Pro-Government Militias
Sagrado Corazon / Tadtad (Philippines)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 571 |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Date formed: | Feb. 8, 1987 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | month |
| Details of Formation: | The Sagrado Corazon was a religious group founded in 1972 in Initao, Misamis Oriental by Sagrado Sade Jr. By 1986, there is still evidence that the group was anti-government, because the regional constabulary commander had issued a shoot-to-kill order against Sagrado Corazon. In 1987, as a news source reports that they receive protection and support from the Philippine military, suggesting that they were then pro-government. |
| Date dissolved: | Aug. 13, 2000 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | month |
| Details of Termination: | In 2000, there was an arrest warrant issued against Alfredo Opciona, Tadtad’s leader. When local officials, accompanied by the army, tried to serve the arrest warrant, Tadtad exchanged fire with the army troops (their former supporters). Subsequently, the Sagrado Corazon/Tadtad split into smaller parts in order to evade arrest. |
| Termination Type(s): | government defects |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | yes |
| Former Armed Group? | yes |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | no | Main Creating Government Institution: | none |
| Government Link(s): | military (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | None |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | yes |
| Shared Personnel: | no |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | military |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | religious; ideology |
| Primary Membership: | religious |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | Mindanao, Cebu |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, 2000] |
| Target(s): | civilians; rebels, insurgents, or other armed group |
| Purpose(s): | intimidation of ethnic/religious groups; fight insurgents |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | not applicable |
Other Information
| Other Information: | Sagrado Corazon is the group’s official name, while Tadtad is the more informal name. They are called Tadtad (“chop-chop”) because of an initiation ritual in which they receive knife slashes on the arm and because they literally chop their victims to pieces. |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | Tadtad’s main purpose was to assist the military in its fight against insurgents (Human Rights Watch). They were also active in remote areas out of the control of the military and successfully drove out rebels from the remote villages. |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | local presence |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | Tadtad repeatedly killed civilians, including suspected NPA sympathizers and villagers. They also burnt villages and mutilated bodies. There are no reports of arrests after the killings; in one case, after they killed Muslim bandits, the police only said that this was a warning against extortion schemes. |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | killing |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no information |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | Members of this religious cult believe that they are invincible soldiers of Christ. |
| PGM Members Killed? | rarely |
PGM Size
| Size: | One news source from 1987 says that members of Sagrado Corazon claim that 4 million Filipinos were following their cult. Other estimations are more modest: One news source suggests that there were 150,000 member throughout the Philippines, and 2,000 on Cebu Island. Other sources also mention 2,000. When the group became anti-government, police and military reports number fewer than a hundred members. |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | Tadtad are armed with bolo (machete) knives (Human Rights Watch) as well as spears, darts, slingshots, rocks and sometimes (home-made) firearms. They received military weaponry from the military. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | The military provided the Tadtad with protection and support. One new source says that the military organized the Tadtad. While President Aquino gave conflicting signals about whether she endorses rightist vigilante groups such as Tadtad, her armed forces chief of staff, Gen. Fidel Ramos and her secretary of local governments, Jaime Ferrer, both endorsed the use of vigilante groups. According to a news source from 1987, the PGM was led by “Master” Cotil Sade; a news source dated 2000 mentions Alfredo Opciona as Tadtad’s leader. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.