Hannah Dionisio

Trisha Ann Rutaquo

Reaction paper: Raiders of the Sulu Sea
Raiders of the Sulu Sea or known as Illanos, are people that caused trouble in
the coastal areas of the Philippines who fought against Western Colonizers for their
freedom in clashing of religion ideologies between Islam and Christianity. This
documentary film is made in 2008 contributed by Historian Icelle Gloria D. Borja-
Estrada, Dr. Samuel Tan and Margarita Cohuangco and other International Historians.
This reaction paper is divided by two parts reacted by Trisha Rutaquio and Hannah
Dionisio.
First of all, I got creeped out when I found out that these merciless raiders
captured people, they make a hole on their palms and put a string on it. I actually find
Rajah Dalasi and his people very brave and optimistic since they think that would win
against Spaniards who much better well-armed compared to them but at least that they
have a battle strategy in fighting them. For my opinion “Barbaric Pirates” really fits on
what really described by the Western colonizers even though some Historians find it
misleading like Professor Barbara Andaya. I actually lucky that I wasn’t born in that
generation since slave raiding in those times was legal. Actually, when I saw the
Zamboanga’s fort pillar in the video it reminds me of Intramuros in Manila. These
Spanish Soldiers will not lose to them and would throw rocks and boiling waters to the
raiders for not entering the fort. I also agree that Religion (spreading of Christianity and
Islam) is a major factor that these war takes place between these two parties. I got
amazed on how archaeologists actually discovered on what areas and what ages of
civilizations takes place by means of artifacts. I also like on how the ships are well-
structured and much faster than Spanish ships. I’m actually glad that traditions of these
raiders are still relevant today by means of descending it through heritage, it is actually
useful for the historical purposes in our generation today. I’m also convinced by
Halman Abubakar that “Freedom Fighters” is the perfect description for them since
they’re fighting on what they believed in. I also learned that the reason why there are
curving on the sides of swords because for the easy slashing and it easy pull out the
sword away from the victim, actually I thought that the curves of the swords are just
designs but it wasn’t. Spaniards and I have the same reaction, At the end of all the wars
and battles they fought, Spaniards conquered the whole area by battling through
steamships they ordered from Britain. I also didn’t expect that raiders would rather kill
themselves rather than be taken captive by the Spaniards. After all the efforts they’ve
been into, these raiders are still part of Philippine history and they’re known as the
Raiders of the Sulu. – Reacted by Trisha Ann Rutaquio