[1] On 24 April 1980, armed forces under the command of then-President Ferdinand Marcos—identified in the press as elements from 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army[8]—opened fire on Dulag at his home, killing him instantly.
[9] Macli-ing's murder unified the various peoples of the Cordillera Mountains against the proposed dam, causing both the World Bank and the Marcos regime to eventually abandon the project a few years after.
In November 1979, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) was tasked to look for potential dam sites, and identified the Kaliwa River basin to be the most viable alternative.
[13][14][15] The ensuing collapse of the Philippine economy, worsened by the political pressure after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, led to slow development of the Laiban dam project until Marcos was forced out of office and into exile by the 1986 People Power Revolution.
[17][18] The immediate spark of the Moro conflict is attributed to unrest brought about by news about the Jabidah massacre in March, 1968 – towards the end of the first term of President Ferdinand Marcos.
[17][18][19] A senate exposé based on the testimony of an alleged survivor claimed that at least 11 Filipino Muslim military trainees had been killed in Corregidor by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
[22] Both Muslim intellectuals and common people suddenly became politicized, discrediting the idea of finding integration and accommodation with the rest of the country, and creating a sense of marginalization.