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  • #16
    Next time a Moro lops the head off a Government soldier I hope their new found cheer leaders remember this.
    Malaysia attacks Filipinos to end Sabah siege
    By M. Jegathesan
    Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
    10:25 am | Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
    Malaysia attacks Filipinos to end Sabah siege | Inquirer Global Nation

    Malaysian troops moving in to flush out members of the Sulu Sultanate’s ‘royal army’ from a remote village in Lahad Datu, Sabah. The Star/Bernama-Asia News Network

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysian security forces using fighter jets attacked nearly 200 Filipinos in Sabah on Tuesday to end the armed group’s three-week occupation of a Borneo village that has left 27 people dead.

    Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed the assault was launched Tuesday morning after clashes in Lahad Datu in Sabah this past week killed eight policemen. He had earlier declared that security forces were authorized to take any action deemed necessary.

    “At 7 a.m. this morning, security forces launched an attack on Tanduo village,” Najib said, adding that negotiations with the “royal army” of the Sultanate of Sulu, believed to number 100 to 300 and holed up in a farming village, had failed.

    The main group of Filipinos comprises members of the clan of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu, some bearing rifles and grenade launchers, who slipped past naval patrols last month, landed at a remote coastal village in Sabah’s Lahad Datu district and insisted the territory was theirs.

    Nineteen Filipino gunmen have also been slain in Lahad Datu and another Sabah coastal district involving a smaller group of Filipinos since Friday. The skirmishes shocked Malaysians unaccustomed to such violence in their country, which borders insurgency-plagued southern provinces in the Philippines and Thailand.

    “The government has to take the appropriate action to protect national pride and sovereignty as our people have demanded,” Najib said in a statement issued through the national news agency, Bernama.

    Authorities made every effort to resolve the siege peacefully since the presence of the group in Lahad Datu district became known on February 12, including holding talks to encourage the group to leave without facing any serious legal repercussions, Najib said.

    “The longer this intrusion persisted, it became clear to the authorities that the intruders had no intention to leave Sabah,” Najib said. “As a peace-loving Islamic country that upholds efforts to settle conflicts through negotiations, our struggle to avoid bloodshed in Lahad Datu did not work.”

    Violence first erupted on Friday when a shootout between security forces and the Sulu gunmen left 12 Filipinos and two police officers dead.

    Another gunbattle Saturday in the town of Semporna, hours away from Tanduo by road, left six police and six gunmen dead, raising fears of a wider infiltration.

    Another gunman was beaten to death there Saturday by villagers, police have said.

    In this picture taken on Saturday. March 2, 2013, a group of Malaysian police commandos stand guard near the area where the stand-off with Filipino gunmen took place in Tanduo village, Lahad Datu, Sabab , Malaysia. Gunmen ambushed and killed six Malaysian policemen. AP PHOTO/BERNAMA NEWS AGENCY

    Local media reported fighter jets screaming over the stand-off site and explosions were heard. Military trucks were also seen moving into the area, which is surrounded by palm oil estates.

    Najib had ordered a doubling of security forces in the area after the weekend violence.

    Sabah police chief Hamza Taib confirmed the attack involved ground and air operations conducted by both the police and military, which included bombing the area. He declined to elaborate, saying the operation remained ongoing two hours after it was launched shortly after dawn.

    Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the Sulu sultanate, told reporters in Manila that the Filipino group in Sabah would not surrender and that their leader was safe. The group is led by a brother of Kiram.

    Lahad Datu district is a short boat ride from the Philippine province, and the clan members had rebuffed calls to leave, claiming Sabah belonged to their royal sultanate and that Malaysia has been paying a paltry amount to lease the vast territory with many palm plantations.

    The Philippine government had asked Malaysia to exercise maximum tolerance to avoid further bloodshed.

    In Manila, presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said Tuesday that Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was in Kuala Lumpur meeting with his Malaysian counterpart.

    “We’ve done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end Kiram’s people chose this path,” Carandang said.

    An undetermined number of other armed Filipinos are suspected to have encroached on other districts within 300 kilometers (200 miles) of Lahad Datu.

    Some in Muslim-majority Malaysia advocated patience in handling the Lahad Datu intruders. But the deaths of the Malaysian police officers, including six who were ambushed while inspecting a waterfront village in a separate Sabah district on Saturday, have triggered widespread alarm over the possibility of more such intrusions.

    For the second time in two days, President Benigno Aquino III had gone on national TV to urge the Filipino group in Lahad Datu to lay down their arms, warning that the situation could worsen and endanger about 800,000 Filipinos settlers there.

    The crisis could have wide-ranging political ramifications in both countries. Some fear it might undermine peace talks brokered by Malaysia between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim rebel group in Mindanao.

    It also could affect public confidence in Malaysia’s long-ruling National Front coalition, which is gearing up for general elections that must be held by the end of June. The coalition requires strong support from voters in Sabah to fend off an opposition alliance that hopes to end more than five decades of federal rule by the National Front.

    The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has advised Americans to avoid traveling to much of Sabah’s east coast, which includes towns that are embarkation points for nearby diving resort islands, because of the potential for more violence.

    Supporters of the Filipino group took their campaign to cyberspace on Monday, manipulating Google listings to post a message backing the incursion.

    A number of Philippine sites also were reportedly defaced by pro-Malaysia hackers.

    Originally posted at 8:44 am | Tuesday, March 5, 2013
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

    Comment


    • #17
      Would this give people in Pattani ideas? I hear that there are rumblings on the ground about Kuala Lumpur's preceived support for Bangkok.

      Comment


      • #18
        ...
        4 suspected Kiram followers arrested in Sabah - report
        March 7, 2013 12:47am
        4 suspected Kiram followers arrested in Sabah - report | News | GMA News Online with a bizarre incursion by followers of a Sulu sultan. AFP/Moud Rasfan
        Malaysian police arrested four men suspected of having ties with followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram, Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency reported Wednesday afternoon.

        The Bernama report said the suspects were linked to a Saturday ambush on Malaysian police officers in Kampung Sri Jaya in Simunul.

        "Acting on a public tip-off and intelligence findings, we managed to arrest the four men to facilitate further investigation," a police operation officer said.

        The suspects were aged between 20 and 50 years, and were arrested in a special operation by the Sabah Police Special Investigation Department.

        Six Malaysian policemen and at least six Kiram followers were killed in the March 2 ambush, a day after a bloody shootout left 12 Filipinos and two Malaysian commandos dead.

        Police had been tracking down the alleged Kiram followers who were posing as local villagers.

        The report said police arrested two of the suspects in a search of two houses, while the third was arrested while coming out from a nearby bush.

        A fourth suspect was detained after being spotted in a vehicle, behaving suspiciously.

        Meanwhile, a separate report on Malaysia's New Straits Times said there were several sightings of suspected Kiram followers trying to escape the plantations in Lahad Datu. — DVM, GMA News
        Malaysia troops kill 13, hunt gunmen after Sabah assault
        By BAZUKI MUHAMMAD, REUTERSMarch 6, 2013 6:19pm
        1 0 1156

        Malaysia troops kill 13, hunt gunmen after Sabah assault | News | GMA News Online
        FELDA SAHABAT, Malaysia - Malaysian security forces said they had killed 13 suspected Philippine militants as they expanded their hunt for an elusive armed group on Borneo island on Wednesday, a day after an assault with fighter jets, mortars and hundreds of troops.

        The nearly month-long confrontation in Sabah state, in Malaysia's part of Borneo, was sparked when the armed group of about 200 sailed from the nearby southern Philippines to press an ancient claim to the resource-rich region.

        At least 40 people have been killed, including eight Malaysian policemen, raising concerns of broader insecurity ahead of elections in Malaysia.

        "The total is 13. There could be more," Malaysian Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters at a media center set up at a palm oil plantation called Felda Sahabat.

        Zahid, who produced what he described as pictures of some of the dead militants, said Malaysian forces had suffered no fresh casualties since the assault was launched on Tuesday.

        Malaysian police warned residents to be on alert for members of the group who had likely escaped into plantations that dominate the coastal area and who could be posing as farmers.

        "The mopping and searching will cover a wider area given there are signs the intruders moved to another location," police inspector-general Ismail Omar told reporters.

        "The security forces are tracking down their movements and will take the appropriate action."

        Fighters will not return home: spokesman

        Allies of the group in Manila said they had been in telephone contact with Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the militants' leader and the brother of the self-proclaimed sultan, who said the group had split up to avoid detection.

