DATU GUMBAY PIANG
Gumbay Piang's Speech to the New South
This speech by Gumbay Piang, was sent from P.I. by L.F. Schroeder, with advice that Gumbay Piang is a
son of Datu Piang, and the address was made at a meeting of a student society of the University of the Philippines, which
Gumbay attended; he is now a supervising teacher in Cotabato:
The speech is considered by the sender as a good exposition of Moro ideas on Bacon Bill, the States and
Filipinos in general, with nothing in his statements that is false, exaggerated or distorted.
Shown to Gen. McIntyre, who says put it in the files.
B.L.M.
An extemporaneous speech delivered on the occasion of the discussion of a resolution opposing the Bacon
Bill at a special meeting and banquet of the New South, Sunday, September 12, 1926.
By Gumbay Piang:
Mr. President, I have been asked to speak and give my opinion towards the resolution now being discussed
by the members of the "New South." I am supposed to be a member of this organization, with all the privileges that are
allowed by its constitution to all the active members - including free for all discussions, following, however, parliamentary
procedures. But I wonder if my conscience will tolerate my action when I rise to speak as a member of the "New South" for
I have always considered myself as an old southerner - having been a resident of Moroland since coming to Earth, even
before I was born.
But being requested by some of my colleagues to say something (of the Bacon Bill, no doubt) limited,
however to the restrictions and privileges imposed upon me as a member of the organization, I shall give only brief remarks
on the present relations of the Moros and Filipinos as they have direct bearings on the attitude of the Moros towards
America and particularly towards to the Bacon Bill.
I am aware of the fact that I am treading on a hornet's nest when I speak on a subject such as the Bacon Bill.
To oppose the Bill would be to receive the wrath and curses of my tribe; to give favorable comment on it would make me
look anti-Filipino and insincere to the very many true and faithful Filipino friends I have; and to be silent when I am asked to
give my opinion would indicate my assent to the Bill - or, if not, I would be locked upon as afraid to defend openly the
action of my people.
Before I proceed further I wish to clear up several things to avoid misunderstandings among some of us here
- and a great many of those who are not members of this organization. The points I wish to clear up before I say more are:
First, that I am not a politician and do not even pose as an amateur one (sic). Therefore, my short talk must
not be considered a political bugaboo.
Second, that whatever I say here is my own personal opinion inspired by my love for my kinsmen. I speak
from nobody's authority, hence, I should not be viewed as voicing others' opinion. I must admit that I am not representing
my people as some of you think.
Third, that I consider myself a Moro who will stand for the Moros thru thick and thin. And I cannot, after I have
learned of their universal feeling, contradict the desires of those whom I care above all other things - the Moro people. I
cannot be disloyal to the sentiment of my race which, I am sure, is represented in this organization by a great minority.
Instead, I have to defend the present attitude of the Moros whether I like it or not (sic), so long as I know that they are
sincere in their statements; so long as I know that they are not mercenaries.
And lastly, that, if in the course of my talk, I may utter words or phrases or sentences that may be unpleasant
to others' ours, I should not be locked upon as an enemy of those whom I might offend.
[ Throughout ] the ages there have been scores, if not thousands or millions, of noble men who have been
intimate friends when it comes to their personal relations but mortal enemies when it comes to difference of opinions and
performance of obligations to their fellowmen. In our age and in this country, we can cite several such men, namely,
President Coolidge and Senator Osmena, the late ex-Secretary of War Weeks and Resident Commissioner Guevarra,
and no doubt, Governor-General Wood and some of the politicians, not to mention the name of the benevolent General
Emilio Aguinaldo. These are men of sterling character who are intimate friends and without personal prejudices; - yet, they
are brave and men enough to stand by their opinion and their people's prevailing sentiment; courageous enough to face
each other sternly in the face, call each other's people unpleasant names, yet shake hands at the same time.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I have stated to you at the very onset of my talk, I shall not speak directly on the
Bacon Bill but, rather, on the relations of the Filipinos and the Moros. I don't want to place emphasis on the Bacon Bill
because I dreamt last night that that bill would not be passed in the House of Representatives of the United States of
America. To my own personal opinion, as I view it, the American Congress is composed of men whose minds are what we
may call abnormal as compared with average American. They base their decisions on too many out-spoken reasoning's
and, as the Moros are not too much of a talkative people and with no scholar to enter into the forensic arena to point out
the fallacy and give effective argument against that phrase in the resolution, that the Moros are not only bound by ties of
blood, but also of ethical and geographic ties" to the rest of the Philippines, Congress would not pass the Bacon Bill which
the Moros are right now praying for its passage. Those who are loud and fervent in their prayers are the "old fogies" (to
use the term of my colleague Mr. Assad Usman of Siasi, Sulu). But Mr. Usman failed to inform you that those whom he
referred to as "old fogies" are those who either fought against the Americans during the early dates, or those who readily
signed treaties with the American authorities, or those who took the words of the American officers at their face value
without written documents - having full faith in the good institutions of America.
