Nation

Central Mindanao celebrates SK Pendatun's centennial

John Unson - The Philippine Star

January 1, 2013 | 2:10pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Residents of Central Mindanao celebrated in 2012 the centennial natal day of a prominent Muslim leader who was popular both in fighting the Japanese in World War II and in politics, and commemorated January 1 as the 111th birthday of another Maguindanaon that helped inspire the quest of Moro communities for self-governance through the so-called international “right to self determination" doctrine.

Brig. Gen. Salipada Kuder Pendatun, a lawyer-turned guerilla during the Japanese occupation and subsequently became senator after World War II, was born December 3, 1912 in Pikit town in North Cotabato.

A town in the second district of Maguindanao and the regional police camp of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in the first district of the province, were named SK Pendatun municipality and Camp SK Pendatun, respectively, to honor his extensive involvement in community affairs both in his private and public capacities.

Pendatun’s patriarch, Datu Ante, was a descendant of the ancient Rajah Buayan sa Kabalukan in the upper delta of what is now called the Maguindanao province. His matriarch, Bai Saadia, was a scion of the Shariff Kabunsuan lineage.

Pendatun was married to Aida Farales, an Ilocana, with whom he has two daughters, Marriam and Moneira, and sons Samroud and Pandatun II. He was also said to have sired a son to an American mother, whom he named Abdullah Pendatun.

Pendatun and his blood relative, the equally popular Datu Udtog Matalam, along with members of the Piang family in what is now Datu Piang town in the second district of Maguindanao, established in 1942 the infamous “Bolo Battalion,” a ragtag band of poorly armed guerillas that managed to neutralize hundreds of Japanese soldiers in clandestine attacks in Central Mindanao.

Pendatun died January 7, 1985 from a vehicular accident in Metro Manila, while serving as member of the Batasang Pambansa.

Pendatun was on his way to the RPN-9 station, along with his driver, Lucio Calotes, for a public affairs show with Julie Yap Daza when their car collided with another vehicle at the Quezon Boulevard-Edsa intersection.

Members of Central Mindanao’s Matalam clan celebrated January 1 the 111th birthday of their patriarch, Datu Udtog, who, after World War II, became governor of the “Empire Cotabato Province,” whose territory covered what are now chartered provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and Sarangani, all under Administrative Region 12, and Maguindanao, a component area of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Datu Udtog was said to have helped organize the Mindanao Independence Movement in the 1960s, fanning the flames of the Moro uprising, which gained accent with the birth of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Datu Udtog was also known for his being fiery about his dream of a self-governing Moro community in Mindanao.

According to Moro historians, Datu Udtog was ferocious in fighting the Japanese too. His adopted son, the late Kagui Magandingan Manalos, and some 20 Manobo-Aromanon tribal warriors, acted as his surveillance scouts that monitored for him the activities of enemy forces they subjected to surprise attacks.

Datu Udtog is remembered for his zeal in initiating peace dialogues among his feuding constituent-leaders. He was close to Christian communities in the province he once ruled, and, in exchange, won their monolithic patronage of his political position.

He passed away several years ahead of Pendatun’s death. They were virtually “bosom buddies,” according to their descendants.

One of Datu Udtog’s four wives, Bai Tinumimbang, was an older sister of Pendatun.