        Abraham Idjirani, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters that 10 of the sultan's followers had died, with 10 captured and four wounded.

        "They will not come home and would rather die fighting if cornered," he said of the remaining followers in Sabah.

        The family in Manila also said more followers had arrived to reinforce the group, a journey between the Southeast Asian neighbors that takes around an hour by speedboat.

        Army trucks carrying dozens of soldiers continued to enter the village of Kampung Tanduo where the group had originally been holed up. A helicopter hovered overhead.

        Fighter jets bombed the group's camp in the Felda Sahabat plantation early on Tuesday after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his patience had run out. Philippine officials had urged the group to return home.

        The group says it represents the now defunct sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines and demands recognition and payment from Malaysia for their claim as rightful owners of Sabah.

        The security headache could prompt Najib to delay an election that must be held by June, adding to nervousness among investors over what could be the country's closest ever polls.

        The insecurity has disrupted operations in Sabah's huge palm oil industry. Prolonged trouble could dampen growing investor interest in energy and infrastructure projects in the state, although the main oil fields are far from the standoff. — Reuters
        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

        Comment


        • #19
          Can't buy groceries but can find 300 armed goons

          Expose the sinister forces behind the Sabah bloodbath
          AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 7, 2013 - 12:00am
          http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2013...abah-bloodbath

          If you appreciate the expense and organization that are required in order to send a 100-man expeditionary force to Sabah — the Kirams claim it’s 200 — then you’ll understand what President Benigno S. Aquino III (P-Noy) meant last March 4 during his press conference in Malacanang. P-Noy referred to sinister forces financing and encouraging the Kirams to undertake their Sabah misadventure.

          It’s not like P-Noy to speak from a sketchy intelligence report. P-Noy will err on the side of caution and not reckless bravado. Remember, time and again it was mentioned in this column that P-Noy is well versed in intelligence and national security matters. That was a natural consequence of his family’s experience with coup plots during the term of President Cory. He was well briefed on the activities of sinister forces. They’re now building cases against these instigators. These reports might need more evidence to stand in court but they’re more than sufficient to forewarn the state of destabilization moves.

          It must also be appreciated exactly what reliable intelligence reports can do and cannot do. A reliable intelligence report might alert the government of a planned destabilization move and thus be able to thwart it. However, it requires more to be able to bring the plotters to court and convict them, especially with many Serafin Cuevases and Estelito Mendozas available to find the legal defenses that can free the guiltiest.

          From facts that are gathered from reliable sources, it’s now known that the Kiram family doesn’t have the financial capacity that can fund a 100-man expeditionary force. Sultan Jamalul Kiram cannot even pay for his twice a week dialysis treatment that’s being shouldered by the PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office). After Kiram became frontpage material, his home in Taguig has been accommodating many guests, relatives and visitors. A close friend donates P10,000 worth of groceries a day to be able to feed all these guests, at the very least give them something to drink.

          To be able to send a 100-man expeditionary force to Sabah, there will be transport costs, cost of arms and ammunition, board and lodging costs and mobilization costs. An intelligence source said that a one-week activity by a 100-man expeditionary force that’s engaged in constant firefights could easily amount to over P10 million. How could a Kiram family that cannot afford the cost of dialysis finance that?

          During his March 4 press conference, P-Noy amplified well the parameters that are guiding his government’s actions. In Sabah, the priority would be the over 800,000 Filipinos working and living in Sabah. Should they be dislocated and forced to return here, that would be a big national security and economic concern because they’ll have no jobs to sustain them and their families here.
          Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

          It’s disappointing to see online comments that favor prioritizing the troublemakers over the 800,000 of our countrymen working in Sabah.

          Quite disappointing too was former senator Dick Gordon, my friend, who tried to make political capital out of the Sabah incident. Gordon’s former bitter adversary, the man who ejected Dick from his Subic post — former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada — was more statesmanlike by opting to support the president in this sensitive international issue. Threatening P-Noy with impeachment because of the government’s actions during this Sabah crisis reeks of bovine ordure. It strikes me that Dick could not accept the verdict of the Filipino people in the 2010 presidential election. He may also be bitter for not landing yet among the so-called winning 12 senators in national polls by SWS and Pulse Asia.

          The greatness of a people is demonstrated when they’re in the grip of a severe crisis. We stood ten feet tall before the eyes of the world over how we conducted the People Power Revolution in 1986. Our feat made such an impact that it’s credited for similar inspirations that followed it.

          However, in this Sabah incident, we see many Filipinos lose the proper perspective to this crisis and have been misled by their emotions. It’s disappointing how many otherwise right thinking persons have allowed themselves to be taken for a ride by the Sabah adventurers — seeing the troublemakers as romantic brave warriors instead of terrorists. P-Noy is right to compare the situation to our homes being invaded and we’re then asked to negotiate with a gun pointed to our forehead. Would these same Filipinos still see home invaders as romantic warriors? Fat chance they’d see them that way.

          You have to be bothered when some of your so-called educated people fail to appreciate what’s bad from what’s good and misconstrue terrorism as romantic adventure. You have to be bothered when some of your so-called educated people irresponsibly promote the wild notion that we should consider intervening in the Sabah incident without as much as recognizing the sovereign right of Malaysia and the act of terrorism that Kiram’s followers have committed. If what Kiram and his followers did is right, then what’s wrong when a Palestinian goes to the busiest area of Tel Aviv where many Filipinos work and there detonate a mega bomb?

          This Sabah incident proved the corruption in the Filipino mind, a mind that’s guided by emotions instead of principles.

          * * *

          Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”

          E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.chairwrecker.com
          06 March 2013| last updated at 09:28PM
          LAHAD DATU: Historians agree Sabah rightfully belongs to Malaysia


          0 comments

          KOTA KINABALU: Historians insisted that Sabah belongs to Malaysia and cannot be claimed by others as Sabahans had agreed to the formation of Malaysia in a referendum held by the Cobbold Commission in 1962.

          Head of Social Science School History Programme, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Mosli Tarsat said historical evidence clearly shows the status of Sabah as a valid part of Malaysia and recognised by the United Nations (UN).
          Although Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo before the formation of Malaysia, was controlled and influenced by The Sultanate of Brunei and Sulu, the North Borneo Chartered Company, Japan and the British, but after 1963, the situation changed after the formation of Malaysia," he told Bernama here today.

          The Cobbold Commission which held a four month referendum of Sabah and Sarawak for the formation of Malaysia received 2,200 memorandum with about 80 percent of the people supporting the creation of Malaysia.

          The Commission's report was submitted to the British government and Malaysia was formed by combining Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah (North Borneo).

          "Therefore, Sabah officially joined Malaysia on September 16, 1963 after gaining independence on August 31, 1963," he said supporting a statement by Information Communications and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim that
          Sabah rightfully belongs to Malaysia according to international law and cannot be claimed by any party.

          In Kuala Lumpur, Prof Dr Ramlah Adam who also agreed with the statement by Rais said Malaysia is a sovereign state that is recognised globally.

          "As such, there is no question of claim by any party. The statement by the Information Communications and Culture Minister yesterday is historically accurate," said the Main Fellow, Strategic Studies Unit, Universiti Malaysia Perlis when contacted here.

          Ramlah said the referendum on Sabah and Sarawak by the Cobbold Commission, is similar to the Singapore Referendum for the formation of Malaysia in 1962.

          "They cannot claim just based on history. For example, the Siam government handed Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu over to the British and cannot claim the states." -BERNAMA


          Ramlah said Malaysians, especially those in Sabah must be clear about the matter so that the country will remain peaceful and support national sovereignty. "We are talking about the security and sovereignty of the country. This is not the time to politicise this issue or blame the government," said Ramlah. Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim said North Borneo (Sabah) was separated from Sulu since 1885 and was administered by the North Borneo Chartered Company. "This matter (separation of Sabah from Sulu) happened long before the Cobbold Commission came in 1963. As such, it is difficult to change the situation," he added.
          - BERNAMA NCD NT HK ZUB 06/03/2013 21-

          Read more: LAHAD DATU: Historians agree Sabah rightfully belongs to Malaysia - Latest - New Straits Times LAHAD DATU: Historians agree Sabah rightfully belongs to Malaysia - Latest - New Straits Times
          Last edited by troung; 06 Mar 13,, 19:35.
          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

          Comment


          • #20
            Finding new reasons to stir the pot. A cheesy version of post 1870 France, just without the whole ready to fling themselves across the border to bayonet people who will shoot back. Lot's of talk.

