ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 3, 2013) – The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo on Sunday said Malaysian security forces raided a house of Filipino Muslims in Semporna in North Borneo and shot dead 6 people, including two religious leaders.
It said an earlier assault by Malaysian forces in Lahad Datu had killed 10 followers of Sultan Jamalul and the fighting also killed 4 policemen. There was no immediate statement from the Malaysian embassy in Manila about the claims.
Malaysia has cut off all telecommunications in the town of Lahad Datu in North Borneo where security forces have surrounded about 200 mostly armed members of the Sultanate of Sulu who are fighting for their historical rights over the oil and mineral-rich island.
Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram, whose brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, is leading a ragtag army of followers, said they have lost all communications to their group holed up in the village of Tanduo, but warned that Muslims in the Philippines would surely rise up if all of them end up dead in an assault by Malaysian forces.
The Sultanate of Sulu is claiming historical ownership to North Borneo or Sabah as what Malaysia now calls them. Brunei gave the island to the Sulu Sultanate for helping quell a rebellion many centuries ago, but Malaysia annexed North Borneo, although it is still paying so-called “cession money” to Sultan Fuad Kiram.
Sultan Jamalul said they last spoke with his brother on Saturday and it was unknown whether they had survived assaults by Malaysian security forces in Lahad Datu after the group failed to surrender peacefully.
His daughter Celia Kiram has appealed to both Malaysia and the Philippines to stop the assault on their group in North Borneo, but Manila rejected the plea and told them to surrender without conditions.
The Kawagib-Alliance for the Advancement of Moro Human Rights on Sunday denounced the military action being taken by Malaysian security forces against the followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul.
“The assault carried out Friday, which claimed the lives of twelve of those Filipinos, was deplorable and a complete disregard of diplomatic options that were still at hand. Both Malaysian and Philippine authorities fell short of preventing the needless bloodshed and continue to demonstrate callousness towards the lives of the people at stake,” said Kawagib’s spokesman Jerome Aba in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He also criticized the Aquino administration for failing to protect the victims and said the President was acting like a spokesman for the Malaysian government.
“We particularly decry the Philippine government for failing to tackle the incident competently and for denying our countrymen the protection naturally provided by sovereign states to its citizens. President Benigno Aquino III appears more as a spokesperson of the Malaysian authorities than president of this country. The pompous stance he and his officials have taken accentuate this government’s indifference to the plight of the Moro people,” he said.
Aba said the reaction of the Aquino administration to the whole incident reflects its failure to understand and acknowledge legitimate concerns of the Moro people. It could have been prudent in handling the situation, at its onset, if it truly recognizes the historical and legal rights of the Bangsamoro, he said.
“The heirs of the Sulu Sultanate put forward a legitimate issue that should be a matter of national concern. The dismissive policy taken by the Aquino administration on the issue exposes its pretense over the Spratlys, where the president seemed unyielding and patriotic. The territorial dispute with China serve pretext to the ever increasing military presence of the US in the Philippines under the auspices of the Visiting Forces Agreement. The government with Malaysia must open formal dialogue on the Sabah claim if both parties are serious on ushering durable peace in Mindanao,” Aba said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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