MALAYSIA MUST NOT COMMIT THE SAME MISTAKE THE AMERICANS DID: UNDERESTIMATE THE TAUSUGS

I write this not to add more fuel to the fire but to share an insight into the mindset and the culture of the Tausugs who are now waging what they believe is a moral battle to reclaim what is historically theirs – Sabah.

Reading newspaper columns, especially one written by a columnist of a leading national daily who compared the men of the Sultan of Sulu to the members of the fanatical group Lapiang Malaya who were massacred in Manila many years ago, and listening to statements issued by our top officials belittling the determination of these people to engage in a battle to the end, I shudder to think of what and where this seeming condescending attitude will lead the nation to.

The Tausugs are considered the fiercest warriors among the different tribes in the Southern Philippines.

As rebels fighting government, and even as soldiers fighting for the government, these warriors have shown their ferocity and courage in battle.

My brother, retired Col. Pat Pinol, told me once of a fellow Tausug recruit, who, when trapped by Blackshirt rebels in Buldon, Cotabato in the 1970s, stood up and walked towards the enemy line firing his automatic rifle.

These are the people known to have produced the most “huramentados” in the history of the conflict in the Southern Philippines.

The “huramentados” were actually warriors who shaved their heads and wielded the “barongs” to cut down their enemies, never mind the number of bullets they were hit with.

In fact, there were stories saying that the American’s had to modify the .45 caliber revolvers to a magazine-fed pistol to bring down the Tausug warriors who kept coming forward even when they were being fired upon.

The Malaysian authorities, in my view, committed a big blunder by starting a firefight with these Tausug warriors.

I am not underestimating the capabilities and skills of the Malaysian soldiers but history will tell us that they have never been engaged in fierce and bloody battles.

These Tausugs have lived all their lives fighting, sometimes among themselves, but when faced with a common enemy, they unite and fight side by side.

If the situation in Sabah is mishandled, the Malaysian government may find itself engaged in a protracted battle which could be very costly.

As a Mindanaoan who has gone through so many years of fighting and conflict, I join the voices of sobriety and moderation calling for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict.

I am urging the Philippine and Malaysian governments to listen to these people who have long felt aggrieved that something that they own was taken away from them by force and intimidation by a superpower, the British Government.

The tough talks must be stopped. It is time that the Sabah conflict is resolved through a peaceful dialogue.

(photo credit: A 1901 picture of Tausug warriors downloaded from philippineamericanwarweb.com.)