            Today’s View: A question of patriotic fealty
            Posted on Mar 12, 2013 in Headline, Opinion | 2 comments
            http://davaotoday.com/main/2013/03/1...riotic-fealty/
            As a Filipino, it is our patriotic duty to abide by the Sultan who has pursued the claim not only for the Sultanate but ultimately for the Philippine State. We cannot just leave him and our other Filipino compatriots at the mercy of a foreign government who has shown no respect for human rights, indiscriminately brutalizing Filipinos in the area.

            By DON J. PAGUSARA
            Davao Today

            The Sabah Problem has gone out of bounds and has spilled to multifaceted crises. It now behooves every Filipino to harness his socio-moral responsibilities to contribute to the resolution of the problem.

            No doubt, the action of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, together with his loyal warriors and followers, is borne out of historical facts that serve as premises for the Sultanate’s claim to Sabah. Certainly these are a priori questions presumably ascertained.

            No doubt, the contested Sabah territory used to be the property of the Sulu Sultanate long before the Philippine archipelago became a Filipino nation created by the Spanish colonialists.

            No doubt there were legal proprietary transactions that transpired at some point in the history of the Sulu Sultanate vis-à-vis the State of Malaysia. Is it not a fact that Sabah was leased to an entity of the State of Malaysia sometime in the distant past?

            If so, this historical fact definitely factored in the present controversy, making the Sulu Sultanate’s claim a legitimate act.

            Conscious of this historically antecedent event, can we not in our heart of hearts sympathize with the current action of Sultan Kiram in Sabah which unfortunately resulted in the “standoff” and the subsequent tragic incidents in the area?

            As a Filipino, it is our patriotic duty to abide by the Sultan who has pursued the claim not only for the Sultanate but ultimately for the Philippine State. We cannot just leave him and our other Filipino compatriots at the mercy of a foreign government who has shown no respect for human rights, indiscriminately brutalizing Filipinos in the area.

            Apropos of this, it is therefore unfortunate that President Benigno Aquino III promptly issued a statement which in effect questioned not only the legality of the Sabah claim but unwittingly took a position adverse to that of his own constituent.

            We witness another case of how our government has been wishy-washy in asserting the rights of its own citizens who find themselves in a conflict situation with a foreign country.

            It has been the accustomed stance of Malacañang to allow things to develop to the brink of uncontrollable proportions before it would act with dispatch. Always, the government plays insensitive to the plight of its constituency in dire situations before it decides with deliberate haste.

            If President Aquino had only harnessed its power and authority promptly, the unnecessary violent skirmishes could have been averted. The calamitous situations that have sprung up consequent to the eruption of violence — the displacement of thousands of Filipinos could have been avoided.

            Now Malacañang is faced with multifaceted crises and can only be counted among the blameworthy agents of this regrettable and unfortunate happenstance.

            Don J. Pagusara is a native of Mindanao, a multi-awarded author and a Palanca-awardee.
            Malaysia treats PH like dirt and Malacañang takes it timidly
            March 11, 2013

            Malaysia treats PH like dirt and Malacañang takes it timidly | Vera Files

            By ELLEN TORDESILLAS

            MALAYSIA treats the Philippines like dirt and Malacañang takes it with hardly a whimper.

            News reports relate the harrowing experience of Filipinos under the hands of Malaysian security forces who are conducting a sweep of the Sabah to capture the forces of Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, younger brother of Jamalul Kiram III and one of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who was given Sabah by the Sultan of Brunei in 1878 as a reward for helping suppress a revolt.

            Sabah became part of Malaysia as a result of questionable decisions by a British company and the United Kingdom.

            A report by Inquirer’s Julie Alipala and Karlos Manlupig quoted 32-year old Amira Taradji, one of those who fled Sabah last week, as saying, “We’re treated like animals.”

            She related that Malaysian security forces “dragged all the men outside the houses, kicked and hit them…Some of those arrested did not see jail because they were shot and killed.”

            President Aquino, who has been defending Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak’ drastic actions against Kiram’s group, had no comment. His Deputy Spokesperson, Abigail Valte said, “These reports are unacceptable, which is why the [Department of Foreign Affairs] will be contacting their Malaysian counterparts to [discuss the matter].”

            The DFA also issued a statement saying it views with “grave concern the alleged rounding up of community members of Suluk/Tausug descent in Lahad Datu and other areas in Sabah and the alleged violations of human rights reported in the media by some Filipinos who arrived in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi from Sabah.”

            The DFA said it is coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other relevant agencies to document these reports so that appropriate actions could be taken.

            The DFA “ urges the Malaysian government to take steps to clarify these alleged incidents,” the statement said.

            The statement continued:“The Department continues to call on the Malaysian Government to give our Philippine Embassy officials and the Philippine humanitarian/consular team dispatched to Lahad Datu and nearby areas full access to the Filipinos being held “in several locations in Sabah but outside the ‘Ops Daulat’ area,” as announced by the Malaysian Inspector General of the Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar on 08 March 2013, to enable them to fulfill their mission which is to provide humanitarian and consular assistance to Filipinos who have been affected by the incident.

            “We reiterate our call on the Malaysian Government to give humane treatment to the Filipinos under their custody.

            “The allegations are alarming and should be properly and immediately addressed by concerned authorities. “

            If you read the statement carefully especially the part “:“The Department continues to call on the Malaysian Government to give our Philippine Embassy officials and the Philippine humanitarian/consular team dispatched to Lahad Datu and nearby areas full access to the Filipinos being held….” The Philippine government is begging the Malaysian government.

            That’s because the past weeks, Malaysians have been treating rudely foreign affairs officials sent to find a peaceful solution to the Lahad Datu standoff.

            Foreign Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns Jose Brillantes,who was formerly ambassador to Malaysia, was sent to Malaysia last week to coordinate with authorities on the humanitarian aspect of the crisis. He didn’t even get near Sabah.

            A Philippine Navy boat has been standing by waiting for the permission of Malaysia to dock in Sabah to fetch Filipinos. No permission up to now.

            The DFA said they have sent several note verbales to the Malaysian government asking for access to Filipinos in Sabah. All ignored.

            Journalist Charmaine Deogracias, who covers foreign affairs, remarked:” Why do we even have to ask permission via note verbale to visit Filipinos in jail, that’s a guaranteed consular right of states under the vienna convention. In our note verbale we even had to remind Malaysia that. Why, does Malaysia also ask permission to visit their nationals when arrested here in the Philippines?”

            Last week, while Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was in Kuala Lumpur to meet with his counterpart, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah ,they started the bombing of Lahad Datu.

            Not only that. The Malaysian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the meeting saying that “Secretary Rosario agreed that this group should be labelled as terrorists.” The ‘group’ referred to Kiram’s people.

            Del Rosario said his statement was “taken out of context.”

            Last Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urged an “ end to the violence and encourages dialogue among all the parties for a peaceful resolution of the situation,” in Sabah.

            Kiram III immediately ordered a unilateral ceasefire to his people. Malaysia rejected the UN appeal. Up to now the Philippines has not commented on the UN appeal on Sabah but we had time to say something about UN resolution imposing sanction on North Korea’s nuclear test.

            The latest statement of President Aquino on Sabah was last Wednesday in General Santos when he continued to praise Malaysia.

            He said: “Kaya ako naman po, bilang ama ng ating bansa, obligasyon ko ‘yung kapakanan, kung hindi ng lahat, ay ‘yung talagang napakarami… Itong Malaysia po na dating iniisip baka lusubin natin sila, nagbago ng pananaw sa atin, tumulong sa peace agreement ng matagal para mahulma sa MILF; pinapangako na hindi lang sila tutulong doon sa paghulma nung peace agreement pati doon sa paglipat ng mga fighters papunta sa kabuhayan, ’yung matuto ng may magandang kabuhayan. Mag-i-invest sila, magtri-training sila, magiging partner natin sila para magkaroon ng tiyak na pamamaraan umasenso ang buhay ng mga kapatid na nag-alsa na rin, at some point in time.

