Butig, officially the Municipality of Butig (
Maranao
The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomin ...
: ''Dalm a Butig''), is a 6th class
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Lanao del Sur
Lanao del Sur ( tl, Timog Lanao; Maranao and ilp, Pagabagatan Ranao), officially the Province of Lanao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital is the city of ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 22,768 people.
This ancient and royal town of the Maranaos became a municipality under Executive Order No. 21 issued on June 25, 1963, during the term of President
Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the ninth president of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth vice president, serving from 19 ...
.
History
Butig is considered as one of the oldest settlements in the center of Mindanao. A sultanate located in the Pangampong (Principality) of Unayan, Lanao,
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, Butig belongs to the confederation of the Sultans of Lanao (Ranao in
Maranao language
Maranao ( fil, Mëranaw) is an Austronesian language spoken by the Maranao people in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in the Philippines, and in Sabah, Malaysia.
Iranun was once considered a dialect of Maranao.
Unique am ...
). This historic town is the "cradle" of Maranao civilization.
Role in Islamization of Mindanao
While Islamic political institutions were being implemented in Sulu, Muslim traders and possibly itinerant teachers visited the eastern and northern parts of Mindanao Island. The advent of Muhammad Kabungsuwan and his lieutenants developed a system of multiple marriage alliances with various ruling families which served as a means of extending both political control and Islamization. The coming of this intrepid Arab-Malay, to whom the pervasive spread of Islam in Mindanao is attributed, and from whom all the leading sultans of that island have claimed descent, can be calculated to have taken place around the second decade of the sixteenth century. (Majul, 1973)
From the above-mentioned marriage alliances came the Moro dynasties of
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...
, Buayan, and Butig. From the Maranaos of Butig,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
was then introduced to the Maranaos of
Lake Lanao. Whereas the base and strength of the Buayan sultanate was in the upper valley of the Pulangi in the interior of eastern Mindanao, that of the sultanate of Maguindanao was at the lower valley and the nearby coastal areas. Actually, for many years it was Iranun support that strengthened the Maguindanaon rulers against their antagonists. (Majul, 1973)
In the time, the continued existence of Islam in Sulu and Mindanao was guaranteed by a more intensive Islamization of their neighbors such as Brunei and Ternate. The royal families of Brunei and Sulu became intimately related, as did those of Maguindanao and Ternate. Commercial relations and religious dialogue expanded among the peoples of these regions ... thus generating a sense of community transcending regional frontiers or dynastic loyalties. (Majul, 1973)
Resistance to European colonialism
In 1658, a strong force took the field against the Moros of Mindanao under the command of Don Francisco Estovar, Governor of Zamboanga. The expedition disembarked before the Moro town of Mamucan in the
Cotabato
Cotabato or North Cotabato ( hil, Aminhan Cotabato; ceb, Amihanang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pangutaran Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤڠوترن كوتاواتو; fil, Hilagang Cotabato), officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked province in ...
Valley. Here an action conducted by Don Pedro de Biruga, who, with a force of 180 Spaniards, destroyed the town of Butig, with many vessels and a quantity of rice.(Hurley, 1936)
Between 1663, when Zamboanga was abandoned, and 1718 when it was refortified, there was an interlude in the Moro Wars, which allowed the sultanates to become better organized and their Islamic institutions to be reinforced. Vigorous commercial relations with other principalities were initiated. It was around this time, too that the Sulu Sultanate acquired the North Borneo territory from the Sultan of Brunei as a grateful recompense for armed intervention in a dynastic quarrel. Sulu had reached the highest level of its territorial expansion. Actually, Sulu was simply filling up the power vacuum left in the island of Borneo as a result of Brunei's gradual political and commercial decline.
The Spanish government, principally on account of Jesuit agitation, decided to refortify Zamboanga. The Jesuits, more than any religious order in the Philippines, were the most insistent on the evangelization of Muslims. This attitude cost them (the Jesuits) a few casualties on account of extreme zeal.
It is proposed that the fifth stage in the history of the Moro Wars began with the refortification of Zamboanga in 1718 and ended in the Spanish failure in the eighteenth century to reduce the Muslim states to vassalage. To achieve this political end, and Spanish plan was devised to convert the sultans of Sulu and Maguindanao preparatory to the eventual conversion of the datus and other subjects. In this stage, the combined Sulu-Maranao attack to capture Zamboanga in 1719 failed. Again, a desultory war followed. The plan to convert the sultans failed in the case of Maguindanao. Although 'Azim-ud-Din, the sultan deposed by his brother, was baptized in Manila in 1751, that action did not have the desired political results in Sulu since the sultanate was in the hands of a usurper. Also, the question of the sincerity of the conversion still remains an open one.
In this fifth stage, the men of Sultan Mardan and the Maranaos of Butig began their devastating attacks on other parts of the Philippines, reducing the number of tributes for Spain coming from the Visayas and causing a virtual disruption in the economic life of many islands under the Spanish colonial regime. On account of thousands of captives taken by the Muslims, some depopulation started to take place in the Visayas. But all this was in response to the Spanish order in 1751 to enslave captured Muslims and destroy their settlements, boats, plantations, and fields. Yet, as the facts demonstrate, it was the Sulu Sultan who was always the first to initiate moves for a peaceful settlement. The lessening of Spanish power as a direct result of the British invasion of the Philippines and capture of Manila in 1762 once again brought about a decline of hostilities between Spaniards and Sulu and Maguindanao. The Muslim principalities again tried to recapture their days of commercial prosperity, but they were not to be left in peace. (Majul, 1973)
On December 8, 1720, Dalasi, the Datu of Butig (also known as Rajah ''Janatun'' of Butig), with an armada of one hundred vessels or “paraws” manned by Sultan sa Kanluran, ''Miyangaludan'' and several thousand Moros, attacked
Fort Pilar
The Real Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (''Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Saragossa''), also Fort Pilar, is a 17th-century military defense fortress built by the History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish colonial g ...
in Zamboanga. He captured a local
Jesuit
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest and forced the
Spanish government
gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua
, image =
, caption = Logo of the Government of Spain
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, label1 = Role
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, da ...
in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
to give ransom payment in exchange for his freedom. (Hurley, 1936) But the accuracy of this report by Hurley is in doubt considering the distance of Butig (Lanao del Sur) to the shores of Zamboanga. Furthermore, the Jesuits in Zamboanga were more engaged with the Tausugs of Sulu; and for Datu Dalasi, a Maranao of Lanao, to get involved in the affairs of the Sulu Sultanate is highly unusual.
