ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 14, 2013) – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed has urged Kuala Lumpur to reduce or totally stop paying so-called cession money to the Sultanate of Sulu, whose followers are in a deadly standoff with Malaysian security forces in Sabah, the New Straits Times reported.
The Sultanate of Sulu and Malaysia are both claiming ownership on Sabah, home to about 800,000 mostly Muslims from the southern Philippine provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, just several hours by boat from the Filipino border.
Dr. Mahathir said: “We should reduce or stop altogether paying cession money to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu as they have broken the agreement when they attacked our soldiers in Sabah.”
At least 60 followers of the Sultanate of Sulu and 10 Malaysian policemen and soldiers were killed in bloody fighting in Sabah since last week. Some of the slain Malaysians were also decapitated. Dr. Mahathir has condemned the intrusion and branded the group’s cruelty as un-Islamic.
Self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram sent more than 200 followers headed by his brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram to Sabah to exert historical and legal rights on their claims.
Dr. Mahathir said Malaysia has developed Sabah, now part of the 13 states of Malaysia, and did not deserve to be treated as the enemy to the Sulu people. “The government and people of Malaysia had always been treating the Sulu people well and that they had stayed a long time in Sabah and eventually became Malaysians,” he was quoted as telling the media after attending the Agriculture Convention in Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang.
The New Straits Times said the eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for helping quell a rebellion and that by the late 19th century both territories were granted to a British company.
And on September 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia. Singapore was separated from the Federation in 1965 and Sabah was later annexed by Malaysia following a referendum. But despite this, Malaysia still continues to pay cession money worth P77,000 to the Sultanate of Sulu.
The heir of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, Sultan Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, has earlier blamed Sultan Jamalul for the outbreak of violence in Sabah which he said affected thousands of Filipinos and put at risk the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks between Manila and Muslim rebels in Mindanao.
Several thousands have already fled Sabah, just several hours by boat from the Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi due to the fighting between Malaysian security forces and the group of Sultan Jamalul.
Sultan Sharif Ibrahim have appealed to both Malaysia and the Philippines to peacefully resolve the issue.
“Hinihingi ko sa Malaysian government na huwag idamay ang mga sibilyan at kawawa naman ang mga ito na nagne-negosyo at nagta-trabaho doon sa Sabah. Kaya nananawagan ako sa ngayon sa Prime Minister ng Malaysia na (si Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul) ayusin nila ang mga sibilyan at huwag nilang sasaktan at huwag nilang tatawaging mga terrorista dahil kami ang tunay na may-ari ng Sabah, ang Sultanate of Sulu,” the secluded Sultan Shariff Pulalun said in a rare news conference in Zamboanga City.
He blamed Sultan Jamalul for the break out of hostilities in Sabah that forced thousands of Filipinos to flee their homes and seek refuge to the southern Philippines to avoid getting killed in the cross-fire or risk being arrested by Malaysia under a strict security law.
“Si Jamalul naman, sana ay marami naman paraan at madaraan sa mabuting usapan ito. Dapat inilapit niya sa Mahal natin President (Benigno) Aquino at humingi siya ng tulong upang kausapin ang Malaysian government sa magandang paraan.”
“Hindi maganda ang ginawa niya kasi (isa lamang) siyang Administrator ng Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. Bakit niya ginawa iyan? Hindi siya humingi ng pahintulot sa totoong Sultan at wala siyang karapatan na tawaging sultan ang kanyang sarili dahil ang totoong sultan ay si Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun. Sa amin ang mga lupain diyan sa Sabah at hindi yan pagmamay-ari ni Jamalul Kiram dahil administrator lamang siya,” Sultan Shariff Ibrahim said.
He also called on the leaders of Sabah and Malaysia not to harm Filipinos on the island amid reports of human rights abuses and mass arrests by security forces of suspected supporters or sympathizers of the Sultanate of Sulu.
“Kaya nanawagan ako sa buong Sabah at sa buong bansa na tulungan natin ang mga kaawa-awang mga sibilyan natin doon. Nanawagan akong muli sa Malaysia na huwag nilang sasaktan o patayin ang mga sibilyan at sa halip ay dapat nilang tulungan pa,” Sultan Sharif Ibrahim, a descendant of Sultan Mohd Pulalun that ruled the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo in 1844. (Mindanao Examiner)
20