As I have stated already, I am a Moro who will defend and, if need be, die for the sentiment of his people.
But I shall present the question as one who is neutral. I am to stand in such a position that I may be 100% Moro and at the
same time time a pro-Filipino, you who are here being my friends, and taking advantage of the presence of some of the
members of the Philippine Legislature that they may hear a Moro's arguments against the Filipinos and the probably
remedies thereof.
The first thing I shall do is to point out to you why a Moro thinks he has the right to say he is not a Filipino
and cannot be called a traitor to the Filipinos when he asks for separation. Once I met a friend and in the course of our
conversation asked him the reasons for thinking that the Moros are, after all, Filipinos. The principal argument he
presented is that "geographically, the islands of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are part of the Philippines because -
"First, that Magellan 'discovered' these islands. Those who came after him called the archipelago includes
Moroland, Filipinas in honor of the King of Spain."
But when Magellan came to this part of the world he found the Moros already having a culture of their own;
he found the inhabitants of the southern islands professing the religion of Mohammed, the creed which for centuries had
dominated Magellan's own country. Therefore, the fact that the Moros were then Islams (sic) whom Magellan arrived here
proves that the people or citizens of a cultured country other than Spain discovered the Moros and, consequently, their
land. To the Saracens, the most intellectual race of the period (at the time of their coming to Moroland) belong to the honor
of being the first to find the then uncivilized and uncultured Moros. As Christianity is the greatest monument of Spanish
coming to the Philippines, so is Mohammedanism the greatest landmark of Saracen influence over the Moros even before
the coming of Magellan.
Or, we might give credit to China for the discovery of the Islands in as much as her citizens came to those
shores earlier than Ferdinand Magellan and, most probable, even before the first Arab to set foot on Moro territory. There
is a monument in Jolo where every year the Chinese residents of the community hold festivities in memory of Pon-Tae-
Kong who went to that region as early as the tenth or eleventh century. That man was born 508 years before the birth of the
Chinese Republic, if Chinese history holds true.
"Second, that the government of Spain controlled the Philippines, the map of which includes the islands of
Mindanao, Palawan and Sulu Archipelago."
History tells us that the Moros were never conquered and never subjugated by Spain (and everybody in this
ball will agree with it). All Moros are proud of this fact and I bet you, too, are proud of it. Spain tried all her best, in terms of
hundreds and hundreds of lives, to dominate the Moros but she totally failed.
Spain, therefore, had no right to cede and give to the United States the Moros in as much as she had no
control over those people when she was more than glad to get rid of. However, the Moros swore allegiance to the United
States not because of the transaction between the American government and the Spanish government but because of the
negotiations among the Americans and the Moros; and because the American Army conquered the Moro warriors. Up to
the present time the Moros have been loyal and faithful to the text of the treaties and the terms of surrender. In spite of the
fact that the Americans have broken some parts of the treaties and their promises - not to give the Moros to any foreign
nation, including the Filipinos, without their consent - the America is still looked upon by the Moro as his protector and
guardian. I shall not say any more on the Moro-American relations because my other colleage, Mr. Cuadra of Jolo, has
already ably presented the facts to you.
