Jabidah massacre The Jabidah massacre , also known as the Corregidor massacre , refers to an incident in which members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP ) are said to have massacred a number of Moro Muslim recruits who were escaping their covert training to reclaim Sabah . Sources differ regarding the details , with the number of victims ranging from 14 to 68 , and some sources asserting that the massacre is a myth . The massacre happened on March 18 , 1968 . The Jabidah Massacre is widely regarded as having been the catalyst behind the modern Moro insurgencies in the Southern Philippines . Background . In 1963 , the resource - rich territory of Sabah , which had been under British control since the late nineteenth - century , formally became part of the Federation of Malaysia . The Philippines , however , protested this , claiming that Sabah had never been sold to foreign interests , and that it had only been " leased " ( " padjak " ) by the Sulu Sultanate and therefore remained the property of the Sultan and by extension the property of Republic of the Philippines . Operation " Merdeka " . This dispute is believed to have led the then Philippine president of Diosdado Macapagal , then later on Ferdinand Marcos , to establish special military units tasked with fomenting dissent amongst Sabah ' s non - Malay ethnic groups , namely the Tausug and Sama , two groups closely aligned ethnically and culturally with Filipinos . The code - name of this destabilization programme was " Operation " Merdeka " " ( Operation Freedom , " merdeka " meaning " freedom " in Malay ) , with Manuel Syquio as project leader and then Maj . Eduardo Abdul Latif Martelino as operations officer . The object of this program was the annexation of Sabah to the Republic of the Philippines . The plan involved the recruitment of nearly 200 Tausug and Sama Muslims aged 18 to 30 from Sulu Province and Tawi - Tawi and their training in the island - town of Simunul in Tawi - Tawi . Simunul was where the Arab missionary Makhdum built the first mosque in the Philippines in the 13th century . The recruits felt giddy about the promise not only of a monthly allowance , but also over the prospect of eventually becoming a member of an elite unit in the Philippine Armed Forces . From August to December 1967 , the young recruits underwent training in Simunul . The name of the commando unit was Jabidah . On 30 December 1967 , 135 to 180 recruits boarded a Philippine Navy vessel for the island of Corregidor in Luzon for " specialized training . " This second phase of the training turned mutinous when the recruits discovered their true mission . It struck the recruits that the plan would mean not only fighting their brother Muslims in Sabah , but also possibly killing their own Tausug and Sama relatives living there . Additionally , the recruits had already begun to feel disgruntled over the non - payment of the promised monthly stipend . The recruits then demanded to be returned home . The massacre . The alleged sole survivor of the massacre , Jibin Arula , recounted how the young Moro recruits were taken in batches of twelve to a remote airstrip where they were executed with machine gun s by their military handlers . Arula , who was wounded in the left knee , managed to attach himself to driftwood long enough to be rescued by fishermen from the nearby province of Cavite . There has never been an official count , and different sources number the victims from 11 to about 200 . Aftermath . The subjective truth of the massacre took some time to emerge . In March 1968 Moro students in Manila held a week long protest vigil over an empty coffin marked ‘ Jabidah ’ in front of the presidential palace . They claimed “ at least 28 ” Moro army recruits had been murdered . Court - martial proceedings were brought against twenty - three military personnel involved . There was also a firestorm in the Philippine press , attacking not so much the soldiers involved , but the culpability of a government administration that would foment such a plot , and then seek to cover it up by wholesale murder . Insurgency . Though it has been argued that the Jabidah massacre was a myth , feelings about it in the Muslim community led to the crystallization of Moro discontent and the subsequent formation of the Moro National Liberation Front and , later , the Moro Islamic Liberation Front . For years , Muslims of the Philippines had been complaining of official discrimination by consecutive Philippine governments and the Catholic majority . This included discrimination in housing and education , as well as lack of government funding for the majority - Muslim South . Coupled with the official government policy of settling Catholic Filipino emigrants in Mindanao , a class of radical Moro intellectuals emerged , led by student activist Nur Misuari . The Jabidah Massacre further radicalized Muslims in the Philippines , leading some to take up arms in the style of the CPP . This new organization , formed in the early 1970s and led by Misuari , was named the Moro National Liberation Front . Following a split over the role of Islam in a Bangsamoro state , a new , more conservative movement emerged in 1981 , the Moro Islamic Liberation Front . Acknowledgement . President Aquino acknowledged the incident on March 18 , 2013 , leading the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the Massacre on Corregidor . This was the first time that a President acknowledged the massacre as having taken place . Aquino also directed the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to designate the Mindanao Garden of Peace on Corregidor as a historical landmark . References . http : / / www . abs - cbnnews . com / nation / 03 / 18 / 13 / govt - acknowledges - jabidah - massacre - 1st - time