Jolo

Jolo (Tausūg: Sūg) is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines and is the primary island of the province of Sulu. It is located in the Sulu Archipelago, between Borneo and Mindanao, and has a population of approximately 300,000 people.

The island is the location of the Jolo Group of Volcanoes, and contains numerous volcanic cones and craters, including the active Bud Dajo cinder cone.

History

After a series of less-than-successful attempts during the centuries of Spanish rule in the Philippines, Spanish forces captured the city of Jolo, the seat of the Sultan of Sulu, in 1876.

On that year, the Spanish launched a massive campaign to occupy Jolo. Spurred by the need to curb slave raiding once and for all and worried about the presence of other Western powers in the south (the British had established trading centers in Jolo by the 19th century and the French were offering to purchase Basilan Island from the cash strapped government in Madrid, Spain), the Spanish made a final bid to consolidate their rule in this southern frontier. On 21 February of that year, the Spaniards assembled the largest contingent against Jolo, consisting of 9,000 soldiers, in 11 transports, 11 gunboats, and 11 steamboats. Headed by Admiral Jose Malcampo, the contingent captured Jolo and established a Spanish settlement with Capt. Pascual Cervera appointed to set up a garrison and serve as military governor; he served from March 1876 to December 1876 followed by Brig.Gen. Jose Paulin (December 1876 – April 1877), Col. Carlos Martinez (Sept 1877 – Feb 1880), Col. Rafael de Rivera (1880–1881), Col. Isidro G. Soto (1881–1882), Col. Eduardo Bremon, (1882), Col. Julian Parrrado (1882–1884), Col. Francisco Castilla (1884–1886), Col. Juan Arolas (1886–1893), Col. Caesar Mattos (1893), Gen. Venancio Hernandez (1893–1896) and Col. Luis Huerta (1896–1899).

Abu Sayyaf

Abu Sayyaf (ⁱ/ˌɑːbuː/ /sɑːˌjɔːf/; Arabic: جماعة أبو سياف‎; Jamāʿah Abū Sayyāf, ASG, Filipino: Grupong Abu Sayyaf) is a militant Islamist group based in and around Jolo and Basilan islands in the southwestern part of the Philippines, where for more than four decades, Moro groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the country. The group is considered very violent, and was responsible for the Philippines' worst terrorist attack, the bombing of Superferry 14 in 2004, which killed 116 people. The name of the group is derived from the Arabic ابو, abu ("father of") and sayyaf ("swordsmith"). As of 2012, the group was estimated to have between 200 and 400 members, down from 1250 in 2000. They use mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars, and automatic rifles.

Since its inception in 1991, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and extortion in what they describe as their fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines. They have also been involved in criminal activities, including kidnapping, rape, child sexual assault, drive-by shootings, extortion, and drug trafficking, and the goals of the group "appear to have alternated over time between criminal objectives and a more ideological intent".

Sultanate of Sulu

The Sultanate of Sulu (Jawi: سلطنة سولك, Malay: Kesultanan Sulu, Arabic: سلطنة سولك‎) was a Muslim state that ruled over many of the islands of the Sulu Sea, parts of Mindanao, certain portions of present-day Sabah (then North Borneo) and North Kalimantan.

The sultanate was founded on 17 November 1405. by a Johore-born explorer and religious scholar Sharif ul-Hashim. Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim became his full regnal name, Sharif-ul Hashim is his abbreviated name. He settled in Buansa, Sulu. After the marriage of Abu Bakr and a local dayang-dayang (princess) Paramisuli, he founded the sultanate. The Sultanate gained its independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578.

At its peak, it stretched over the islands that bordered the western peninsula of Mindanao in the east to Palawan in the north. It also covers the area in northeastern side of Borneo, stretching from Marudu Bay, to Tepian Durian (in present-day Kalimantan). While another sources stated the area stretching from Kimanis Bay which is also overlap with the boundaries of the Bruneian Sultanate. Due to the arrival of western powers such as the Spanish, British, Dutch, French, German and American, the Sultan thalassocracy slowly lost its sovereignty and by 1915 an agreement was signed relinquishing sovereignty to the last colonialist, the United States.

Lahad Datu

Lahad Datu is a town and district located in Tawau Division, in the east of Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It occupies the peninsula on the north side of Darvel Bay. Its population was estimated to be around 199,830 in 2010. Lahad Datu is surrounded by stretches of cocoa and oil palm plantations. It is also an important timber exporting port. The town has an airport for domestic flights.

History

A settlement is believed to have existed here in the 15th century, as excavations have unearthed Ming dynasty Chinese ceramics. Just east of Lahad Datu is the village of Tunku, a notorious base for pirates and slave traders in the 19th century.

Based on a jawi manuscript in the Idahan language dated 1408 A.D, it is believed that Islam was first introduced to Malaysia in Sabah. The jawi manuscript gives an account of an Ida'an man named Abdullah in Darvel Bay who embraced Islam.

Filipino intrusion

On 23 September 1985, 15-20 armed foreign pirates landed on this town, killing at least 21 people and injuring 11 others.