More than 100 Philippine Army officers and men were killed by Moro natives in what was called by retired Major General Delfin Castro as "the biggest number of casualties incurred by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in a single incident since the start of the conflict in Mindanao and had the dubious distinction of achieving the biggest losses in AFP firearms and equipment in a single incident.

"[2] An estimated 3,000 Tausug civilians, including women and children, were killed in months of shelling by military forces in 1982 and was tagged as the Pata Island massacre.

[6] The 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army conducted an operation on Pata Island on February 9, 1981, after receiving reports of landings being made there by Moro National Liberation Front elements.

Responding soldiers who later discovered the bodies of their dead comrades reported finding spent .30 caliber shell casings and links at the Moros' firing positions, indicating the use of machine guns.

[3] Juan Ponce Enrile, then Defense Minister, described the perpetrators as simply "armed men", probably smugglers or remnants of the Moro National Liberation Front.