First Spanish conquest and occupation of Sulu (1635–1646)

Chapter III

First Spanish conquest and occupation of Sulu, 1635–1646

Gen. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera relieved Salamanca before the end of the year 1635 and continued the same policy with additional vigor and great ability. He quickly resolved upon attacking the Moros in their own strongholds, and thought that by crushing their power at home he would be able to put an end to their piratical raids.

He arrived at Zamboanga February 22, 1636, proceeded first to Mindanao, fought Corralat and destroyed some of his forts and sailed back to Manila.52 Corcuera returned to Zamboanga in December, 1637, and prepared for an expedition against Sulu. On January 1, 1638, he embarked for Sulu with 600 Spanish soldiers, 1,000 native troops, and many volunteers and adventurers. He had 80 vessels all told and arrived at Jolo on the 4th.53

Anticipating an invasion, Sultan Bungsu had strengthened his garrisons and called for aid and reënforcements from Basilan, Tapul, and Tawi-tawi. On his arrival Corcuera found the town well fortified and the enemy strongly intrenched. The Moros were well disciplined and had a well organized guard. The forts occupied strategic points and were strongly defended; the trenches were well laid, and the Moros shot well and fought fearlessly.

Corcuera besieged the town with all his forces and attacked it repeatedly and valiantly using powerful artillery, but he could not reduce it. Several efforts to tunnel the walls or effect a breach in them by mines were frustrated by the vigilance and intrepidity of the Sulus. The siege lasted three months and a half, at the end of which time the Sulus evacuated the town and retired to the neighboring hills, where they intended to make the next stand. Corcuera, taking possession of the town, reconstructed its forts and established three posts, one on the hill, one at the river, and one on the sandbank in front of the town. The garrison he established there consisted of 200 Spanish soldiers and an equal number of Pampangans, under the command of Capt. Ginés Ros and Gaspar de Morales. In May Corcuera returned to Manila with all the triumph of a conqueror, leaving Gen. Pedro Almonte, the senior officer next to himself in command of the expedition, as governor of Zamboanga and Ternate and chief of the forces in the south.

Soon after the establishment of the Jolo garrison, the Sulus under Datu Ache attacked the soldiers in the quarry and killed a few Spaniards and captured 40 Chinese and Negroes (galley slaves). This and other depredations committed by the Sulus from time to time, some of which [178]were provoked by the ill behavior of the Spanish officers and troops, forced Almonte in June, 1639, to come over to Sulu and take the field a second time. With 3 captains and 1,200 Spanish and native soldiers, he marched over the island, attacked the Sulus in their homes, burned their houses and killed every man he could reach. It is said that he hung 500 heads on the trees, liberated 112 Christian captives, and captured quantities of arms. When he asked the Gimbaha Sulus (at one of the settlements of Parang) to submit to the sovereignty of Spain, they refused to recognize his authority, challenged his forces, and fought him desperately. They wore helmets and armor and used spears and swords. On one occasion, Captain Cepeda engaged them in battle and returned with 300 captives, leaving on the field 400 dead, a fearful lesson to those who survived. Cepeda lost 7 Spaniards and 20 natives only, but he had a large number wounded.

Not satisfied with the havoc he wrought on the Island of Sulu, and desiring to follow and catch the fugitive sultan, Almonte invaded the other large islands and followed the sultan and the datus all over the Archipelago. At Tawi-tawi, however, he met with a reverse, and the captain who led the expedition returned with considerable loss.

Soon after Almonte’s departure, the Sulus who had fled returned and lost no time or opportunity in harassing the garrison. Several piratical excursions invaded the Bisayas and Camarines. Soon Dutch vessels, invited by Sulu emissaries sent to Java, appeared in the vicinity of Zamboanga and Jolo and threatened the Spanish garrison and incited the Moros to resist the Spaniards and attack their forces. Anticipating trouble with the Dutch, and foreseeing the danger of maintaining a garrison at Jolo under the circumstances, the Spaniards planned to evacuate the town. Accordingly on the 14th of April, 1646, they left Jolo. Before withdrawing their troops, they managed to make a treaty with the Sulus, which took the form of an alliance both offensive and defensive. The purpose of the treaty was declared to be the maintenance of peace between both parties and mutual aid against foreign enemies. In case of assistance against a foreign nation, the expenses of the war were to be defrayed by the party requesting aid. The Spanish Government recognized the supreme authority of the Sultan of Sulu from Tawi-tawi to Tutup and Pagahak, reserving sovereignty rights for the King of Spain over Tapul, Siasi, Balangingi, and Pangutaran only. In return for the evacuation of Jolo, and as a sign of brotherhood, the Sultan of Sulu promised to send yearly to Zamboanga three boats, 8 fathoms long, full of rice, and to allow the Jesuit priests to come to Jolo unmolested. Other provisions were inserted in the treaty for the exchange and redemption of slaves, criminals, or others who happened to run away from Zamboanga to Sulu and vice versa. [179]

This treaty did not remain in force for any great length of time, for we hear again in 1647 that the Sulus invaded the Bisayas and harassed the vicinity of Zamboanga.