulu archipelago outside of the Spanish garrisons was handed to the Sultan. The treaty had translation errors: According to the Spanish-language version, Spain had complete sovereignty over the Sulu archipelago, while the Tausug version described a protectorate instead of an outright dependency. Despite the very nominal claim to the Moro territories, Spain ceded them to the United States in the Treaty of Paris which signaled the end of the Spanish–American War.
Following the American occupation of the Northern Philippines in 1899, Spanish forces in the Southern Philippines were disbanded and retreated to the garrisons at Zamboanga and Jolo. American forces took control of the Spanish government in Jolo on May 18, 1899, and at Zamboanga in December 1899.
After the American government informed the Moros that it would continue the old colonial protectorate relationship with Spain, the Moro Sulu Sultan rejected this and demanded that a new treaty be negotiated. The United States signed the Kiram–Bates Treaty with the Moro Sulu Sultanate which guaranteed the Sultanate's autonomy in its internal affairs and governance if they stayed out of the Philippine–American War. This allowed Brigadier General John C. Bates to concentrate his forces on repressing the Filipino resistance in Luzon. Once the Americans defeated the northern Filipinos, the treaty with the Moros was canceled by Bates, the sultan was betrayed, and the Americans invaded Moroland.
Philippine Republic conflicts (1899–1901)
The Philippine Army in the southern Philippines was commanded by General Nicolas Capistrano, and American forces conducted an expedition against him in the winter of 1900–1901. On March 27, 1901, Capistrano surrendered. President Emilio Aguinaldo had been captured a few days earlier in Luzon. This major victory in the war in the north allowed the Americans to devote more resources to the south, and they began to push into Moroland.
On August 31, 1901, Brigadier General George Whitefield Davis was appointed commander of the Department of Mindanao-Jolo, relieving William August Kobbé. Davis adopted a conciliatory policy towards the Moros. American forces under his command had standing orders to buy Moro produce when possible and to have "heralds of amity" precede all scouting expeditions. Peaceful Moros would not be disarmed. Polite reminders of America's anti-slavery policy were allowed.
One of Davis' subordinates, Captain John J. Pershing, assigned to the American garrison at Iligan, set out to improve relations with the Moros of the Maranao tribes on the northern shore of Lake Lanao. He established friendly relations with Amai-Manabilang, the retired Sultan of Madaya. Although retired, Manabilang was the single most influential person among the inhabitants of the lake's northern shore. His alliance did much to secure American standing in the area.
Not all of Davis' subordinates were as diplomatic as Pershing. Many veterans of the American Indian Wars took the "only good Indian is a dead Indian" mentality with them to the Philippines, and "civilize 'em with a Krag" became a similar catchphrase.
Relations between American troops and the Moros abruptly deteriorated in March 1902. On March 9, an American soldier was killed by unidentified assailants outside the port of Parang. Three days later, an 18-man cavalry detachment in the same area was ambushed by Moros, and one soldier was killed. On March 30, another American was hacked to death by Moros outside the nearby port of Malabang.
These ambushes of American troops by Moros, one of which involved juramentados, occurred to the south of Lake Lanao, outside of Manabilang's sphere of influence. These events prompted Major General Adna Chaffee, then the military governor of the Philippines, to issue a declaration on April 13, 1902. The declaration began, "Under the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States, ... the Philippine Islands, including the island of Mindanao, were ceded by Spain to the United States.", and demanded that the killers of American troops and stolen government property be handed over to the United States. Chafee's declaration was an attempt at a peaceful resolution. However, the Moros had never heard of the Treaty of Paris and considered that Spain, which had never successfully conquered Mindanao, could not cede their land to anyone. They considered Chaffee's declaration arrogant and rejected his demands.
The Americans, unaware of the long history of internecine Moro feuding, which could have led one Moro group to attack American troops friendly with another, sent an intermediary to open talks with a local group. Also unknown to the Americans, the leader of that group had a personal dislike of the intermediary. The intermediary was told that Americans were intent on proselytizing the Moros away from Islam and taking their lands. The Americans viewed this as defiance.
The Moros being non-compliant, a punitive expedition under Colonel Frank Baldwin set out to settle matters with the south-shore Moros. Although an excellent officer, Baldwin was "eager", and a worried Davis joined the expedition as an observer. On May 2, 1902, Baldwin's expedition attacked a Moro cotta (fortress) at the Battle of Pandapatan, also known as the Battle of Bayang. Pandapatan's defenses were unexpectedly strong, leading to 18 American casualties during the fighting. On the second day, the Americans used ladders and moat-bridging tools to break through the Moro fortifications, and a general slaughter of the Moro defenders followed.
The expeditionary force was built in Camp Vickers, one mile south of Pandapatan, and Davis assigned Pershing to Baldwin's command as an intelligence officer and as director of Moro affairs. As director, 'Black Jack' Pershing had a veto over Baldwin's movements, which was an unstable arrangement. This arrangement was tested when survivors of Pandapatan began building a cotta at Bacolod. Baldwin wanted to move against the hostile Moros immediately, but Pershing warned that doing so could create an anti-American coalition among the surrounding Datus, while patient diplomacy could establish friendly relations with most of the Moros, isolating the hostile minority. Baldwin grudgingly agreed. On June 30, Pershing assumed command of Camp Vickers, and Baldwin returned to Malabang. A command the size of Camp Vickers would normally have gone to an officer with the rank of major, and a careful shuffling of personnel would be required to ensure that reinforcements to the Camp did not include officers who were senior to Pershing.