January 24, 2010 - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has told North Cotabato Emmanuel Piñol to shut up his mouth, saying that in the bid to create a Bangsamoro state or sub-state only included Moro areas especially in his town of Mlang, North Cotabato are included.

“We do not want you to be with us,” visibly irate Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information, told www.luwaran.com/net in an interview today.

“Even if Moros are the only ones affected or included in the new proposal, you still refuse this to us?” he asked.

He reminded Piñol and those who toe his line that the Moros objected vehemently to the annexation of their homeland in the grant of independence to the Philippines in 1946. But this was never listened to by the Americans.

He also reminded Piñol that the creation of several provinces out of the empire province of Cotabato including North Cotabato was done without a referendum. The Moros who have the original birthright were never asked.

On November 22, 1973, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 341, what remained of the old Cotabato was further divided into the provinces of North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat. North Cotabato was later renamed Cotabato through Batas Pambansa Blg. 660 approved on December 19, 1983.

Piñol, who met with government peace panel chairman Ambassador Rafael Seguis at the Waterfront Hotel in Davao City on January 22, said the demand will be presented by the MILF during its January 27 meeting with the Philippine government peace talks’ panel in Malaysia.

"Pagkatapos na mabigong maisulong at mapirmahan ang MOA-AD (memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain) dahil sa pagbasura dito ng Korte Suprema, isang 'enhanced autonomy' ang hihingin ng MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) mula sa pamahalaan,” said Piñol.

Also with Piñol during this meeting were hardcore Ilaga leaders or commanders, including a former North Cotabato town mayor who is the provisional commander of this armed gangster today.

Ilaga is a Visayan word for rat, that vociferous animal that feasts on the corn or rice farmlands of farmers. But as used by those behind it, Ilaga was a “fanatic armed group” organized by non-Muslim politicians in late 60s and early 70s led by North Cotabato Governor Carlos Cajelo and seven mayors of North Cotabato to conduct terrorism against Moros in Mindanao. Tens of thousands of Moros were killed by these marauding killers, usually with government forces in their bigger rampage.

Sunstar Davao quoted Seguis as saying that Malaysia has returned to the renegotiated Mindanao peace process by rejoining the International Monitoring Team (IMT) as its leader effective the middle of February. It remains the facilitator of the peace talks between the government and MILF.

Seguis also asserted that although the MILF’s usual point of reference during the meeting in Malaysia is the issue of a Bangsamoro ancestral domain or a separate homeland for Muslims, the government will "never compromise" on what is constitutionally-mandated as Philippine territory.