| Ilaga | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Feliciano Luces, Sr[1] |
| Leaders | Norberto Manero, Jr.(formerly) |
| Dates of operation | January 1, 1967–1979 2008–present(re-formed as 'New Ilaga') |
| Split to | Red God's Defenders |
| Headquarters | North Cotabato (nowCotabato) |
| Active regions | Mindanao,Philippines |
| Ideology | Folk Catholicism Christian nationalism Christian fundamentalism Traditional Catholicism Islamophobia |
| Opponents |  Moro National Liberation Front(until 1979) Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom FightersAbu Sayyaf |
| Battles and wars | Moro conflict |
TheIlagâ (acronym forIlonggo Land Grabbers Association) is aChristian extremist[2][3]paramilitary group based in southernPhilippines. The group is predominantly composed ofIlonggos,[4] embracing a form ofFolk Catholicism that utilizesamulets and violence.
The group was founded in 1970, in a gathering in a restaurant inCotabato City by the then leading politicians in Central Mindanao, Nicolas Dequiña the Mayor ofMidsayap and his political peers, Mayor Wenceslao Dela Cerna ofAlamada, Pacifico Dela Cerna ofLibungan, Bonifacio Tejada ofMlang, Conrado Lemana ofTulunan, Jose Escribano ofTacurong, and Esteban Doruelo ofPigcawayan. This group is led by Feleciano Luces or better known asCommander Toothpick.
The group complemented thePhilippine Constabulary as a militia force during the 1970s in southernMindanao while fighting againstMoro guerrillas during theMoro insurgency in the Philippines.[5]
The predominantlyHiligaynon-speaking migrants (fromPanay) in the province of Cotabato organized a private army called the Ilaga (Visayan for rat). To counter the terror of Ilaga attacks on Muslim civilians, members of the Moro elite organized their own heavily armed groups — the Blackshirts in Cotabato, and the Barracudas in Lanao — who responded in kind.[6]
From 1970 to 1971 Ilaga launched a series of 21 massacres that left 518 people dead, 184 injured, and 243 houses burned down.[7] The group committed one of its bloodiest acts with theManili massacre on June 19, 1971, when the group killed 70[8]–79[9]Moro civilians (women, children and elders) inside amosque.[10]
TheMindanao region is rich in natural resources, including large quantities of mineral reserves. TheAmerican colonial government and subsequently thePhilippine government pursued a policy of migration by resettling significant numbers ofChristian Filipino settlers from theVisayas andLuzon onto tracts of land in Mindanao, beginning in the 1920s. This policy allowed Christian Filipinos to outnumber both the Moro andLumad populations by the 1970s, which was a contributing factor in aggravating grievances between the indigenous Moro and Filipino Christian settlers as disputes over land increased. Another grievance by the Moro people is the extraction of Mindanao's natural resources by thecentral government whilst many Moros continued to live in poverty.[11]
The Ilaga originated as an anti-ranchero resistance collective inUpi led by Commander Toothpick (Feliciano Luces),[1] formed byHiligaynon-speakers andTeduray natives specifically to defend against "apolitical clan of knownMarcos cronies".[12] The group gained legendary status and its members hailed asfolk heroes after having prevailed over the security personnel of said "oppressive landed family" during an armed encounter, using nothing but mêlée weapons and homemade firearms.[12] Statesecurity forces would eventually encourage Hiligaynon-speakingsettlers from Iloilo and Panay Island who had emigrated to Mindanao to grow the militia, but hereaftercoopted for acompletely different purpose. There is anecdotal evidence that the Ilaga often committed human rights abuses by targeting the Moro and Lumad peoples, as well as attempting to seize additional territory. The end result of Ilaga extremism is the lingering animosity between Moro and Christian communities. Mistrust and a cycle of violence are still felt today due to the creation of the Ilaga.[11]
From December 1969 to February 1972, the Ilaga committed massacres resulting in the deaths of 2,606[13]Muslim civilians (mostly women, children and elders). 1,238 Ilaga members[13] were later killed by Moro Muslims in skirmishes and reprisal raids. The group is guilty of "mutilating bodies of victims" and "marking bodies with a Christian cross." The group also burned down and looted many houses and properties.[14]
Violence attributed to the Ilaga reached its climax on June 19, 1971 with the Manili massacre of 70[8]–79[9]MoroMaguindanaon civilians (women, children and elders) in amosque in Manili,Carmen,North Cotabato.[15] The Muslim residents of the town had gathered in their mosque to participate in a supposed peace talk withChristian groups when a group of armed men dressed in uniforms similar to those worn by members of thePhilippine Constabulary opened fire on them.[15]
Following the massacre at Manili, manyMaranao Muslims civilians fled to take shelter in theLanao del Norte. Some Muslims formed small militant groups to counter the Ilaga. One such group was called the "Barracudas" and in September 1971, the Barracudas clashed with the Ilagas resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people on both sides of the conflict. The Ilagas also clashed with thePhilippine Constabulary. The skirmishes continued until October, and over 60 Muslim houses were torched by the Ilaga.[2][16]
Tullio Favali was a member of thePontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), an all-male international group of priests who are dedicated to evangelization in underdeveloped and non-Christian nations. Favali was assigned to do missions work in the Philippines, particularly in provinces inMindanao. He arrived in the Philippines in 1983, and was ordained as the parish priest of La Esperanza inTulunan, North Cotabato.
On April 11, 1985, Favali was called by townspeople for help after the Manero brothers shot the town's tailor.[17] When the Manero brothers saw him arrive and enter a house, Norberto Jr. dragged his motorcycle and set it on fire. When Favali hurried out after seeing the fire, Edilberto threatened the priest before shooting him pointblank in the head, he then trampled on the fallen priest's body and fired again. This caused the priest's skull to crack open, and Norberto Jr. picked the brains and displayed them to the horrified witnesses. The brothers, along with a few other gang members, stood by laughing and heckling.[18]
The Manero brothers and five others were found guilty of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also found Norberto Jr. guilty ofarson.[18]
Noeberto Manero, Jr., however, would later be pardoned.[19]
On December 16, 1996, the Ilaga group attacked and burned a mosque and around 200 Muslim homes in Bual,Isulan,Sultan Kudarat. A barangay that is composed of a majorityMaguindanaon Muslims origin population (60%), with significant minorities of ChristianIlonggo andIlocano (38%), and alsoLumad (2%).[20] There were no reported casualties, but thousands of villagers were displaced. The attackers doused Muslim homes with gasoline and set them on fire. This incident is the second in the past month. In late November, the group also burned down around 90 homes in another Muslim area.[21]
The arson and attack were closely related to the death of a Christian farmer the day before the attack. The farmer was killed by Muslim residents in retaliation for the deaths of two Muslim children, after their house was shot at by people suspected of being from a radical Christian group. TheMoro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighter group threatened to retaliate against the arson through its spokesmanMohagher Iqbal.[21]
Increased tensions in the Philippines since 2008 have since seen the re-emergence of the armedvigilante group[22] calling themselves theBag-ong Ilaga (Visayan:New Ilaga).[23] Since 2008, violence flared up with theMoro Islamic Liberation Front and theArmed Forces of the Philippines after theSupreme Court of the Philippines overruled the proposed treaty for anAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.[24][25]
In November 2008, the Ilaga killed five unarmed Muslim civilians in an ambush inLanao del Norte.[3]
In 2012, two members of the group committed robbery and also murdered two civilians inLeyte, they were then arrested.[26]
In 2016, a splinter group of the Ilaga emerged, theRed God's Defenders.
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