The bloodbath at Corregidor did not only anger the Malaysians including Sabah Chief Minister DatuTun Mustapha Haron, but jolted the Moros and their leaders, particularly Cotabato Gov. Datu Udtog Matalam. Hardly two months after the incident, Datu Udtog Matalam spearheaded the move to create an Islamic Republic of Mindanao in answer to the alleged systematic policy of genocide, discrimination, and dispossession of lands pursued vigorously by the government. On May 1, 1968, he organized the Muslim (and later Mindanao) Independence Movement (MIM), which sought to form a state comprising of the contiguous southern portion of the Philippine Archipelago. In the Manifesto issued by the MIM, the following, among other matters, were declared: 1. That it is a recognized principle underlying the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration of Human Rights of the rights of all people consisting the minority in a given state for self-determination; 2. That the Islamic World Congress has affirmed the above principles, particularly on the rights of Muslims who are in the minority in non-Muslim states for self-determination; 3. That the systematic extermination of the Muslim youth like the Corregidor Fiasco - and the policy of isolation and dispersal of the Muslim communities have been pursued vigorously by the government to the detriment of the Muslims; and 4. That Islam, being a communal religion - an ideology and a way of life, must have a definite territory for the exercise of its tenets and teachings, and for the observance of its laws. The text of the Manifesto was forwarded to the UN Sec. Gen. U Thant and copies were also furnished to all heads of Muslim States and to Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. In a flash, the Old Man and the MIM were in the headlines. But nobody seemed to have known why he went on to such an extreme move. The desire for power was quite remote. He was already the governor of the biggest province in the entire country. Neither could his action be attributed to the desire for more wealth, for revolution does not pay off. Whether or not he was serious is not within our competence to pass judgment. But one thing is certain. The MIM did not gain much momentum and few outside his home province of Cotabato listened to him seriously enough. But the reaction of the government was a different story. From all indications, it did not take the MIM challenge lightly. Subsequently, one of his advisers, Atty. Hussain Pangato, was killed sometime in 1970 by PC troopers at Tinidtiban, Pikit, Cotabato. He also lost to Lt. Col. Carlos B. Cajelo in a very questionable gubernatorial contest in 1971. The MIM may not have endured long, but it contributed in no small way to the revival of the spirit of independence among the Moros, particularly the studentry and the professionals. In fact, the professionals and students in Manila who later formed the Moro National Liberation Front were also moved by the spirit of the MIM when they enlisted in the first batch of trainees to undergo guerrilla training in a nearby state. At this point in time, it was interesting to note that President Marcos was about to run for his second term after which the Philippine Constitution would disqualify him from seeking a third term. It was in this setting that the threats caused by the Matalam's bugaboo and the political ambition of Marcos could be tied together and on which basis also many loose ends of contemporaneous events could be made to bind, in order to get a clearer picture of the larger scenario which later unfolded to become what this country had never experienced. President Marcos, on several occasions, was overheard to say that "only fools get out of the Palace," meaning, as president of the Philippines. His declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and his stay in office for more than twenty years substantiated beyond doubt the allegations that he indeed had dictatorial ambitions.

The bloodbath at Corregidor did not only anger the Malaysians including Sabah Chief Minister DatuTun Mustapha Haron, but jolted the Moros and their leaders, particularly Cotabato Gov. Datu Udtog Matalam. Hardly two months after the incident, Datu Udtog Matalam spearheaded the move to create an Islamic Republic of Mindanao in answer to the alleged systematic policy of genocide, discrimination, and dispossession of lands pursued vigorously by the government.
On May 1, 1968, he organized the Muslim (and later Mindanao) Independence Movement (MIM), which sought to form a state comprising of the contiguous southern portion of the Philippine Archipelago. In the Manifesto issued by the MIM, the following, among other matters, were declared:
1. That it is a recognized principle underlying the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration of Human Rights of the rights of all people consisting the minority in a given state for self-determination;
2. That the Islamic World Congress has affirmed the above principles, particularly on the rights of Muslims who are in the minority in non-Muslim states for self-determination;
3. That the systematic extermination of the Muslim youth like the Corregidor Fiasco - and the policy of isolation and dispersal of the Muslim communities have been pursued vigorously by the government to the detriment of the Muslims; and
4. That Islam, being a communal religion - an ideology and a way of life, must have a definite territory for the exercise of its tenets and teachings, and for the observance of its laws.
The text of the Manifesto was forwarded to the UN Sec. Gen. U Thant and copies were also furnished to all heads of Muslim States and to Pres. Ferdinand Marcos.
In a flash, the Old Man and the MIM were in the headlines. But nobody seemed to have known why he went on to such an extreme move. The desire for power was quite remote. He was already the governor of the biggest province in the entire country. Neither could his action be attributed to the desire for more wealth, for revolution does not pay off. Whether or not he was serious is not within our competence to pass judgment. But one thing is certain. The MIM did not gain much momentum and few outside his home province of Cotabato listened to him seriously enough. But the reaction of the government was a different story. From all indications, it did not take the MIM challenge lightly. Subsequently, one of his advisers, Atty. Hussain Pangato, was killed sometime in 1970 by PC troopers at Tinidtiban, Pikit, Cotabato. He also lost to Lt. Col. Carlos B. Cajelo in a very questionable gubernatorial contest in 1971.
The MIM may not have endured long, but it contributed in no small way to the revival of the spirit of independence among the Moros, particularly the studentry and the professionals. In fact, the professionals and students in Manila who later formed the Moro National Liberation Front were also moved by the spirit of the MIM when they enlisted in the first batch of trainees to undergo guerrilla training in a nearby state.
At this point in time, it was interesting to note that President Marcos was about to run for his second term after which the Philippine Constitution would disqualify him from seeking a third term. It was in this setting that the threats caused by the Matalam's bugaboo and the political ambition of Marcos could be tied together and on which basis also many loose ends of contemporaneous events could be made to bind, in order to get a clearer picture of the larger scenario which later unfolded to become what this country had never experienced. President Marcos, on several occasions, was overheard to say that "only fools get out of the Palace," meaning, as president of the Philippines. His declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and his stay in office for more than twenty years substantiated beyond doubt the allegations that he indeed had dictatorial ambitions.