American rule in Mindanao
In July 1908, Lieutenant Burr of the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
forces was leading forty men through the Agus River in
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. Near Nyaan the party came to a cotta, well fortified and surrounded with a moat filled with brush. Resistance being encountered, the soldiers cut through the brush with their bayonets and assaulted the fort.
The first soldier to reach the cotta walls was attacked from the rear by a
Moro with a kris. Hearing the cry of the soldier, Lieutenant Burr hurried to his assistance, killing the Moro with a pistol. Another Moro sprang from the shelter of the bush and struck Burr before he could turn to defend himself, dealing the American officer a terrible blow on the head with a campilane.
Burr died a few days later in the hospital at Camp Kiethley.
During the years 1908 and 1909, and for a number of years afterwards, the Butig Mountain range and the
Lake Lanao and Buldun sections of Mindanao were infested with outlaw bands ranging in size from a few men to several hundred.
Early in the year 1906, Moro outlaws in the inaccessible mountains of Butig fortified themselves in hill-top strongholds under the leadership of Sultan Mangatung and his brother inlaw, Amai ''Maricor'' of Maciu. Under Mangatung, a great force of outlaws became established at rancherias and were responsible for terrible depredations throughout the district.
Government launches operating at the mouth of the Malaig river were frequently fired upon, with the result that a camp of men from the 15th Infantry was established at the river.
The Moros were invited in for parleys and many of them came in and abandoned the outlaw life to return peacefully to their homes.
A number of the Moros, however, chose to ignore the American request for conciliation, and after a perty commanded by Lieutenant Furlong was fired upon, an American offensive was undertaken. Sultan Mangatung was killed.
Colonel J. F. Hutton took the field at the head of three columns of troops in the Butig Mountains. The soldiers were fired upon from the cottas but after eight serious engagements all of the outlaws in the district were annihilated.
Upon completion of these operations in Mindanao, a short period of peace ensued, to be broken by rumblings in Jolo.
Political history
Atty. Dimnatang Labay Pansar is the incumbent mayor of Butig. His predecessors were mayors Ibrahim Mitoon Macadato, Dimnatang Labay Pansar, Pauli Bao-Macabuntal Ditual, Sunnyboy Mona, Monabantog Kiram, Arapa Datukanug, Palawan Amatonding, Abdulrahman Mamalinding Romato, Datu Mombao Mamalinding Romato, Sangcad Mamalinding Bao, Sultan Macalinog Mamalinding Bao and Sultan Macabayao Macadato.
Butig is one of the oldest town in the province and the inhabitants thereat are connected to all the Seventeen Royal Houses of Lanao. By tradition, any individual who has no blood line in Butig cannot hold any recognized Royal Title in the Sultanate of Lanao.
Military conflict
Clashes between the
Philippine military
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The P ...
and a local terrorist organization known as the
Maute group
The Maute group ( or ), also known as the Islamic State of Lanao, was a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and foreign fighters led by Omar Maute, the alleged founder of a ''Dawlah Islamiya'', or ...
which is believed to have ties with
Jemaah Islamiyah
Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...
started on February 20, 2016, after the Maute Group raided the detachment of the 51st Infantry Battalion of the
Philippine Army
The Philippine Army (PA) ( Tagalog: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas''; in literal English: ''Army of the Ground of the Philippines''; in literal Spanish: ''Ejército de la Tierra de la Filipinas'') is the main, oldest and largest branch of the ...
in the town.
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
paraphernalia were discovered at the group's lair after government forces overran the group's camp on February 26, 2016.
The firefight displaced 2,000 residents of Butig, and killed 42 members of the group and three government troops. In November 2016, the Maute group seized the town but were driven from their positions by
Philippine Army
The Philippine Army (PA) ( Tagalog: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas''; in literal English: ''Army of the Ground of the Philippines''; in literal Spanish: ''Ejército de la Tierra de la Filipinas'') is the main, oldest and largest branch of the ...
troops after about a week of fighting.
Geography
Barangays
Butig is politically subdivided into 16
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s.
Butig had forty four (44) barangays during the time of Mayor Sultan Macabayao M. Macadato until 1979, but reduced to only sixteen (16) barangays when Sangcad S. Bao took over as OIC-Mayor during the time of President Corazon C. Aquino.
Climate
Demographics
Economy
See also
*
Lake Butig National Park
Lake Butig National Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the municipality of Butig, Lanao del Sur in Mindanao Island. The park spans an area of 68 hectares comprising Lake Butig and its surrounding forest. It was declared a nat ...
*
Mount Makaturing
Mount Makaturing, also known locally as Palaw a Magatoring, is a stratovolcano on Mindanao island in the Philippines. It is found in the province of Lanao del Sur (particularly in the town of Butig) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Musli ...
(Palaw a Magaturing in ''Meranau'' or Maranaw).
References
External links
Butig Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index*
Philippine Standard Geographic CodePhilippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Lanao del Sur