Women, war, and death in Sulu: Equanimity

Women, war,

and death in Sulu:

Equanimity

Woman, war, and death in Sulu:

Equanimity

2022

Autobiographical recollection, embroidery on garments,

woodworking and installation of traditional Tausug

appliqued canopy (luhul)

Karl Castro (concept, concept development and artwork creation), Jatun Ajid, Merfa Jalilul and Dadang J. Isniran, Mercilyn Haylid, Nurisa Bakil and Nadia Hassan (autobiographical detail and emroidery), Fatmawati Salapuddin (luhul, research and analysis), Marian Pastor Roces (concept and concept development), Maria Fe P. Quiroga (curatorial assistance), Maricel Hilario-Patiño (project administration and anthropological insight), Santi Obcena and Chonalyn Alonzo (textile conservation), Terra Bomba (mounts), Arnold Diano, Archie Opeña, Jaypee Gotera, Agnes Nantiza and Noralen Johnson (installation)

THE WAR WAGED BY THE PHILIPPINE

ARMY IN THE 1970s AGAINST MUSLIM

SECESSIONIST FORCES OPERATING IN

THE ISLAMICIZED AREAS OF MINDANAO

HAD A PARTICULAR INFLECTION IN

THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO.

THIS IDEAL OF UNITY EMERGES FROM

A CULTIVATED SENSIBILITY THAT

KEEPS FAITH WITH PRE-ISLAMIC

AND ISLAMIC-ANIMIST RITUALS PRESIDING

OVER LIFE AND DEATH IN THE

SULU ARCHIPELAGO.

TALIPAO TOWN IN SULU.

RESEARCH PARTNER FATMAWATI SALAPUDDIN

INTERVIEWING NURISA BAKIL.

Voluntary entry into the Moro

National Liberation Front (MNLF),

a secessionist movement from

the Philippine Republic, meant partaking

in both the cultures of a modern war

and the old form of parang sabil.

This Tausug cultural form acknowledges

the clear possibility of death upon entry

into the ranks of combatants for honor,

homeland, or principle. Even those

who joined up to be medical assistants

accepted whatever dicta of fate.

With the acknowledgement,

the individual accepts death with

equanimity. And so do his or her family.

Falling during combat may mean that

traditional Islamic rites at death may not

be possible—this, too, is accepted with

peace of mind.

war,

and

death

in

Sulu:

Equanimity

Women,

Invisibilities

and seas: Grace

in the Sama islands

SAMA WOMEN AT A COMMUNITY MEETING WITH

THE RESEARCH TEAM IN MARIKI, ZAMBOANGA CITY.

They also understand that the

dislocations experienced in Sulu

increased momentum during the

Martial Law period that brought

war to the archipelago.

THIS IDEAL OF UNITY EMERGES FROM A CULTIVATED SENSIBILITY THAT KEEPS FAITH WITH PRE-ISLAMIC AND ISLAMIC-ANIMIST RITUALS PRESIDING OVER LIFE AND DEATH

IN THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO.

The word grace describes

the will to life of the participating

men and women in this project,

who wish it understood that

their desire to uphold

the ritualized Samalan sea-oriented

life of the past is neither belligerent

nor divisive. They seek a "One Sulu"

inclusive of Tausug and

Sama peoples, despite

historical asymmetries of power

between the language groups.

THE PROJECT COLLABORATORS ARE ACUTELY AWARE THAT THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF

THESE RITUALS IS THREATENED

BY FUNDAMENTALIST STRAINS

OF ISLAM, MODERNISM, AND INDEED CHRISTIANITY.

These small polychromatic,

plain-woven mats

are used universally in the Sulu archipelago for the pause to pray,

many times a day,

as prescribed by Islam. It may be said that mats in general—traditionally used for the most mundane passages of daily life—also accompanied many Sulu peoples in major passages such as

birth and death,

and therefore the use in Islam

represents an intersection

between global and local realms.

Mats used for prayer

Tusug (but similar ones used by Sama speakers)

Plain weave

Dyed pandanus strips

Gift from Mucha Shim Quiling

THE WOMEN WHO BECAME SOLDIERS AND MEDICS,

AND WHO SHARED THEIR STORIES WITH THIS PROJECT,

ABANDONED THE FINE, POLYCHROMATIC HABUL TIYAHIAN

(EMBROIDERED TUBE SKIRT) AND DECORATED BAJU

(UPPER BODY GARMENT) OF TAUSUG CONVENTION.

THEY TOOK TO WEARING NONDESCRIPT CLOTHING

AS THEY WENT TO WAR.

Each contributing a

clothing set they used at

that time of war, the

women then

embroidered their names

on their clothes, and

gave, not just this

memento to the project,

but their trust that their

stories will be

understood as on-going.

RESEARCH PARTNER FATMAWATI SALAPUDDIN

MARKING MAPS FOR RESEARCH.

OF SELF-DETERMINATION TODAY.

THEY CONTINUE TO UPHOLD THE PRINCIPLE

RESEARCH PARTNER FATMAWATI SALAPUDDIN

INTERVIEWING JATUN ATID.

THEIR DOUBLE COMMITMENT TO

MODERN NARRATIVE AND

LITERAL BATTLEGROUNDS, AND TO

THE OLDER FORM OF CONSOLIDATING HONOR,

IS REPRESENTED IN THIS EXHIBITION.

with the Tausug canopy with the

appliqued symbol of the Tree of Life.

Hovering in the vicinity of

the clothes of the time of war,

the canopy (or wall hanging) may also

symbolize, at least for this project

itself, the emanation of

a better life from an honorable death.

CONNER APAYAO
BALBALAN
BALENCIAGO MASS BASE
TOMIANGAN
NAPOCOR CAMP
NANENG MASS BASE
CAGALUAN MASS BASE
TANAP MASS BASE
MALUCUSOD MASS BASE
BASAO MASS BASE
BATONG BUHAY MASS BASE
MOUNT BINULUAN
HELD THE CORDILLERA
MASS PLENUM IN 1984
PLANNING OF SPLIT
MOUNT BINULUAN SIKUU'
MALLANGA
SUMADEL MASS BASE
PAY-ONG BANGAD
FULISONG BANGAD
BANGAD MASS BASE
TINGLAYAN
DANANAO MASS BASE.
MARKS BY JUANITA CHULSI AND
JUANITA D. CABABA
BITUAGAN
SADANGA
BELWANG MASS BASE
BUGNAY
BUGNAY GATE
MOUNTAIN BETWEEN
BASAO AND BUGNAY
BASAO
CHICO RIVER
NGIBAT
BUTBUT PROPER
LOCCONG
BUSCALAN
MOUNT CHUMANCHIL.
A
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M
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MARKS BY TINA BALWEG,
CAROLYN GAMBOA AND
MANDING TAYAB

THIS MAP DETAILS LOCATIONS OF ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN

IN COMBAT UNITS OF THE 1970s MORO NATIONAL

LIBERATION FRONT (MNLF), THE SECOND ORGANIZATION

TO DECLARE A MOVE TO SECEDE FROM THE REPUBLIC

ON THE BASIS OF HISTORICAL WRONGS TO MUSLIM IN THE PHILIPPINES.

The personal maps of the four women who participated in this recollection project

are from their experiences as paramedics, which inevitable brought them into combat units.

They understood they were combatants. Today, all four believe they are still living out

their prolonged resistance to a State they believe has not given Muslim Filipinos their due.

Notwithstanding the creation of a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,

the women are unconvinced. Their sense of historical injustice is not assuaged,

with particular recall of the Marcos period.

Jolo, Sulu

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