Domocao Alonto

Ahmad Domocao "Domie" Alangadi Alonto Sr. (August 1, 1914 – December 11, 2002) was a Filipino Muslim lawyer, educator, author, traditional leader, and Islamic figure from Lanao del Sur.

He earned his Fellowship in Arts, BA, and Doctorate in Law at the University of the Philippines in Manila, where he was also a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.

During his term, he chaired a Special Committee created by the House of Representatives to find a definite solution to the so-called "Mindanao Problem".

[1] After World War II, Hadji Kamlon launched a bloody upheaval against government forces which lasted for eight years ending in 1952.

Growing tensions between Muslims and Christian over land attracted the national interest of which a Special Committee in 1954 was constituted by Congress.

The Committee concluded that "the Moros must be made to feel that they were an integral part of the Philippine nation and this aim must be achieved through a comprehensive approach covering economic, social, moral political, and educational developments".

It was in this meeting that he met Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia, and Tunku Abdul Rahman of Malaysia.

As a result, he got scholarships for Filipino Muslims coming from Mindanao and Sulu at the Cairo Military Academy, Al Azhar University in Egypt.

[11] The advocacy of Ansar El Islam would, later on, inspire the creation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the MILF.

Domocao Alonto joined the opposition movement when dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in the Philippines.

In 1983, a series of meetings was held at the house of his nephew Abul Khayr Alonto to discuss the plight of the Muslims during the dictatorship.

They also referred to the assassinated opposition leader Ninoy Aquino as a martyr who supported the Muslim Filipinos' demand for greater autonomy.

His extensive network with other Muslim countries would eventually lay foundations for the involvement of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in the Mindanao peace process.

In 2005, Alonto was included in "100 great Muslim Leaders of the 20th Century", published by the Institute of Objective Studies in New Delhi, India.

[18] His son, Adnan Villaluna Alonto, became Ambassador to Saudi Arabia under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Alonto deliver his speech during King Faisal Price Award in MSU.
Left to right: Former Senator Domocao Alonto, [ citation needed ] Sheikh Ahmad, and former ARMM Governor Lininding Pangandaman representing Muslims in the Philippines to one of the Muslim World League conferences in 1982, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.