Cavite State University

Don Severino De Las Alas Campus, Main

Indang, Cavite

“The Jabidah Massacre of 1968: A Case

Analysis”

A Term Paper
Presented to Faculty and Staff of
College of Arts and Sciences
And to
Mr. Vertine Paul Beler

In Partial Fulfilment of the Course

Int’l Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (POSC55)
And for the Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Lawrence Gerald L. Beray

November 2018
 Contents

Chapters

I. Case Background

a. Time Context

b. Viewpoint

c. Area of Consideration

II. Methodology

a. Research Methods

b. Environment

III. Presentation of Analysis

a. Analysis of Critique

b. Critique’s Consideration

IV. Recommendation

a. Findings

b. Summary

c. Conclusion
 Acknowledgement

The researcher would like to extend his gratitude first and

foremost to the Omnipotent Being for giving ample of Graces and

Blessings that also contributes in finishing the paper.

To Mr. Vertine Paul Beler for the selfless assistance needed

for the prosperity of academic needs of the students and

especially the researcher.

To other professors, instructors, and classmates that enable

the researcher to comprehend analytical values that helps as well

development of the term paper.

 Abstract

The paper would like to examine by conducting an

investigative case analysis in the case of the Jabidah Massacre

which happened in 1968. An example of violation of Human Rights

in the Philippines that involves Indigenous People. The paper

wishes to result a pacifying conclusion avoiding and refraining a

direct pointing of individuals, entities, etc., responsible for

the case without adherence to presumption of innocence and the

rule of burden of proof that warrants law on evidence.

 Chapter I

In this chapter, the author would like to examine different

concept regarding the Jabidah massacre involving different point

views.

Case Background

The Jabidah Massacre or otherwise known as the Corregidor

massacre which took place in the Island of Corregidor on 18th of

March 1968, as one of the examples of human rights violations of

indigenous people, attracted the attention of the international

community and later on, a historical figure of dictatorship of

late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

In this background, the researcher would like to determine

comparisons of various reasons, and the other significant data or

information that would benefit the construction of the paper. As

accordingly stated by Cesar Adib Majul (1973, 1999), in his work

entitled “Muslims in the Philippines” at University of the

Philippines Press, at that time the state had suppressed the

interest of national unity1. Furthermore, the documents of the

incident were tampered or even deleted due to the reason of

imminent public chaos.

Since then, the researcher of the paper is curios whether the

incident was politically motivated or the actual cruelty of the

1
https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2013/03/64906.html
late dictator. The context of the paper would most be descriptive

in the archival data that had been gathered.

A. Time Context

The framework of the contextual time arrangement of the

incident which happened on the past at all times does not

promote retroactive effect.

On January 3, 1968, during the second term of President

Marcos, in order to establish a concrete proof of ownership of

Sabbah Island located in the south-eastern of Mindanao and as

well as promote the risk reduction of insurgency, the late

President did organize a military group of Moros’ trained in

the Corregidor Island for the infiltration and complete

seizure of the Sabbah Island. This was called “Operation

Merdeka”, a guerrilla tactics in preparation for the Sabba

invasion as an alleged top-secret plan of the administration.

Shouldering the burden of proof, the incident of Jabidah

Massacre only showcases political motivation or cruelty of

dictatorship, hence, in this effect, the material evidence of

victims’ ranges from 11 to 68 speculatively due to the reason

of loss of official documents or having no documents at all2.

Furthermore, the consequence of the incident resulted in a

public clamor which redress for grievance as total eradication

2
http://www.bantayog.org/the-jabidah-massacre-of-1968/
of dictatorship of the late President. However, because of

that clamor, the side of the dicator seeking to resolve the

internal and on-going chaos was just given an opportunity to

declare the feared martial law.

B. Viewpoint

In this section, the researcher would like to establish the

point of view of two opposing forces which would be the

government (where Marcos was the President during his second

term) and the opposition (which lead by Sen. Benigno “Ninoy”

Aquino Jr.)that would as well be the subject of this paper.

This will as well cover the topics which discuss the various

reasons of each force’s viewpoint.

