Palimbang massacre
| Palimbang Mosque massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Moro conflict | |
.svg)  Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat (Philippines) | |
| Location | 6°20′36″N 124°11′52″E / 6.3432°N 124.1977°E Malisbong, Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines |
| Date | September 24, 1974 [1] (UTC +8) |
| Target | Filipino Muslims |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Deaths | ~1000[2]-1,500[3] |
| Perpetrators | Philippine Army[4] |
The Masjid Malisbong (H. Hamsa Tacbil Mosque) massacre, also known as Palimbang massacre, was the mass murder of Muslim Moros by units of the Philippine military on September 24, 1974, in the coastal village of Malisbong in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao.[1][3] Accounts compiled by the Moro Women's Center in General Santos state that 1,500 male Moros aged 11–70 were killed inside a mosque, 3,000 women and children aged 9–60 were detained – with the women being raped – and that 300 houses were razed by the government forces.[1] The massacre occurred two years after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in September 1972.[5]
The massacre started after the first four days on the fast of Ramadan when members of the Philippine Army arrived and captured barangay officials along with 700-800[6][7] to 1,000 other Muslims. For more than a month, the military murdered residents of the area. With some estimates giving a lower figure, of less than 200 deaths.[8] Testimonies show that victims were made to strip and dig their own graves before being killed by gunshot.[9]
Remuneration for victims
[edit]In 2011, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front sought compensation for the Moro victims of martial law violence in the wake of the distribution of $7.5 million in compensation for more than 1,000 individuals who filed a class action suit against the Marcoses. The MILF claimed that thousands of Moros were killed in massacres such as what took place in Malisbong, perpetrated by soldiers and state-sponsored paramilitary forces during martial law. These included the Manili massacre, Tacub massacre, Patikul massacre, and Pata Island massacre.[10]
In 2014, the Philippine government finally recognized 1,500 Moro residents of Malisbong village killed in the massacre as martial law victims. Representatives of the Commission on Human Rights helped facilitate the claims of the survivors and the families of the massacre victims to the Php10 billion fund set by the government for the indemnification of human rights victims during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos, in keeping with the provisions of Republic Act No. 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.[1]
In popular culture
[edit]Forbidden Memory is a 2016 film based on the Malisbong massacre, directed by Davao-based Maguindanao filmmaker Gutierrez Mangansakan. It won Best Documentary from the three finalists in the 12th Cinema One Originals, the annual film festival sponsored by Cinema One.[11]
Denial
[edit]Rigoberto Tiglao and Juan Ponce Enrile have denied that the massacre had ever happened.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "1,500 Moro massacre victims during Martial Law honored". Top Stories. MindaNews. September 26, 2014. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ "Manila's Endless War". The New York Times. March 9, 1975. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
sources said that they had heard of the Palimbang Incident but that fewer than 200 were killed.
- ^ a b Santos, Chynna A. (April 11, 2015). "Violence in Mindanao". Beyond Loyola. The Guidon. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ Hilotin, Jay B. (February 5, 2015). "Why 'total war' is a path that leads to nowhere". Gulf News. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ^ Antonio, Nicolas Basilio (April 10, 2021). "The Moro Story During Martial Law". The Philippine Collegian. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Moros recall massacres under Marcos". Philippine Daily Inquirer. September 10, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
Records have indicated that from 700 to more than 1,000 civilians, aged 11 to 70, were killed in the Malisbong massacre on Sept. 24, 1974.
- ^ "Manila's Endless War". The New York Times. March 9, 1975. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
In southern Mindanao, near a coastal town called Palimbang, a detachment of marines systematically started executing Moslem noncombatants last October and 800 were slain, he charged.
- ^ "Manila's Endless War". The New York Times. March 9, 1975. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
sources said that they had heard of the Palimbang Incident but that fewer than 200 were killed.
- ^ "1974 Malisbong Massacre memorialized in "Forbidden Memory" film". MindaNews. November 17, 2016.
- ^ Fernandez, Edwin (March 3, 2011). "MILF seeks compensation for Moro victims of martial law". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- ^ "Davao-based director's docu gets Cinema One Originals nod". Mindanao Times. March 4, 2016. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- ^ "Today is the anniversary of the Palimbang Massacre, another event we must #NeverForget | Coconuts". coconuts.co. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- 1974 murders in the Philippines
- September 1974 in Asia
- 20th-century mass murders in the Philippines
- Mosque massacres in Asia
- 1970s in Islam
- Massacres in 1974
- History of Sultan Kudarat
- Violence against men in Asia
- Violence against women in the Philippines
- Crime in Mindanao
- Massacres in the Philippines
- Massacres under the Marcos dictatorship
- 1974 mass shootings in Asia
- Mass shootings in the Philippines
- Mosque shootings in Asia
- Wartime sexual violence in Asia
- Moro conflict
- Attacks on buildings and structures in 1974
- Attacks on religious buildings and structures in the Philippines
- Attacks on mosques in the 1970s