            “Paganda nang paganda ang relasyon natin, biglang umusbong ito. Biglang meron siyempre magsasabi sa Malaysia: Ganoon ba talaga relasyon natin sa Pilipinas? Magtatalo tayo parati sa Sabah? Magkakagulo ba tayo dito? Di ba, dapat magkagulo na rin doon sa kanila

            Aquino spoke of missed opportunities:“Sayang, di ho ba? Ang ganda ng pagkakataon.”

            It’s doubtful if he realized the leadership opportunity he missed.

            ###

            Bayan calls on Aquino government to protest crackdown on Filipinos in Malaysia
            Last edited by troung; 12 Mar 13,, 23:47.
            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

            Comment


            • #21
              Hopefully this is finished soon.

              4 more killed in fresh Sabah gunfights; death toll now 67

              BusinessMirror - 4 more killed in fresh Sabah gunfights; death toll now 67
              Category: Nation
              Published on Tuesday, 12 March 2013 20:45
              Written by PNA/Xinhua

              A Malaysian soldier and three gunmen were killed in fresh gunfights on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 67 in a monthlong standoff with the Sulu militants in Malaysia’s Sabah state.

              Malaysian Armed Forces chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin said the three gunmen, who were in a group of five militants, were killed near the coastal Tanjung Batu village on Tuesday morning.

              The fresh casualties came after police declared they had retaken one of the villages occupied by the militants.

              Police also captured six Sulu terrorist suspects in a raid following and one of them was a high-risk criminal on the wanted list.

              More gunmen are believed to have been killed as security forces continued house-by-house search in two villages, including Tanjung Batu, to flush out the militants whom showed no signs of surrender.

              Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin made a morale-boosting visit to the troops in Sabah on Tuesday.

              A group of more than 180 militants arrived in the east coastal town of Lahad Datu in Sabah from southern Philippines on February 9 to claim territorial rights to the land.

              They claimed to be followers of a non-functioning Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who demanded Sabah be returned to his sultanate.

              Civilians who fled Sabah said many villagers trapped in the standoff need food and medical treatment.

              The Malaysian troops have been battling with the Philippine militants since March 1 in an intense standoff that left 67 dead, including eight policemen and a soldier.

              Malaysia launched an all-out raid codenamed “Sovereign Operation” that included airstrikes and ground assaults on several areas Tuesday to wipe out the militants.

              Thousands of Filipinos have also fled Sabah for their home country since the violence broke out.
              Malaysia Kills Rebel General as Police See Insurgency Subsiding
              By Manirajan Ramasamy and Chong Pooi Koon on March 12, 2013

              Malaysia Kills Rebel General as Police See Insurgency Subsiding - Businessweek


              Malaysian forces said they killed one of the commanders of a militant Muslim army that invaded Sabah last month from the Philippines to claim sovereignty over the commodities-rich state.

              Haji Musa, a general from the Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate, was killed yesterday, Hamza Taib, Sabah’s police chief, confirmed in a televised media briefing. Another militant was shot dead this morning, and 15 more bodies of suspected insurgents were found in a grave, he said. The end of the uprising is “in sight,” the New Straits Times reported earlier today, citing Hamza.

              The incursion has been a distraction for Prime Minister Najib Razak as he prepares for polls that will determine whether his National Front coalition can extend its 55-year grip on power. He’ll probably dissolve parliament by the end of this month for elections after raising civil servants’ salaries, analysts including Ibrahim Suffian said.

              “Najib has gotten a boost through his handling of the insurgency,” Ibrahim, an analyst at the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, said today in a phone interview. “It has increased patriotism in the country. At the same time, pay rises will help secure a traditional base of support among civil servants and their families.”

              The prime minister must dissolve parliament by April 28, after which the Election Commission is required to hold a vote within 60 days. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin arrived in Sabah today to visit the operations center.
              Land Claim

              The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index has fallen 2.2 percent after closing at a record on Jan. 7 on concern the National Front could lose seats in the election. The benchmark, Asia’s worst performer this year, was 0.1 percent lower at the midday trading break. The ringgit has dropped 1.6 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

              A Philippine Muslim group loyal to Jamalul Kiram, the 74- year-old Sultan of Sulu, invaded on Feb. 12 to assert its centuries-old territorial claims to Sabah. The sultanate, which dates back to about the 15th century, says it leased Sabah to the British North Borneo Company in 1878, an agreement that Malaysia views as a secession of the region. Sabah fell under British control after World War II and joined Malaysia in 1963, shortly after the sultanate ceded sovereignty to the Philippines.

              A total 54 militants have been killed since the start of the unrest, Hamza said on television today. Eight police officers also died in earlier fighting.
              ‘Choose Wisely’

              Najib yesterday raised salaries of civil servants, including police and the armed forces, costing the government 1.5 billion ringgit ($483 million).

              “I hope with all this, all of you will choose wisely and make the right decision in the coming general election,” Najib said when announcing the initiative yesterday in Putrajaya, the country’s administrative center near Kuala Lumpur.

              The government has also been distributing a second round of 500-ringgit cash handouts to low-income households as the election draws near.

              “It’s no longer a matter of good timing or not, he just doesn’t have a choice any more,” Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive officer of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, said by phone today. “Everyone is saying that he will dissolve the parliament. The likelihood is by the end of this month, so the element of surprise is completely gone by now.”

              Najib’s approval rating fell to 61 percent in early February in a survey conducted before fighting began in Sabah, from 63 percent at the end of December, the Merdeka Center said Feb. 26.

              “My sense is that it will be by the end of March,” said Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur and an election strategist for the opposition Democratic Action Party. “March 25 seems like a possible date.”

              To contact the reporters on this story: Manirajan Ramasamy in Kuala Lumpur at [email protected]; Chong Pooi Koon in Kuala Lumpur at [email protected]

              To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at [email protected]; Rosalind Mathieson at [email protected]
              Malaysia grants access to Filipinos in Sabah
              Malaysia grants access to Filipinos in Sabah, says DFA | Sun.Star

              Tuesday, March 12, 2013

              MANILA -- The Malaysian government has already granted the Philippines access to Filipinos affected by the armed crisis in Sabah, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.

              Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesman, said the Philippine humanitarian teams have been granted access to Filipinos spread in several areas.

              "Our embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur have confirmed that the augmentation team of the DFA was able to visit yesterday (Monday) the Filipinos currently staying in evacuation centers," said Hernandez in a press briefing.
              Related articles

              Philippines granted access to Pinoys in Sabah
              Kirams to be summoned on role in Sabah standoff
              Government, Kiram clan discuss ways to end Sabah crisis
              De Lima: Probe into Kiram conspirators underway
              Malaysia denies mistreatment of Filipinos in Sabah

              He said that the teams were dispatched to Lahad Datu and Semporna/Tawau, and arrived there last March 8 to check on the condition of and assist the members of the Filipino community in those areas.

              On March 11 in Lahad Datu, a team had held meetings with Filipino community leaders and members in the area.

              The team also distributed foodstuffs and other relief provisions at the Cendarawasih Gym, one of four evacuation centers located in the Felda Sahabat area, where more than 500 Filipinos are temporarily staying.

              The team also visited a Badjau Laut village composed of 43 Filipino families staying in boats along the shoreline, together with officials of the Humana Borneo Child Aid Society, a non-governmental organization which provide alternative education to children of migrant families in Sabah. The team likewise provided food and other provisions to those present, as well as assured them of the Philippine Government's assistance.

              Some members of the Embassy team later proceeded to Sandakan to check on the conditions of the Filipino community there.

              The Embassy team dispatched to Tawau established contact with a group of Filipinos working in a construction site. Those among the workers who manifested the desire to be repatriated home are being assisted by the team.

              The team also reached out to members of the Filipino community in Semporna.

              This marks the first time that Philippine officials were given access to distressed Filipinos since fighting erupted earlier this month between Malaysian forces and followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Sabah. (HDT/Sunnex)
              To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

              Comment


              • #22
                Malaysia to PHL: You have three days to claim your dead in Sabah
                March 15, 2013 11:11pm
                http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story...-dead-in-sabah

                Malaysian officials said their government has officially written to and asked the Philippines to claim the remains of Filipinos killed in an offensive against armed elements from Sulu, the Bernama news agency reported Friday.

                "If there is no response in three days, we will go ahead and bury the dead, Police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib of Sabah said in a news conference in Lahad Datu.

                "Security forces have crippled the movement of Sulu terrorists in Sabah, and its leader Agbimuddin Kiram has fled to the Philippines," Bernama also reported via its Twitter account.