The government at the time of Marcos’ regime, was duly

active in the infrastructure, economical, development, and the

establishment of general welfare such as employment,

investment, and others. This was in accordance to the first

term of Marcos specifically within 1965-1972, however, during

his second term, the administration focuses on the

strengthening of military forces, regaining territoriality,

and as well as the suppression of insurgency. In this moment

of time, the public clamor about the proliferation of armed

forces and the prevailing kleptocracy demands warning to the

citizenry. There are as well pro-Marcos that did not find the
issue a total threat to public security and public welfare.

Since then, politicians of anti-Marcos party, or the

opposition managed to organize suppression of the imminent

threat of dictatorship. The organization of the Jabidah group

for the Sabbah invasion resulted in a massacre from which in

accordance to the survivor, received cruel treatment and

degrading training.

The opposition otherwise was resilient to this imminent

danger of public safety exposed the Jabidah massacre which at

that time, closed to becoming the truth. The senator whom

accordingly, in his privilege speech, declared that the

massacre was the doing of the dictator and had operated an

unconstitutional secret-strike force operation called the

Operation Merdeka (Whitman 2000). This is as well called by

the administration a mere propaganda caused to promote chaos

and confusion among the constituents. However, in the account

of Arula, a survivor of the Jabidah group, the administration

promised them to give them P50 allowance per month yet not a

centavo had came to their pockets. They were fed dried fish

while commanding officers was living in a luxury, and as for

their coffee they tasked to use rice leftovers. Arula said

that he escaped before dawn which was the daw of execution and
swam for his life on Manila Bay. Marcos discredit the

allegation as it is as well discredit the administration3.

C. Area of Consideration

For the benefit of the good and for the benefit of all, this

section would cater on the area of consideration on whether

the Jabidah massacre was just a propaganda of the Liberal

Party against Marcos administration or it was the result of

the imminent dictatorship.

In the side of the opposition which is the Liberal Party,

the Jabidah massacre is the first-step of the cruelty of the

dictatorship. It was as well the evidence of the party to

degrading nature of the President. The researcher could not as

well assume that the President did not possess any

responsibility towards the allegations of the Liberal Party.

Nonetheless, the political motivation created by the Liberal

Party in the context of political disputes, it would be

analyzed that it was due to the propaganda of the left that

Jabidah was born.

At the conception of imminent danger as well, the invasion

of Sabbah Island as well in the policy under International Law

is illegal upon the construction of UN Charter. Hence, the

operation which was accordingly top-secret as the answer where

3
https://opinion.inquirer.net/50555/catastrophic-results-of-jabidah-massacre
poses a question to the sole existence of Jabidah Massacre was

according to Rigoberto D. Tiglao (a journalist of ManilaTimes

2018), the so-called Jabidah massacre was just a hoax of the

yellowtards claiming that there was no killing and if there is

it was due to the covert plans of Marcos’ to forcibly take

Sabbah. Accordingly to the journalist, there was no single

casualty and the fact about Arula (survivor) is that Arula is

not a legitimate Moro and therefore, a fabricated witness of

the incident. This kind of phenomenon would render that all

chaos was caused by the Liberal Party in order to discredit

the administration. Hence, due to the fact that Marcos had as

well dismissed this allegation, the confusion among the

citizenry arose.

Notwithstanding the criteria of area of consideration, the

question of whether the Jabidah massacre existed is as well

would be considered as one of the criteria. Hence, there three

(3) area of consideration in this section which are as

follows; (a) first is that Jabidah massacre is the fruit of

cruelty of dictatorship; (b) second is that Jabidah massacre

is the result of the top-secret operation plan to invade

Sabbah and; (c) last is that Jabidah massacre was just a

political propaganda of the Liberal Party and was just an

illusion that never materialized or even existed.

 Chapter II

Methodology

In this chapter, the researcher would like to divulge the

different methods in the study.

A. Research Methods

The researcher would like to employ descriptive method as a

form of qualitative analysis in the course of the paper. The

researcher as well be able to analyzed the case in the

practice of describing the phenomenon in the manner of

assessing qualitative political data. Since the case was

enlisted in the history of the Philippines as one of the

political-historical data figure. Research proceedings in this

case study only suffice the researcher in a rational archival

data-gathering; hence enable as well the researcher to duly

proceed in a qualitative-political data analysis.

