Mindanao: Commonwealth Period and WWII

• The lesson focuses on Mindanao during the Commonwealth period and World War II.
• The impact of the Commonwealth government's policies on land distribution, migration, and governance in Mindanao will be analyzed.
• The effects of these policies on local communities will also be studied.
• Key themes include external influences on Mindanao's socio-political and cultural landscape.

The Commonwealth Period

• Week 8 discusses Mindanao in the context of the Philippine Commonwealth.
• Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina expressed a preference for a Filipino-led government, even if imperfect, over an American-led one.
• The Philippine Assembly, established during the American colonial period (1907-1916) as the lower house of the Philippine Legislature, along with the appointed Philippine Commission, comprised the legislative branch.

Accomplishments

• Banks for farmers were established.
• There was an improvement in the country's communication system and infrastructure.
• Irrigation systems were provided.
• The National Library was established.
• Education was provided to people in all parts of the country.

Migration to Mindanao

• Government-assisted migration to Mindanao began on a large scale with the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935.
• Efforts to encourage Christian immigration to Muslim Mindanao were partly motivated by the intention to "civilize" Muslims by contagion.

Commonwealth Administration

• The Commonwealth administration aimed to develop Mindanao economically for the benefit of the nation.
• The focus was on providing an outlet for tenant farmers from the North who were impoverished by the global depression.
• Christian political leaders did not anticipate or encourage significant Muslim participation in their development schemes.
• The National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) was established in 1939 to create and administer a system of settler colonies in Mindanao.
• By early 1941, NLSA had established two large colonies in Cotabato Province, accommodating approximately thirty-seven hundred families.

Post War Migration

• Post-war, government-sponsored immigration resumed at an accelerated pace.
• Programs were intended to relieve political and population pressures, especially with an armed rebellion in Central Luzon in 1946.
• By 1950, the Hukbalahap Rebellion was a significant insurgency seeking agrarian reform and complete economic independence.
• The Hukbalahap Rebellion was subdued in 1953 with U.S. aid.
• A resettlement program for "Huk" fighters and supporters in Mindanao was implemented.
• The army-administered Economic Development Corps (EDCOR) established settlement projects primarily in Cotabato, with the first project in the Kapatagan Basin in Lanao Province in 1951.
• There were about 24 Christian settlers in the Kapatagan area in 1918, which rose to 8,000 by 1941 and 93,000 by 1960.
• By 1960 Christian immigrants vastly outnumbered the 7,000 Maranao Muslims.

Demographic Shift

• The population of Central Mindanao soared from 0.7 million in 1948 to an estimated 2.3 million in 1970, representing a growth rate of 229%.
• Net migration to Cotabato province between 1939 and 1960 totaled 523,037 persons.
• In 1960, Christian in-migration had caused the Muslim share of Cotabato Province to decline.

Disparities

• Christian immigration to Cotabato caused disparities between Christian settlers and Muslim farmers.
• As early as 1935, Muslims complained about the disadvantages in acquiring legal land titles.
• The government services available to Muslims were meager compared to what immigrant Christians received.
• Land laws defined unregistered lands in Mindanao as public or military reservations.

Bureau of Lands

• Officials of the Bureau of Lands were indifferent to Muslims.
• Christian settlers obtained ownership of new lands, crop loans, and government assistance.
• Christian communities were linked to trade centers by roads, while Muslim communities remained isolated.
• There 1971, there were no irrigation projects in any municipality in Mindanao where Muslims were a majority
• Muslims comprised 20% of Pigkawayan's population, occupied a remote swampy portion of land and farmers did not use fertilizer, herbicides, or tractors and threshers.

Access to Resources

• Differential access to state resources was exacerbated by bureaucrats and speculators.
• Ordinary Muslims and Christians were disadvantaged by manipulations, but the abuses often favored Christians.
• During the Commonwealth period, it was common for "influential persons" to rush to road construction sites and take up choice land.
• Speculators received information on roads and used fictitious names or children's thumbprints to gain title to the best adjoining lots for resale
• Philippine Constabulary officers obtained large tracts of land.

Land Rights

• Muslim found themselves peripheralized due to Christian settlers and speculators.
• The Bureau of Lands recognized land rights on priority of claim filed, not priority of occupation.
• Legal owners in such cases were mostly Christians and the previous occupants ordinary Muslims.
• Often armed might, usually supplied by local units of the Philippine Constabulary, was used to gain possession of land.

World War II

• Mindanao played a significant role in the Pacific theater during World War II because of its strategic location and resources.
• The Japanese invaded Mindanao in December 1941 as part of their broader goal to secure the Philippines.
• By May 1942, Mindanao fell to Japanese control, who aimed to use island as a base for operations in Southeast Asia.

Resistance

• Filipino guerrilla forces, often aided by Americans, organized resistance.
• Wendell Fertig organized a large-scale guerrilla movement in Mindanao.

Japanese Atrocities

• The local Moro population resisted both Japanese and American forces.
• Japanese forces implemented food requisitioning, forced labor, torture, and summary executions.
• Douglas MacArthur's campaign to retake the Philippines included the liberation of Mindanao, starting with the return to Leyte in October 1944
• The U.S. Eighth Army led the main assault, landing in Parang, Cotabato, in April 1945 and rapidly liberating cities.
• By mid-1945, most of the island had been liberated.

Aftermath

• The war altered Mindanao's social, political, and economic landscape.
• The war intensified ethnic and religious tensions in Mindanao, particularly between the Moros and Christian settlers.
• World War II was marked by intense fighting, resistance, and a significant role in the Pacific strategy of both sides.
• The island's liberation in 1945 contributed to the overall defeat of Japan in the Philippines.