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Macapanton H. Abbas (Feb. 1910 - Aug. 3, 1964) was the very Muslim Filipino (Moro) lawyer, fiscal, district judge and judge of the Court of First Instance.

Early Life and Education

Macapanton Abbas was born in Dayawan, Dansalan (now Marawi City) in February 1910. Macapanton’s biological parents were Hadji Darapa Abbas, the Datu of Marawi and Dalumabi, Bai-a-labi sa Dayawan.

Hadji Abbas was the son of Hadji Okur, the Rajah Muda of Marawi, son of Rampatan, the Datu of Marawi. The Abbas lineage is with the Datu of Marawi, the traditional chief ruler and defender of Marawi.

Upon birth, as usual in Mranao culture, Macapanton was adopted by his uncle, Cotawato, the Sultan of Dayawan & Wato and the brother of Bae Dalumabi. Sultan Cotawato was popularly known as Amai (father of) Macapanton

Thus, in accordance with Mranao customs and traditions, Macapanton Abbas held rights to 2 lineages in Dayawan and Marawi and other related royal houses like Madaya, Marantao, Guimba, Wato etc.

Macapanton Abbas is the line of succession in the royal houses of Dayawan, Marantao, Marawi, Wato, Madaya and Taraka.as well as the more recent Sultanate of Lanao, whose first Sultan was Macapanton's uncle, Ibra Gundarangin, the first Congressman (Representative) of Lanao.

Macapanton Abbas finished his elementary schooling in Dansalan and continued his secondary schooling at the American-run Torres High School in Tondo, Manila. One of the first Mranaos to finish high school education.

He proceeded to study Law at the Philippine Law School, the leading private law school at the time, He finished his Bachelor of Law degree in 1935 and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1935, the very first Muslim Filipino lawyer.

At the Philippine Law School, Abbas joined the Mystical Order of the Swastika where he became its Mahatma Grand Lama. As a student leader, he co-founded Young Philippines Party, which was spearheaded by Wenceslao Vinzons. Founding members included Arturo Tolentino, Arturo Tolentino, Lorenzo Sumulong, Diosdado Macapagal, Domocao Alonto, Jose Laurel Jr., among others. He was also a member of the Nucleus Group of the Pan Malayan People’s Union, organzed by student leaders.

Career and Politics

At the last minute, Abbas threw his hat in the ring for the 1938 Second National Assembly elections. His opponent was Tomas Cabili, who was Lanao's delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention. Cabili endeared himself to the Mranaos when he refused to sign the Constitution, the only delegate to do so, because he said, it did not protect the rights of the Moro, esp. Mranao people.

To the chagrin of Abbas's relatives, they had already pledged to campaign for Cabili because Abbas said he was not going to run. His father, Hadji Abbas, was one of the Campaign leaders of Mr. Cabili.

A new law allowed block voting, which favored the governing Nacionalista Party (formerly divided into the Democratica and the Pro-Independencia factions, which later reconciled). All all the 98 seats of the National Assembly went to the Nacionalistas. (1938 Philippine legislative election)

It was a close contest, but Abbas was so disappointed because his relatives, who had pledged to the Qur'an, to let Cabili win, burned the voting precinct in Dansalan. Dansalan was Abbas's hometown. After this experience, Abbas refrained from running for political office again.

But in 1953, Abbas resigned as Provincial Fiscal of Sulu to campaign for the presidential candidate, Ramon Magsaysay. He went back to Lanao and gathered his clan. This time, his whole clan was united in campaigning for Magsaysay. Magsaysay won in Lanao by a wide margin. In return, Magsaysay appointed Abbas as District Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Sulu and Basilan City in 1954 and two years later, promoted him to the Court of First Instance of Sulu.

World War II and the Legal Profession

Abbs wanted to join the guerrilla movement like his friends and relatives, but his wife had none of it. They had 4 daughters, the youngest was just a few months old.

The Japanese invited the young Moros to join the Japanese government and take over the leadership from the Christian Filipinos. Many Moros were attracted; but not Abbas,

The Japanese then called a manhunt for him. So; he and his wife, his wife's mother, their 4 daughters who were very of pre-school age, with their servants, had to go on the run. They ran from village to village.

Thanks to Mranao culture, they were welcomed to the village’s torogan (royal house, if any) or to relatives’ and friends’ houses. But the war took its toll.Abbas got wounded. The wound festered, and he had to take massive doses of antibiotics. And then their youngest daughter, Salma, a mere infant, died. That was the last straw. Abbas decided to surrender.

He finally surrendered to the authorities. He was not arrested. Instead, the Japanese commander asked him to accept the post of Justice of the Peace.

On July 22, 1943  my father was appointed Justice of the Peace of the Momungan groups of municipal districts in Lanao by President Jose P Laurel. He was 33 years old.

From then on, Abbas blazed the trail for Moros in the legal profession becoming the first Moro First Assistant City Attorney, first Moro Provincial Fiscal, first Moro District Judge and first Moro CFI (now RTC) Judge.

APPOINTMENTS AND DESIGNATIONS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES:

Macapanton Abbas, 33, Justice of the Peace of the Momungan groups of municipal districts, Lanao, July 22, 1943  (appointed by  Jose P. Laurel)

Macapanton Abbas, 35,  appointed, ad interim, Justice of the Peace of Tamparan, Mulundu, Taraka, Maging, Gata and Maciu, Lanao, September 22, 1945. Confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, October 2, 1945. (appointed by Sergio Osmeña)

Macapanton Abbas, 37, appointed ad interim First Assistant City Attorney of the City of Davao, August 7, 1947. (appointed by Manuel Roxas)

Acting Provincial Fiscal; Macapanton Abbas, 39, Sulu. Aug. 30, 1949 (appointed by Elpidio Quirino)

Macapanton Abbas, 44, as District Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District of Sulu and Basilan City, date of appointment, June 21, 1954. (appointed by Ramon Magsaysay)

Judge Macapanton Abbas, 46,  as Court of First Instance Judge of Sulu, appointed by Ramon Magsaysay. 1956

Judge Macapanton Abbas, 48, from the Court of First Instance of Sulu, to the 2nd Branch of the Court of First Instance of Davao and Davao City. 1958 (appointed by Carlos P. Garcia)

PERSONAL LIFE

Abbas was married to Hadja Sitti Rahma Yahya, the first Moro educated in Cebu, where she studied from elementary to college in the 1920s up to 1936. She was an heiress to the hacienda in Malita, Davao belonging to her parents Sheikh Ismail Yahya of Bayang and Yemen and Bai Rosa Peralta of Malita, Buayan and Iocos Norte. They had 13 children with the eldest being Hadja Potri Zorayda Abbas, married to Senator Mamintal Tamano. Eldest son is lawyer and businessman Macapanton Rashid, Jnr, former Sultan of Dayawan and second son is another lawyer, Dr. Firdausi Ismail, Sultan of Lanao.