B. Environment

The researcher in this case study would like to implement

the research environment in the context of conceptual time

framework. This is due to the reason that the Jabidah was

allegedly committed in the Corregidor Island which is for the

researcher unable for them to empirically present himself for

the conduct of another investigative procedure.

 Chapter III

Presentation of Analysis

In this chapter, the researcher would like to anchor on the

presentation of analysis as a manner of subjective or opinionated

article based on the data gathered. This is for the development

and promotion of public opinion and private opinion. The

researcher believed that each and every individual’s opinion is

important for the adherence of freedom of speech.

A. Analysis of Critique

Following the incident of Jabidah massacre, whether it

existed or not is not the point of the people of Philippines

whom who advocated for a revolution which is the EDSA. It is

not the point as well of the corruption and the kleptocracy of

the Marcos’ administration, but it is the preservation and the

promotion of the adherence to human rights. Whether it was a

propaganda for the Liberal Party to discredit the

administration or not, it is not as well the point to ignore

the justification of the human rights. The researcher would

like to employ that there was no good side in both forces

(which is the Marcos’ and the Aquino’s) but the good side

itself is the promotion of the prevailing humanitarian

condition as one of the example of the adherence to the law.

The researcher would like to avoid as well taking side due to

the reason that the point of the paper is to elaborate the

essence of human rights and as well to preserved it.

Therefore, as to whether or not it existed or as to whether

or not is a propaganda, the point of the researcher is that it

must never happened again or (if it never happened) it must

never happen at all. Muslims in the Philippines, as for the

record, has the longest historical stay even before the

Spaniards. It is the duty of the constitution to provide legal

protection of their rights and privileges as the minority in

the society. After all, Muslim or not and Christian or not as

well as not of both, as long as it is a Filipino citizen, it

must be denied the equal protection of the law by reason of

religion, poverty, political affiliation, and others.

B. Critique’s Consideration

The researcher as well as the critique of the incident would

like to present its consideration on the analysis of the

Jabidah massacre in the light of preserving the political

correctness.

Political correctness is the attitude of each and every

individual to thoroughly discipline himself or herself in the

context of anti-discrimination of races, gender, religious and

political affiliations, and others. This consideration is for

the purpose of avoiding presumption of guilt towards one

 another. The burden of proof must be considered as well as

abiding to the principle of due process and equal protection

of the law.

Chapter IV

Recommendation

The researcher, in this chapter, would like to recommend the

findings, summary, and conclusion of the paper.

A. Findings

The researcher found that the Jabidah massacre was totally a

controversial issue with regards to the human rights violation

as well as repugnant to the promotion of the general welfare.

The researcher could tell whether or not the Jabidah massacre

was a mere propaganda of the Liberal Party or a cruelty of

dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos due to

fact that some other important documents relating to the

incident is lacking and was lost.

B. Summary

Jabidah massacre was one of the historical figure in the

field of politics. It was a revelation of the late Senator

Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in his privilege speech during 1968

that the late President had been organizing a top-secret

operation to strike down Sabbah. Because of that as

accordingly stated in article published by a journalist named

Rigoberto D. Tiglao, the Philippines lost the Island. After it

was exposed by the senator, the controversy of the massacre

arose, it is one of the reason as well whether or not the

Jabidah massacre is done by the late President because if it

was created for the sole purpose of striking down Sabbah,

then, why it should be massacred. Then poses a question the

legality of the alleged Operation Merdeka, on whether or not

the operation is considered by the International Community as

legal in terms of the UN convention. Furthermore, the

Malaysian government had sponsored an armed forces of Moros

namely; Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the

supervision of Nur Misuari, this Moro National Liberation

Front was accordingly fighting for the protection of the Moros

responding the massacre of Jabidah group.

C. Conclusion

The part of distorting history for the sake of the monopoly

of truth is very disappointing in the preservation of human

rights. Justice cannot be served unless it would know the

detailed course of action in the incident. In this section,

the researcher would like to conclude that in the process of

the preservation of the human rights, whether or not the

Jabidah massacre existed or not, the point of the researcher

is that the incident must never be happened again or (if it

never happened) it must never happen at all.