                Bernama also quoted Hamza as saying that the "security forces have so far detained 97 suspects and 233 people for trying to enter the operation zone of Ops Daulat."

                Hamza said the three-day deadline has its basis in the Geneva Conventions.

                The Sabah police chief said 61 Filipinos were dead after 11 days of the joint military-police operations in a plantation in Lahad Datu.

                Hamza and Major General Datuk Ahmad Zaki of the Malaysian Army said that of of late Friday afternoon 27 of the remains have been taken out of the plantation and "10 more bodies have yet to be brought out of Kampung Tanjung Batu.

                Hamza added that their personnel discovered 15 bodies and three gravesites in the operations zone.

                Hamza said the letter to the Philippine government was sent after post mortem work on the remains were completed.

                Brother of Sultan Kiram 'flees to PHL'

                The brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has fled to the Philippines from Sabah after weeks of leading a group of armed Filipinos in engaging Malaysian security forces in deadly clashes, Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency reported late Friday.

                But Kiram's camp insisted Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram is still in Sabah, even as it dismissed the Bernama report as part of propaganda.

                The spokesman of the Sultanate of Sulu, Abraham Idjirani, told GMA News reporter Cedrick Castillo in a phone interview that the revelations of the Malaysian officials about Kiram are "propaganda" issued because of the upcoming elections in Malaysia.

                "Agbimuddin Kiram also known as Azzimudie Kiram is believed to have fled to the Philippines, leaving behind his followers in Lahad Datu, Sabah," Bernama said in a report.

                It said this was due to the major offensive in Lahad Datu since March 5 that supposedly "crippled" Azzimudie's group "and forced its leader to abandon ship."

                At least 10 individuals were detained, including eight caught entering Sungai Bilis in Lahad Datu from the Philippines, and two taken into custody for allegedly collaborating with Kiram's followers.

                But a separate report on Malaysia's The Star online said Kiram's camp denied the reports of Azzimudie fleeing Sabah.

                "That is propaganda of Malaysia so as not to disturb their elections because their elections are nearing. It is a counter strategy," it quoted sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani as saying.

                Besides, he said if Azzimudie returned to the Philippines, "he will only be arrested."

                Idjirani said he last spoke to Azzimudie at 2 p.m. Friday, "and he is still in Sabah."

                Arrests made

                In other developments, at least two alleged collaborators of followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III were detained in Semporna in Sabah Thursday night, Malaysia's state-run Bernama news agency reported late Friday.

                The Bernama report quoted Semporna police chief Mohd Firdaus Francis Abdullah as saying the two were caught at about 8 p.m. Thursday by police who were acting on a tip.

                "The two are believed to have collaborated with the (Kiram followers) and we have taken them in for questioning," it quoted Firdaus as saying.

                He described the two as in their 40s. He did not give further details on the two.

                Firdaus said police are looking into whether the two were linked to the ambush on security forces in Kampung Simunul last March 2.

                Malaysian security forces had been hunting down Kiram's followers since deadly clashes that began March 1. The Malaysians launched offensives against the group starting March 5.

                8 filipinos held for entering pursuit ops area

                Meanwhile, Malaysian police on Thursday midnight detained eight Filipinos aboard a speedboat for trying to enter the area where pursuit operations are ongoing against Kiram's followers.

                A report on Malaysia's The Star Online said Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib described the men as aged between 17 to 29 years old.

                "When the boat was searched, we found they were carrying 300 empty jerrycans and P369,000," he said.

                He said the police detained the eight at the Sungai Bilis area at 12:15 a.m. Friday, and are questioning them for their motive in entering the area.

                While Hamza said police did not find weapons from the group, he said the eight will be grilled for possibly violating immigration laws since had no identification paper with them.

                The Star Online report said that if there is any sign linking the eight to Kiram's followers, they face investigation under the Security Ordinance and Special Measures Act 2012. — ELR, GMA New

                Posted for the LOL value...

                The radical anti-American left have taken a position against the sultan..:red:

                Weekend Edition March 15-17, 2013
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                Washington's Creature in Malaysia?
                The Mysterious Case of the Sulu Sultan
                by NILE BOWIE
                The Mysterious Case of the Sulu Sultan » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
                Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

                Malaysia has been in the midst of an ongoing security crisis since early February, when a group of 235 rag-tag militiamen from the neighboring southern Philippines slipped into the eastern state of Sabah and began occupying several villages. While engaging police in several firefights, the insurgents beheaded and mutilated several captured Malaysian security personnel, prompting Malaysian forces to deploy fighter jets in an unprecedented air assault over the area in an operation to flush out the intruders. The gunmen call themselves the “Royal Army of the Sulu Sultanate”, representing the heirs of a long-defunct kingdom which once controlled the territory up until the late nineteenth century. The so-called Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who is believed to be directing the militant incursion from Manila, insists that Sabah is rightfully part of his kingdom and has vowed not budge on his claims even if his personnel are killed in the standoff.

                Malaysians, who are preparing to vote in a pivotal general election just around the corner, have been fixated on events in Sabah as they unfold. The Philippines are soon expecting congressional elections as well, and given the timing, local analysts are wondering how exactly did this elderly self-proclaimed Sultan obtained the resources needed to establish his own private army. Both the Malaysian and Philippine governments have launched official investigations into allegations that figures within Malaysia’s political opposition had a hand in aiding the Sulu gunmen. Reuters cited an anonymous Filipino military officer who claimed that Sulu rebels were “invited to Sabah by a Malaysian opposition politician”.

                The blame has been laid on Malaysia’s de-facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who Malaysian reports say has links to Filipino insurgent networks that have long eyed the resource-rich state of Sabah in northern eastern Borneo. Local journalist Adrian Lai recently unearthed classified diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Manila brought to light by WikiLeaks, which document ties between Nur Misauri, former chairmen of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and Malaysia’s main opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The MNLF is a political movement that pitted itself against predominately Christian Manila by seeking political autonomy for Muslim majority provinces in the islands in the southern Philippines. In 2001, Manila accused Misauri of terrorism when he led an MNLF unit that attacked an outpost of the Philippine army, prompting him to seek refuge in Sabah on the assumption that authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia would empathize with him and block his extradition. Misauri was detained by Malaysian security forces in Sabah and sent back to the Philippines where he was jailed until 2008.

                WikiLeaks cables claim that Misauri detested the Malaysian government for turning him over to Philippine authorities and that he was “a strong advocate for the recovery of Sabah”. The cables claim that Misauri boasted that his militias could invade Sabah in the span of two hours. WikiLeaks has also confirmed that Misauri maintained close connections to Anwar Ibrahim, and that the two had met on several occasions. A separate report issued by AFP cited US diplomatic cables that implicate a Saudi Arabian ambassador to the Philippines of funding Muslim groups seeking autonomy in the southern islands. Misauri recently criticized Philippine President Benigno Aquino for siding with Malaysia in his firm stance against the Sulu militants, warning the Aquino government of chaos if Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III is apprehended.

                Anwar Ibrahim, who has vehemently denied all accusations, has long been considered a darling of the West. Mr. Ibrahim is a slippery character of sorts; he was once Malaysia’s deputy prime minister prior to being sacked for getting too close to the IMF, among other things. Anwar also has friends in high places, from billionaire financier George Soros to senior neo-cons from the Bush administration. In recent times, Ibrahim has appealed to Carl Gershman, president of the US-Government funded foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), requesting that he send a US observer team to Malaysia to monitor the upcoming elections. Ibrahim enraged many when he stated he would support policy to protect the security of Israel, and while his political party has long received training and backing from the International Republican Institute (IRI) chaired by Republican Senator John McCain, there is little doubt that Anwar – a creature of Washington’s taxpayer funded “Democracy Promotion” overseas – would be the trusted ally that the White House is looking for as it refocuses its military muscle and political influence to the Asia-Pacific region.

                Philippine President Benigno Aquino has recently conceded that events in Sabah showed signs of a conspiracy. A recent statement issued by Malaysian political-scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar alludes to reports of Malaysian opposition figures promising land, titles and other sinecures to the Sulu Sultanate if they emerged victorious in the upcoming elections. Muzaffar argues that a security crisis in Sabah, regarded as a political stronghold for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, could weaken the ruling parties hold over the state, leading to a hung parliament or a narrow victory for the BN, prompting in his words, “massive street agitation which could pave the way for a regime change, which is the goal of not only the Opposition but also its foreign backers.” When Chandra talks of “foreign backers”, he is referring to the US political establishment.

