The Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) joins the Bangsamoro region and the Philippine country in the commemoration of the 54th Jabidah Massacre, an atrocious event that sparked the Moro revolution in the late 60โs against regime of the former dictator President Ferdinand Marcos
In this dreadful carnage, 54 years ago, the late dictator ordered the government armed forces the recruitment of around 200 young Tausug and Samah men to be deployed in Sabah, Malaysia for the purpose of Philippinesโ geographical expansion in a failed attempt to infiltrate and reclaim the island.
Dubbed as โOperation Merdekaโ, the recruits were brought to a military training camp in Corregidor Island, Cavite City which is faraway from their Bangsamoro homeland. They were promised to get paid and be part of the armed forces.
Upon exposing the masterplan about the secret mission against their fellow Muslim brethren in Sabah, the Moro recruits defied the orders and demanded for their return which led to their brutal execution on March 18, 1968 in the camp.
Only one survivor named Jibil Arula managed to escape after hearing gunshots and finding out about the fatal destiny of his comrades who were taken from their barracks by batch. Arula sprinted, jumped off the cliff, swam in the sea, and reached the shores Cavite.
Fortunate enough, Arula was able expose the incident and the secret operation not only to the whole country but to the world which caught the attention and sparked outrage from the young Moros from the different universities that time which later gave birth to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Jabidah Massacre is just one of numerous documented atrocities and brutalities where countless lives and communities were devastated that were all engraved in the centuries-old Bangsamoro struggle.
As we commemorate this event, this is also to highlight its significance in the Bangsamorosโ fight for self-determination.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ผ๐โ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐.
