according to jibin arula's account, the marcos administration had gathered a group of tausug recruits for an operation called "project merdeka" ("merdeka" being the malay "freedom"). the military began training them on the island of corregidor to form a secret commando unit called "jabidah," which would destabilize and take over sabah. the trainees eventually rejected their mission, for reasons that are still debated by historians today. jibin arula said that whatever the reasons behind their objections, all of the recruits aside from him were killed, and he escaped only by pretending to be dead.