                The MNLF, under its current chairmen Muslimin Sema, has issued statements declaring that it disagreed with the incursion into Sabah, but acknowledged that MNLF forces aligned to Misauri were present there. Reports issued by Reuters also cited Malaysian officials who claimed that the Sulu terrorists had links to factions that were unhappy with the Philippines’ recent peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an Islamist MNLF offshoot. The Malaysian government facilitated these peace talks, and Misauri made no secret that he publically opposed them. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that some ten thousand MNLF fighters from the southern Philippines planned to join the insurgency in Sabah in solidarity with the Royal Sulu Army.

                Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has told media in the Philippines that he wants the United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom to intervene in his claim over Sabah. The Sultan claims that the US must intercede, as agreed upon in a 1915 agreement signed with Washington’s then-colonial government in the Philippines that mandated the US provide “full protection” to the Sulu Sultan in exchange for exercising sovereignty over the kingdom as the colonial administration. Let’s not forget, the strategically located state of Sabah is abundant in natural gas reserves, and its oil reserves are the third highest in the Asia-Pacific region after China and India. Sabah’s fifteen oil wells produce as many as 192,000 barrels a day, while the country has holds over 4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. In 2010, Malaysia was the world’s third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Qatar and Indonesia. The Malaysian government had paid a modest annual cession payment to the Sultanate (which the Sultan argues is a “rent”) since gaining independence from Britain, and one of the motivations for the Sultan’s push to reclaim the territory is definitely profit-driven. While the Pentagon refocuses over 60% of its naval presence to the Asia Pacific region, conflicts of this nature – which deal with obstructions to the flow of abundant energy resources to US companies – are exactly the sort that could coax the eventual involvement of US personnel if Sabah were to deteriorate into a hotbed of Sulu-terror.

                The fact that individuals in the highest levels of the Malaysian and Philippine governments are suspicious of a conspiracy does much to lend credence to the possibility. Former Malaysian PM Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, an ardent critic of Israel and US imperialism, warned months prior to the standoff in Sabah that the opposition’s Western backers sought to bring Anwar Ibrahim to power through Arab Spring-style street riots and even the use of fire power, citing recent examples in Egypt and Syria where NATO states backed political opposition figures and supported al-Qaeda-linked rebels to act on their behalf in overthrowing governments they were tired of. Reports of Saudi Arabia financially supporting Philippine terrorists should also not be taken lightly, as Gulf States have moved in-step with the US and NATO as the main financiers of Salafist terrorist networks active in west Asia, north Africa and elsewhere.

                Without resorting to elaborate conspiracies in the absence of hard facts, it would be entirely negligent to ignore circumstantial evidence linking Malaysian figures to this insurgency, especially considering all sources of this nature are non-Malaysian in origin. There is no doubt that the Sultan has no legitimate legal claims over Sabah since the International Court of Justice has long recognized Malaysia’s rights and sovereignty over the territory, and the highly unusual timing of the Sulu operation being so close to elections in both countries will naturally be perceived as suspect. Militancy and terrorism undermines the Sultan’s claims entirely and lends much credibility to suspicion that the Sultan has not acted alone. Even if the US isn’t involved, the fact that a figure who received blatant US support has been implicated is significant. There is much at stake in Sabah, and in the words of the Sultan, “The only thing that could end the conflict is an intervention.”

                Nile Bowie is an independent political analyst and photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He can be reached at [email protected]
                Last edited by troung; 15 Mar 13,, 23:01.
                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by troung View Post
                  Posted for the LOL value...

                  The radical anti-American left have taken a position against the sultan..:red:
                  WOW! Some brain dead leftist swallowing BN propaganda whole. What a fascinating & bizarre article. Bizarro universe.
                  sigpic

                  Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    The "sultan" has turned wild-eyed right wing militarists into monarchists who want to protect their Muslim brothers, don't believe a nation has a legal right to use force against armed groups and believe people are mere subjects to to anyone who can invent royal title - and has turned Malaysia into a defender of the Democratic process with a press willing and open to print stories from both sides :insane:

                    The sooner this is done, the sultan's and his guys are cold in the ground - the sooner the world can get back to normal :Dancing-Banana:


                    UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS
                    ‘Limited force’ could be used to rescue Filipinos in Sabah, says Santiago
                    By Maila Ager
                    INQUIRER.net
                    3:34 pm | Friday, March 15th, 2013
                    10 627 594

                    Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

                    MANILA, Philippines —The Philippines may use “limited force” against Malaysia if the lives of Filipinos caught in the middle of a violent dispute in Sabah are in danger, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Friday.

                    While the use of law is prohibited under international law, Santiago said there are certain conditions that allow a state to use a “limited force” to protect and save the lives of its nationals.

                    “International law prohibits the use of force. But there is an unwritten exception which allows states to protect or rescue their nationals by means of armed forces in the territory of another state,” she said before the annual convention of the Association of Nursing Service Administrators Philippines held at the Manila Hotel.
                    “However, this exception should not be invoked, unless the Philippines has to carry out rescue operations,” said Santiago, a judge-elect at the International Criminal Court.

                    Santiago said among the pre-conditions that the Philippine must first observe before undertaking rescue operations in Malaysia are the following:

                    The lives of Filipino nationals should be genuinely in danger
                    Malaysia is unwilling or unable to ensure the safety of the persons concerned
                    The Philippines does not pursue any other purpose at the occasion of the operation
                    The scale and effects of the military force used are adequately measured to the purpose and conditions of the operation.

                    Asked later during a press conference if the present situation in Sabah warrants the Philippines’ use of a limited force against Malaysian authorities, Santiago said, “ According to the preconditions that are available, then the Philippines could go to war in a limited sense as long as these preconditions are met…”

                    “So as long as we meet these conditions under international law, we can avail of the exemption that allows us to use limited force to rescue Filipinos. We should have rescue operations there if the Filipinos are in danger of losing their lives,” she said.

                    Under international law, Santiago said, the states in conflict with each other must avail only peaceful means of settlements of dispute.

                    “Meaning to say that war is considered illegal under international law for proving that a state has the right of sovereignty over a certain territory…That of course applies to the dispute in Sabah by the Philippines and Malaysia,” she pointed out.

                    But the senator pointed out how Malaysia stood firm in sending first Filipinos out of Sabah before discussing any means of settlement to end the dispute.

                    This attitude by Malaysia, she said, was not approved by the international law.

                    “That’s is not provided for by international law. If Malaysia insists that first Filipinos should all get out of Sabah then it will be willing to discuss any means of settlement of dispute, I’m afraid that Malaysia will be in danger of being branded as a rouge state by the international community. That behavior is not anticipated and is not approved of by international law,” she said.

                    But before the Philippines takes any action against Malaysia, Santiago proposed the appointment of a third-party that would investigate the recent spate of violence in Sabah.

                    When Congress opens in July, the senator said she would file a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that President Benigno Aquino III should invite Malaysia to agree to an investigation by a third-party.

                    Santiago said the third-party could be a former prime minister or president of Southeast Asian Nations.

                    Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/691...#ixzz2Nespc8F7
                    Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
                    We pay for forgetting — Jose Ma. Montelibano

                    March 15, 2013

                    MARCH 15 — The noisy Filipino went at it again. All the commentators, from traditional media to social media, could simply not help themselves. We had to bash ourselves again, maybe because the rest of the world had nothing but good to say about us. When people have gotten used to being failures, they do not know what to do with success.

                    Democracy guarantees the freedom of speech, even the kind that does not help rebuild our broken self-image from decades of decline. The memory of a brutal dictatorship or presidents who plundered must have become so much of our inner context that we miss them when they are not there. It matters little that we went to the streets to be rid of them because they had been our furniture for so long. And their children can pervert the historical truth because we easily forget and do not teach our own children to remember the evil wrought on a whole people.

                    I saw two TV shows from competing channels a few nights ago. One talk show host was her usual stern self, recounting the deception of Britain and Malaysia, then hitting the administration for its conduct during the Sabah adventurism of a pretender to the Sultanate. The only good thing about the show is that, for once since Sabah was ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei more than 300 years ago, for once since Sabah was leased in a private transaction by the Sultanate of Sulu to a British trading firm more than 120 years ago, the present general public was given a brief history about Sabah over mass media.

