The Tacub massacre was the
mass murder of a group of
Muslim Moros
In Greek mythology, Moros /ˈmɔːrɒs/ or Morus /ˈmɔːrəs/ (Ancient Greek: Μόρος means 'doom, fate') is the 'hateful' personified spirit of impending doom, who drives mortals to their deadly fate. It was also said that Moros gave peop ...
by
Philippine government
The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...
troops at a
military checkpoint
Civilian checkpoints or security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control. Civilian checkpoints have been employed w ...
on October 24, 1971. The Moros were returning from attempting to vote in a special election; they had been turned away by the
Ilaga
The Ilagâ ( Hiligaynon for ''rat'') is a Christian extremist paramilitary group based in southern Philippines. The group is predominantly composed of Visayans (mostly Hiligaynon-speakers), embracing a form of Folk Catholicism that utilizes amu ...
from polling places in
Magsaysay, Lanao del Norte. The troops were later identified as troops of the
Philippine Army
The Philippine Army (PA) (Tagalog: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas''; in literal English: ''Army of the Ground of the Philippines''; in literal Spanish: ''Ejército de la Tierra de la Filipinas'') is the main, oldest and largest branch of the ...
stationed in Tacub,
Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, which then lent its name to the incident,
and
Christian civilians.
At least 40 Moros were killed.
Other sources report the number of fatalities to be as high as 66.
References
{{Moro conflict
Massacres in the Philippines
History of Lanao del Norte
1971 crimes in the Philippines
Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos
1971 murders in the Philippines
Massacres under the Marcos dictatorship