Before the Secessionist Storm: Muslim-Christian Politics in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines, 1961-62 (Occasional Paper No. 73) by Wilfredo F. Arce

Jolo has long been viewed as one of the more dangerous and exotic places
in the Philippines. At least since the turn of the century, the fierceness of
Jolo's Muslims, along with their colorful dress and traditions, has been the
subject of numerous articles in mass circulation magazines in the Philippines
and abroad, especially in the United States. By concentrating on the fighting
prowess and the Islamic uniqueness of the Joloanos, however, many of the
articles have (wittingly or unwittingly) emphasized the differences between
the Muslims of Jolo and the Christians of northern Philippines. At the
same time, little attention - even in the scholarly literature - has been
devoted (until very recently) to areas of similarity between these two Filipino
communities. Fortunately, Professor Wilfredo Arce's study does not belong
to the genre 'of popular writing on Jolo, but instead represents an attempt to
understand leadership formation and political behavior in Jolo within the
context of both Joloano society itself and Philippine society more generally. 

- Robert L. Youngblood
Department of Political Science
Arizona State University

Softbound: 121 pages
Publisher: Maruzen Asia, 1983
Language: English
ISBN: 34067008614629