                    How many can possibly remember about what happened in 1963 when the Sultanate asked the Philippine government for help in recovering Sabah? Sabah is more known as a name in a map more than as a Philippine territory, before or after 1963? Of course, how can Filipinos, outside of the Sultanate, be emotionally attached to a land that they never knew was theirs, a land they had never been to, a land they had never benefited from? A stupid, trying-hard-to-be provocateur said in one post in Facebook that Sabah is taught in grade school and that the Aquino administration should have known better. What grade school did he go to — in Sabah?

                    In the other channel, a former security adviser was being interviewed. He said a mouthful that meant little altogether — except for one simple but most important statement. He said that the Filipino people do not know about Sabah as they do not know about Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys. And here lies the truth, the painful truth, the dangerous truth. Our people have not been told the truth, the historical truth. Because of that, unless we are attacked as Spain, America and Japan attacked us, we do not fight to protect what belongs to us collectively. And that is why Filipinos will not fight for Sabah.

                    Before a Filipino fights for Sabah, he or she will have to go to Sulu, Basilan or Tawi-Tawi. How many who are not from these areas go there, or have gone there in their lifetime? The answer gives us an estimate of how many will be willing to fight for Sabah. Filipinos who truly want to help the Tausugs would have been in Tausug provinces already. Those who are afraid of going there do not — and the overwhelming majority has not, including the most noisy from social media.

                    We are in a democracy. No matter how inefficient that may be in its application, democracy is the style of governance that we have chosen. Marcos forced martial law on us and we removed him because we wanted our freedom back. Estrada was seen as corrupt and we went to the streets to remove him. Gloria was seen as corrupt so we elected a new president who would prosecute her. That is democracy. We do not send armed contingents to another country even if we have a claim on it because that invites a severe raise-back — and it has. Many wrongs do not make a right, and nations will apply the kind of laws they have to serve their interests.

                    That there are reports of indiscriminate abuse on non-combatants who are Filipino should alarm us. Another wrong makes the mess even more complicated to resolve. Our government is protesting and must protest even more vigorously when evidence proves the reports as true. It is not about a claim when we protest these abuses, it is about the law that we go by as nations, whether we are Malaysia or the Philippines. Malaysia, too, will have to face the consequences of the wrong it commits.

                    There is one great benefit, though, that is being born from the current controversy. Going to Sabah in such a dramatic and radical manner has raised the consciousness of many Filipinos to parts of their own history. Any movement towards the historical truth is a blessing and will enlighten the blindness of a people long denied important components of Philippine history.

                    Losing Sabah is not the fault of the Philippine government. It never had Sabah to lose in the first place. The Kirams should examine their own history and ask themselves how in the world did they lose what they believe to be theirs. Ownership demands responsibility, too. There was no force used to get Sabah, but maybe there was negligence. If the Kirams never waged war to get Sabah and they say it was theirs since the early 1700s, why should Filipinos be dragged to conflict with Malaysia?

                    The Sultanate and all its pretenders should agree on one story, tell this to the Filipino people, then hope that the people will embrace both history and Sabah. Only when that has become important to the people will Filipinos lend their active support to the Sabah claim. It does not help that the daughter of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III was quoted in a newspaper report that she does not want to be Filipino with the kind of leaders we have. She should renounce her being Filipino. It is easier to do that than recover Sabah. — Philippine Daily Inquirer
                    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Borneo violence spirals into crisis for Malaysia, Philippines
                      By Stuart Grudgings and Niluksi Koswanage | Reuters – Mon, Mar 4, 2013
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                      View Photo
                      Reuters/Reuters - Family members and friends of Malaysian police Superintendent Ibrahim Lebar who was killed on Saturday in Semporna, Sabah, recite prayers near his coffin after its arrival at an airport in …more
                      View Photo
                      Coffins of Malaysian police personnel, Superintendant Ibrahim Lebar (L) and Lans …
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                      The coffin of Corporal Sabarudin Daud of Malaysian Police 69th Commando Battalion, …
                      KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - When dozens of armed Filipinos landed by boat on Malaysia's part of Borneo island last month claiming to be a "royal army" and pressing an obscure historic claim, it seemed like a bizarre incident that would soon be resolved and forgotten.
                      Three weeks later, 27 people including eight Malaysian policemen have been killed, sparking a political crisis ahead of elections for both the Philippine and Malaysian governments and raising concerns of instability in resource-rich Sabah state.
                      While the violence has been contained so far to a small corner of Sabah, it signals that militants left out of a peace deal between Manila and the Philippines' main Muslim rebel group could be renewing their focus on the region.
                      Prolonged insecurity could also affect Sabah's huge palm oil industry and dampen growing investor interest in energy and infrastructure projects in the state, although the main oil fields are far from the trouble.
                      The group, numbering about 180, say they are descendants of the sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines, which ruled parts of northern Borneo for centuries. They are demanding recognition and an increased payment from Malaysia for their claim as the rightful owners of Sabah.
                      The violence presents Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak with a security headache that could delay an election that must be held by June, adding to nervousness among investors over what could be the country's closest ever polls.
                      Leaders of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) were discussing delaying the election until beyond April, a senior UMNO official told Reuters. Malaysia's parliament must be dissolved for elections by the end of April, but Najib had been expected to hold the polls as early as late March.
                      "It will be difficult to hold elections with such a situation going on in Sabah," the UMNO official said.
                      "Not only is it a security issue, it is going to be a huge election issue that the opposition will manipulate."
                      Oil majors such as ConocoPhillips and Shell have poured in billions of dollars to develop oil and gas fields in Sabah. Chinese companies have been investing in hydro-power and coal mining, and Sabah is a popular tourist spot with pristine beaches, diving sites and rich tropical wildlife.
                      A standoff with the armed group erupted in bloodshed on Friday when two policemen and 12 militants died in a fire fight near a coastal village. Violence hit at least two other locations over the weekend.
                      IMMIGRATION COMPLICATES CRISIS
                      Malaysia has rejected the group's renewed claim on Sabah, which was leased by the sultanate of Sulu to a British trading company in the 19th century and later absorbed by Kuala Lumpur. Sulu is a Philippine island chain that lies between Sabah and the Philippines' Mindanao island. The sultan's family are traditional rulers, with no formal political powers.
                      For Malaysia, the crisis is complicated by the illegal immigration of Filipinos to Sabah, largely to work in palm oil plantations. Sabah's population has more than quadrupled since the early 1970s and the Philippine government says about 800,000 Filipinos now live there.
                      Sabah residents have been transfixed in recent weeks by a public inquiry into allegations that illegal immigrants were handed identity cards by UMNO in a citizenship-for-votes scheme.
                      Much of the population in the area affected by the violence has cultural and family links to the southern Philippines -- an hour away by speedboat -- raising doubts over their allegiance.
                      That could hinder efforts to capture the gunmen and make immigration an awkward issue for Najib. Voters in Sabah, traditionally a bastion for the UMNO-led National Front coalition, could swing the election to the opposition if it can build on recent gains there.
                      "The problem Malaysia's government faces is the prospect of many of these Sulu people having Malaysian identity cards," said the UMNO source. "Many of them have relatives in Sabah."
                      Malaysia deported nearly 300 illegal Filipino immigrants on Sunday, a sign that ties between the neighbours could be frayed. Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario flew to Kuala Lumpur on Monday to urge "maximum tolerance" in dealing with the remaining members of the group.
                      The crisis could leave Najib's government open to criticism of a lax security response for allowing the gunmen to enter and for not cracking down on them sooner. Forces surrounding the group initially took a softer approach, even giving them food when their supplies ran low.
                      Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim criticised Najib on Monday for "weak" leadership on the crisis and called for a special session of parliament to discuss the situation.
                      Malaysia sent seven army battalions to the region on Monday to reinforce police, state media said.
                      Philippine President Benigno Aquino, facing congressional elections in May, has come under pressure from opponents for supporting Malaysia's rejection of the group's claim to Sabah, which remains a dormant Philippine policy goal.
                      Aquino's allies in turn have hinted that the political opposition encouraged the intrusion as a way of undermining the peace deal signed with Muslim rebels last year and embarrassing the government ahead of the May elections.
                      "ROYAL ARMY" ACTING ALONE?
                      The trouble looks to be partly the result of the deal signed by the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in October to end a 40-year conflict. That agreement was brokered by Malaysia.
                      Jamalul Kiram, a former sultan of Sulu and brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities regard as the sultan, said the peace deal had handed control of much of Sulu to the MILF, ignoring the sultanate.
                      "I think some groups are trying to throw a monkey wrench in the peace process and embarrass the government," said Rex Robles, a retired navy commodore and security analyst in Manila.
                      Malaysian security officials have said they suspect the involvement of another Philippine rebel group, the MNLF, which is led by Nur Misuari, an opponent of the peace deal. They said the gunmen appeared to be well trained and experienced in combat.
                      But a senior Philippine security official said Misuari was not believed to be involved because the group in Sabah came from the island of Tawi-Tawi, which is not a known MNLF stronghold.
                      Prolonged violence could affect the huge palm-oil industry in Sabah, which employs 300,000 legal foreign plantation workers and many more illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia. Palm oil firms are already experiencing transport delays due to the violence, said one industry official who asked not to be identified.
                      (Additional reporting by Siva Sithraputhran in KUALA LUMPUR; Manuel Mogato in MANILA; Florence Tan in SINGAPORE; Editing by Dean Yates)
                      If things get worse ,will it have an affect on the relationship between the local malaysians and local Filipinos? And if violence does get directed towards them (local Filipinos), is it possible the philiphine will militarily intervene?

