Datu Gumbay Piang (1905 - 1946) was a
Maguindanaon
Maguindanao (, Jawi: ), Maguindanaon or Magindanao is an Austronesian language spoken by a majority of the population of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur in the Philippines. It is also spoken by sizable minorities in different par ...
leader.
Gumbay Piang was born in Dulawan, Cotabato, in 1905, a son of the
Moro leader
Datu Piang from his sixth wife, Polindao. He was trained as a
pedagogist at the (then US Administered)
Philippine Normal School in
Manila. Gumbay worked his way through the bureaucracy where he served for different school boards of his province.
When the
Second World War erupted, Gumbay Piang, along with fellow Moro leaders such as
Salipada Pendatun
Datu Salipada Khalid Pendatun (December 3, 1912 – January 27, 1985) was a Filipino lawyer, military officer, and politician, being the first Filipino Muslim in history to hold these offices.
Early life and education
Better known as “Sali� ...
, organized the famed resistance group named the Moro-Bolo Battalion during the
Japanese occupation of the Philippines to
fight the Japanese. The insignia of the group was the
bolo
Bolo may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Bolo, a fictional tribe in ''bolo'bolo'' by P.M.
* Bolo, a character in the ''Shantae'' series
* ''Bolo'' universe, a science fiction universe created by Keith Laumer
* Prin ...
and the
kris
The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...
, the respective weapons of
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
populations, respectively, symbolizing a united front against the Japanese aggressors. The Moro-Bolo Battalion consisted of about 20,000 men. Gumbay Piang's
Cotabato
Cotabato or North Cotabato ( hil, Aminhan Cotabato; ceb, Amihanang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pangutaran Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤڠوترن كوتاواتو; fil, Hilagang Cotabato), officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked province in ...
Moros used
Bolo knives to fight the Japanese, and swore that they would "fight to the last".
AP 1942
p. 1.
He was forced to retire from the resistance as a prisoner of war as he suffered chronic asthma attacks. When the Philippines was liberated from the Japanese Imperial forces. Gumbay Piang ran for congress in the First Republic of the Philippines. In 1946, he succumbed to death due to asthma, and his death marked the quiet exit of the Piangs from national politics.
References
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External links
Descendants of Datu Piang
1905 births
1946 deaths
History of the Philippines (1898–1946)
Filipino datus, rajas and sultans
Paramilitary Filipinos
World War II Philippine resistance members
Deaths from asthma
People from Maguindanao
Philippine Normal University alumni
Filipino politicians of Chinese descent
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