Christians are the minority in Basilan, 'te.
My grandfather, the late Mr. Rustico Lucino, was a businessman who did business in Bohol, Cebu, Surigao, southern Mindanao and even in Jolo and Basilan. Business was good for him prior to the 1970s Separatist War with the Muslim South.
My grandfather befriended the then-Sultan of Sulu and was given a traditional Kriss that we have in our house in Tagbilaran as a memory and token of their friendship. But with that gift, the Sultan told him, 'Titing, get out of here. Don't do business here again." The Kriss was the parting gift and my grandfather never came back to Jolo ever again because of the rising Anti-Christian sentiment and anti-Republica sentiment during that time period. It was a friend's advice that the Sultan gave to my grandfather not to come again as he would have been harmed had he been caught, God forbid. I've heard horror stories from my dad that back in the 1970s, Filipino soldiers were sent to the south to quell the Muslim rebellion and separatist movement. Stories of hundreds of Filipino officers who graduated from the prestigious PMA (Philippine Military Academy) were killed; many of them came back in coffins without their heads, many infantrymen also were killed in the separatist war in the 1970s. It was a bloody war, that to this day continues. It was a blessing that the Sultan of Sulu told my grandfather not to do business there. To get out.
In Basilan and Jolo, in fact in the entire Tawi-Tawi group of the Philippines, the great majority of the people are Muslims. There are very few Christians there. Even to this day, the only christians there are the 6,000 Filipino soldiers of the Philippine Army who are stationed there.
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Topic: Mosque in Basilan (Read 1593 times)