Sabah deadline, P-Noy’s warning ignored

MANILA, Philippines - Malaysian security forces are bracing for confrontation with armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III after the Filipinos defied a deadline set by Malaysia for them to leave the territory.

Malaysia’s The Star Online said it had interviewed the sultan’s brother Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram over the phone, who said they were ready to face an attack.

“We are fine. We expect the Malaysian forces to attack today (Tuesday). We are ready to defend ourselves, we are not afraid,” The Star report said, quoting Azzimudie.

“We are not afraid because we know we are right. This is our land,” he said. “We are prepared, we are waiting. We will not attack (but) we will defend ourselves.”

In the report, Azzimudie said he would only take orders from his brother. On Tuesday, President Aquino made a televised appeal for Kiram and his followers to end their “foolhardy act” and return to the Philippines. Malaysian security forces are reportedly in position around Lahad Datu.

In the Star online report, Malaysia’s Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said: “Maybe,” when asked if an attack would be made in 24 hours.

“We are set to end the standoff,” he said.

Azzimudie, meanwhile, admitted the food blockade is taking its toll on the sultan’s followers.

“We are already running out of food because of the blockade but we are not leaving. We will survive because we can eat leaves that animals eat. This is our homeland and we will live here,” he said.

At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Kirams cannot hold the government hostage and endanger the lives of 800,000 Filipinos in Malaysia by insisting on their supporters staying in Sabah.

“You don’t hold a gun to my head and negotiate. You know, it’s like, you put a gun to my head, then ask that we talk. That’s not the way decent people do negotiations. You want us to know your claim, you cooperate. The President has said, ‘come back home, and we will talk.’ But you’re asking me to talk to you while there are people in Sabah; that there’s a possible outcome of violence. That’s not acceptable to us,” Lacierda said.

“Remember, this is not about Sabah. The President’s concern is about the welfare of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah. Trade has been disrupted in that area. We are very concerned with the welfare of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah. That’s what the President is looking into,” Lacierda said.

“The Malaysian government has deadlines that they have set. In the Philippine government, we have exerted all efforts to extend the deadline. We have succeeded in extending the deadlines several times, that shows the resolve of this government to come up with a peaceful resolution,” Lacierda said.

“Now, with respect to the possible criminal offenses, that’s the reason why (Justice) Secretary Leila de Lima was also instructed by the President to look into criminal offenses. That’s their view, that no offense was committed. In our view, Sultan Jamalul Kiram – by ordering his brother to go to Sabah – has endangered the relations between Malaysia and the Philippines,” Lacierda said.

“The President has always said that relations between the Philippines and Malaysia have always been colored by the issue of Sabah.”

He said the government had been trying to continuously reach out to the Kirams and as President Aquino had disclosed in Cagayan de Oro, acting Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman was one of the government’s emissaries. Lacierda said members of the peace panel with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) also met with them.

Aquino said Hataman reported on his meeting with the Kirams at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, after which they worked on his televised statement until 3 a.m.

He read the statement on national television at 8 a.m.

Lacierda believes it is reasonable for the government to ask for time to study the country’s Sabah claim, which has been dormant for years.

“We have already compiled the historical claim. We have to study the policy issue, which is a bit more complicated because it involves relations with our neighbor Malaysia,” he said.

“We also have to look at the legal claim. That’s why it is being studied. The perspective is broader. The President’s perspective as the head of government and as the brother, or the father, of the entire Filipino people  is broader, his concerns are wider. His concern is the Filipinos in Sabah,” Lacierda said.

Foreign policy

While there had been concerns that the standoff might derail the peace talks with the MILF, Lacierda agreed with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process that the issue was a matter of foreign policy and must be discussed separately from the framework agreement with the MILF.

Lacierda explained the Sabah claim was not included in the talks because “it’s a foreign policy issue.”

“We’re talking about the peace situation here right now. So when they were consulted… we discussed with them the peace process, the discussions on the peace process, among others. That’s the reason why we were able to include in the Bangsamoro framework agreement a reference to traditional leadership and customary laws,” he said.

“There is a sovereign claim of the republic and the private property rights of the heirs. Those are going to be studied,” Lacierda said.

He also said the Department of Justice is studying the legal basis of the claim, while the Department of Foreign Affairs is looking into the policy issue.

The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office meanwhile is dealing with historical research, he said.

Lacierda noted they would also have to take into consideration the statement of Jamalul’s wife Fatima that in 1989, the sultan and his council revoked the authority given to the Philippine government to negotiate on their behalf.

“It will revert back to the Sultanate of Sulu. That’s what Fatima said. But nevertheless, President Aquino asked that the Sabah claim be studied. In fact, some have submitted documents, like he mentioned, two volumes of documents, regarding the Sabah claim,” Lacierda said.

Extension

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday he had conveyed to Malaysia Tuesday night the government’s request for an extension of deadline for the Filipinos in Lahad Datu to leave the area.

“I put through a request for another deadline. I said we should be given more time, precisely for processing that information and to give the Kirams a chance to think about what the President had said,” Del Rosario told reporters in a chance interview. “I asked for several days. I did not specify.”

The secretary said they had received information that the situation in Lahad Datu was quiet.

The DFA said it is now the responsibility of the sultan to make sure the situation doesn’t get out of hand.

“What we are trying to do is convince, urge and appeal to Sultan Jamalul to bring home their people from Lahad Datu so that when they are here then we could have a dialogue and consultation with them to discuss their grievances, including that issue,” DFA spokeman Raul Hernandez said.

“We appeal to the Sultan of Sulu to order his men to come back as soon as possible and then when they are here already the government can sit down with them to discuss their grievances,” he said.

“The ball now is in the court of the Sultan of Sulu and it is his responsibility to make sure that no harm will happen to his people who are in Lahad Datu, and the only way to do this is to order them to withdraw and come back to their homes in Mindanao,” he added.

The DFA sent on Monday Undersecretary for Special Concerns Jose Brillantes to Malaysia to coordinate with Malaysian authorities regarding the standoff.

Del Rosario also requested the Malaysian government to allow a humanitarian ship to dock in Lahad Datu to bring food to the Filipinos and fetch those who want to go back to their families in the Philippines. With Pia Lee-Brago, Jaime Laude, Roel Pareño, Lino de la Cruz, and Jose Rodel Clapano