The other reason advanced, that the Moros are Filipinos because both belong to the same race and with
the same ideals, is a consideration easily put out. The people of the East Indies, with the exception of the foreigners, are
all Malays yet all are not Filipinos. The Javanese and the Moros have more things in common, their color, religion, etc., yet
the Filipinos would not dare to say to the Dutch that the Javanese are Filipinos and should be under the jurisdiction of a
Filipino government. The American and Canadian citizens, living on the same body of land, coming from the same
ancestry, belonging to the same race, professing the same religion, speaking the same language, and with the same
democratic ideal of government; they do not live under one flag!
As both racial (blood) and ethnical points are touched above, I shall not say anything more on that topic. A
Moro can be what he calls himself to be - a Filipino if he thinks he wants to be a Filipino or simply a Moro if he thinks he
would not feel comfortable under a Filipino Flag.
The second thing I want to bring out to you pertains to the action of your highest officials which cheapens
your talk of brotherhood. I refer to the members of the Philippine Legislature (and I believe the gentlemen of the House of
Representatives and the Philippine Senate who are here will need note of this).
As I look at it the members of the Philippine Legislature have been considering the Mindanao problem a
child's game. No sincere and earnest move has ever been directed toward its solution.
I have not yet read the proceedings of the legislature but what I have seen is enough to give me full
confidence in my theory: - that to the Filipinos the Moro is not a material object but rather a political illusion which forms its
ghostly image only during cloudy days for the Filipinos, and then disappears when the storm passes away.
I base my observation from the little incidents that have occurred since my first coming to Manila in 1920.
The most noticeable set of the members of the Philippine Legislature, the men representing the sentiment
of the Filipinos as they are, is their dilatory and insincere tactic towards the solution of the so-called Moro problem. During
the years that I have stayed here the first time that the Moro came into the limelight was in 1921 when, during the Wood-
Forbes Mission, the Moro expressed their desire to be separated from the Filipinos if the latter be given her independence.
A few days after, the poor Moro was heard of no more. But, two years afterward, during the occurance (sic) of the trouble
between the Governor-General and the Council of State, in 1923, the Moros again registered their desire for a separate
government; and rumors were that some members of the Congress were considering such a plan to separate the Moro
land from the rest of the Philippines. Then again the loud protest against separation and the loud talk of brotherhood for
the Moros were heard from the two Philippine legislative chambers and from other quarters. Plans for helping "our Moro
brothers" were the fads of the season. But not one materialized!
With the end of the talk of separating Mindanao also culminated the talk of Moro "brotherhood." Such is
Filipino politics! But Mindanao and Sulu is not made of politics! Another three years passed away (sic) silently. Then we
were startled one afternoon with the cries of the newsboys for extras of the "Tribune," that paper being the first to print the
Associated Press message. So this year the Moro talk is again revived thru the courtesies of Congressman Bacon. But
how long that gentleman from New York can hold the other end of the rope to keep the Moro talk ringing at this side of the
Pacific is uncertain. However, I am sure the Moro would prefer quietness and solitude rather than empty talk. And when
the American Congress resumes its session in December the Moros expect to remind that August body that the time has
come to stop the noise forever - by separating them from the Filipinos. The Moros, also, expect to remind congress of the
moral obligations that the United States owe them - promises which have been utterly ignored and forgotten in spite of the
undiminishing loyalty of the other party.
The members of the Philippine legislature have also made very many bad impressions upon the Moros on
several occasions. Not many years ago one of the most outrageous act commited (sic) by a member of the Philippine
Senate of a bill which would change the names of the Moros and compel all non-Christians to discard their G-strings and
wear "presentable" dress instead. The author of this bill was no less than a senator from the twelfth senatorial district. I, for
one, would prefer going to prison than have my name changed against my will.
That bill, however was not considered favorably by the senators. But they did not make their decision 'till
they received the rediculous of the American public and many American cloth manufacturers and sartatorial firms (by
sending bids and samples of their textiles). Way back in 1923 or 1924, I do not now remember the exact year, I attended
the discussions of a certain bill in the House which had some bearings on legality of Moro marriages. I am ashamed to
this day, ladies and gentlemen of how the Filipino representatives talked of the Moros and Moro customs. They painted
the Moro black with all contrasting colors. There was then no talk of "brotherhood" and they freely exposed what they think
of a Moro.
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