Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) residents on Monday commemorated the infamous March 18, 1968 "Jabidah Massacre" that took place at the Corregidor island and triggered Moro uprising in
ARMM Acting Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman has declared the day a special non-working holiday in observance of Muslim Mindanao Act No. 67 which declared it as Bangsamoro Day.
Hataman said the day is very significant to Muslims as citizens and as Filipinos who shed blood to self-determination.
About 60 Muslim youth were recruited by the Marcos government to be trained in the Corregidor island by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for a covert operations aimed at regaining control of the resource-rich
However, they were massacred in the island but one of them managed to escape and tell the whole world what really transpired in the island.
The massacre gave birth to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM).
The recruits allegedly staged a mutiny to protest the non-payment of allowances promised them and for lack of medical attention while undergoing rigid military training.
Then-University of the
Hataman said the Moro people will always remember this day as a sacrifice of their brethren to gain what they have been fighting for - respect and recognition of their right to self-determination.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=508079
The Jabidah Massacre was a precipitating cause for the formation of the Moro National Liberation Front and contributed to the bloody and destructive GRP-MNLF conflict in the 1970s. The March 18 date that commemorates the Jabidah Massacre is also used to mark the annivesary of the formation of the MNLF.
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