Pirates or privateers?

Foremost, let's put things in proper context. In those days, piracy and slavery were the order of the day. West to east, Piracy and slavery were economic means and political tools. Colonial powers have more blood in their hands because when they or their people practiced them they do so with atrocity within and outside their borders.
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The Spaniards call the Iranuns and the Bangingis "pirates" because the latters wreck havoc upon Spanish colonies in Mindanao and the Visayas. The friars cursed them as barbarians, the curse of the devil. These pirates were torn in the Spain's ambition of colonizing and christianizing the entire archipelago.

However, from the point of view of their own, these "pirates" were either part of the Sultan's navy protecting the sovereignty of the sultanate against the growing menace of Spanish Armada; or privateers authorized by the Sultan to attack enemy outputs and retaliate for prior attacks on Moro communities.

Throughout pre-colonial and early colonial periods in South East Asia, they commanded awe and fear. Either they are labeled as "pirates" or "privateers", among themselves they are the Bangingi of the Sultanate of Sulu and the Iranun of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, both feared and respected throughout the South China, Sulu and Sulawesi Seas. These seas were their playground of trade.

Today, the bravery and selflessness of these peoples are still respected and now part of the ancient lore handed from generation to generation. Just like their ancestors, they represent the "unconquered spirit" of the Moros.