debate 1

The documentary film "Raider of the Sulu Sea" depicts how the Spaniards defended the Fort Pillar in Zamboanga City against all potential intruders, particularly Philippine raiders. Those indigenous people are known for being knowledgeable fighters, dangerous swordsmen, expert sailor and builder of formidable vessels in warspace, and acquainted with placing a string on the palm of their captured and a type of people who pretended to be fishers to take the people to be procured off as slaves.

These invaders are made up of three Filipino-Muslim tribes: the Illanuns, Tausug, and Balangingi Samal. However, as the video progressed, it was established that they should not be compared to pirates looking for a ship to plunder, but rather to indigenous people protecting their way of life against a foreign aggressor.

The Spaniards then hunt fortactics on how to take these people, and they end up purchasing a steamboat that can be navigated easily and quickly from England. Despite the two territories of Maguindanao and Sulu's losses to the Spaniards, these tribes show no fear in fighting against better heavily armed, technically sophisticated colonial troops; somewhat more, they demonstrate their boldness and will by striking a bloody attack on the Fort Pillar, which built a ten-meter-high fortress that sprawled over two acres of defenses under Spanish colonizar's control.

According to those experts, slave raiding was acceptable among the tribes in our country before to the arrival of the Western invaders. However, when the Spaniards arrived in our country, their enthusiasm to participate in our region's business expanded dramatically, particularly in slave raids. Which led me to believe that the country's trading prowess attracts invaders. Yet, for some reason, those who are not acclimated to such conduct will find it difficult to adapt to or comprehend such behavior. This is something I apply to myself. In my predicament, I had a culture clash that prompted me to argue with our forefathers, whose practices resulted in far too much harshness. As someone with a different viewpoint, I believe that everyone has the potential to do whatever they want in life without the use of force.

On the other hand, I wholeheartedly agree with what the authorities in the field asserted, namely that those raiders in Mindanao, particularly in the Zamboanga region, should not be equated to bandits or pirates because the comparison is too subjective.

In reality, they are just indigenous people who give their lives not for personal gain but for the sake of all Filipinos who express a shared objective of achieving independence for our island. It was a mistake to characterize them as pirates because all they did was defend themselves. According to Barbara Watsons, all works dealing with piracy deal with terminology concerns. In some ways, using the English term forpirate is misleading because it excludes the raiders, especially if they are acting on behalf of the country.

Furthermore, this film plays an important role in the larger arc of Philippine history. Because there has been a century of ill blood between the Spaniards and the southern portion of the country, the sulu raiders have played a crucial role, not only in gathering affluence and slaves, but also in contributing to the anti-colonial campaign. Furthermore, the documentary film depicted all of the Filipino people's battles under the invader to reclaim the land that was stolen from us from the beginning in order to fulfill our longing for freedom.

The perception of the documentary film is rather stunning, as it was not only about the learnings that the issue provided, but also an interesting and enlightening experience for all those who saw the video, which showed how severely the Philippines had suffered in the preceding century. It set me up as a student to see how motivational this narrative film was. Despite the fact that it did not turn out well, our fellow citizens rose up to fight for the oppressor, even if it meant risking their lives. They will fight to the last breath as long as we recover our independence. Which makes me value our own tale, our own history, even more.