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        is it possible the philiphine will militarily intervene?
                        Them and what army? They have nothing to intervene with.

                        Today’s View: A royalty to the colonials
                        Posted on Mar 17, 2013 in Headline, Opinion | 0 comments
                        Today
                        (Second of a three-part column)

                        In the history of the Moro people, the Kirams were a picture of a royalty who gave in to the colonials. Sabah was a gift given by the Sultanate of Brunei to the Sultanate of Sulu, because of its help in quelling a rebellion against the Brunei sultanate in 1658. The Sulu Sultanate then leased North Borneo to British North Borneo Company in 1878 in exchange of 5,300 Mexican pesos. Britain would then annex Sabah during colonization until 1946 and the new Federated Malaysia included it as part of its territory in 1963.

                        By AMIRA ALI LIDASAN
                        Davao Today

                        It was a complete turn-around. The elder Kiram is helping the government wash their hands off the carnage in Sabah. President Aquino offers talks of disengagement of forces to the Kirams, a way of salvaging itself from the quagmire of criticism at abandoning the victims in Lahad Datu and doing nothing as the Malaysian government commitS human rights violations against the Filipino people in Sabah. Through the intercession of Roxas, Sultan Esmael Kiram became the spokesperson of the sultanate family, trying to suppress Princess Jacel’s ferocious criticisms, which, according to her uncle, is not helping the Kiram sultanate in negotiating for the resolution of the standoff in Sabah.

                        This is now the kind of Kiram that the Moro people knew, the sultanate who negotiated with the American colonial government which led to the further loss of his land and people, first North Borneo in the hand of the British colonial government in 1878 and then Sulu and Palawan in the Kiram-Bates Treaty.

                        In the history of the Moro people, the Kirams were a picture of a royalty who gave in to the colonials. Sabah was a gift given by the Sultanate of Brunei to the Sultanate of Sulu, because of its help in quelling a rebellion against the Brunei sultanate in 1658. The Sulu Sultanate then leased North Borneo to British North Borneo Company in 1878 in exchange of 5,300 Mexican pesos. Britain would then annex Sabah during colonization until 1946 and the new Federated Malaysia included it as part of its territory in 1963.

                        During Spanish colonialism, Spain laid claim to the rest of the Sulu Sultanates territory by abrogating Sulu and Palawan as part of her territory. The small Spanish garrisons in Zamboanga, Basilan and Siasi in Sulu are testament to Spanish colonialism that was able to penetrate Mindanao either through the Spanish Treaty of Peace with the Sultan Jamal ul-Azam.

                        The Kirams would be entrenched in the Moro history as the Sultanate who was responsible for losing the rest of the sultanate by signing the 1898 Kiram-Bates Treaty, as part of the pacification campaign of the American colonial government which completed their territorial claim over the whole archipelago.

                        Through its emissary Brig. Gen. John Bates, the American colonial government made to sign the Sulu Sultanate to recognize U.S. sovereignty over Sulu and its dependencies in exchange of Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram II and his datus (tribal chiefs) receiving monthly allowance of USD 250.

                        In letter, there was a mutual respect between the U.S. government and the Sultanate of Sulu, recognition of Moro autonomy and non-interference with Moro religion and customs. Soon after, the American colonial administration started disallowing and confiscating guns of the Sultan’s army and started to impose PHP 2.00 taxes on the Tausugs prompting rebellion from the other datus.

                        It was Panglima Hassan, the commander of Luuk, Sulu, who defied Sultan Kiram’s order of recognizing US sovereignty over Sulu who led the attack against the military garrisons of the American colonial government and even against the pro-American datus of Sultan Kiram.

                        The Battle in Bud Dajo in March 4, 1906 claimed more than a thousand of Tausug women and children, the people of Sultan Kiram II. Another pacification campaign led by General Leonard Wood and Pershing that killed many of the Sultan’s people was the Battle of Bud Bagsak in 1913.

                        American occupation in the country was one of the bloodiest in the history of American colonial occupation. It even made in the pages of Vladimir Lenin’s Imperialism, the Last Stage of Capitalism.

                        If Sultan Kudarat is known in history as the valiant sultan who fought Spanish colonialism, Sultan Kiram II is the picture of a sultanate who was not able to defend his people and who was stripped of his identity as he signed Carpenter Agreement with then US Gov. Gen. Frank Carpenter relinquishing his sovereignty to the American colonial government. After his death, the Philippine Commonwealth under Manuel L. Quezon refused to recognize the sultans succeeding him.

                        But it was a woman, Princess Hadja Tarhata Kiram, who will figure prominently in current Moro stories. A local magazine was able to interview here before she died, leaving a very good story that has redefined the sultanate’s image. She was the niece of Sultan Kiram II and was made to study in the US in 1920 as the first woma pensionado.

                        When she returned home, she embraced her native ways and married Datu Tahil, Tausug leader who was a product of the Battle of Bud Bagsak and who led the Moro revolt in 1927 against imposition of taxes and prohibition of carrying weapons. In the end, she would also be part of the Sulu Sultan heirs who gave up propriety rights of Sabah to then President Marcos.

                        The story and legacy of the Kirams would be eclipsed temporarily as the new generation of Moro youth and professionals articulate the right to self-determination of the Moro people in the 1960’s. Over the years, the sultanate’s claim over Sabah will continue to make its presence felt in the struggle.

                        As I have said in a national newspaper, for the Moro people, the Sulu Sultanate and their claim over Sabah is an unfinished business, as well as the abrogation of the MinSuPala (Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan) territories to the Philippine territorial integrity. But while as Moro people we can claim MinSuPala, only the Sultan’s can lay claim to North Borneo.

                        The 13 ethno-linguistic group that would comprise the Moro people struggling for right to self-determination involved not only the Tausugs or the people under the Sulu Sultanate, but all the tribes who fought the Spanish and American colonialism, within or outside of the Sulu Sultanate, Maguindanao Sultanate and the Pat A Pangampong of Lanao. They were united by their struggle against colonials, even if they did not have formal and permanent alliances, or fought side by side. Like the rest of the Filipino people, the Moro people’s identity was defined by their fight against colonialism.

                        In the 1970’s, Sabah is associated to the Jabiddah Massacre, the incident which sparked the flame of anger against the Marcos government and start of the struggle of the new generation of Moro people to right to self-determination. President Ferdinand Marcos created a covert operation called Operation Merdeka which recruited and trained military Tausugs to bring chaos to Sabah by staging operations which will push the Filipino people residing in Sabah to assert separation from the Malaysian government.

                        When the men refused, they were killed and only one survived to tell the tale.

                        Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. helped exposed the issue and this became one of his ammunition against President Marcos. This also fuelled mass protest of the Muslim students and professionals in Manila and those studying abroad, and attracted sympathy from all over the Muslim world.

                        Until now, the heirs of the Marcos and Aquino would still have a contradicting stand over the recent issue involving the uprising in Sabah. While Noynoy Aquino is peeved about the Kiram Sultanate, Bongbong Marcos issued sympathy statement and even demands Aquino to stand with the Moro people.

                        In the beginnings of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), seldom have we heard Professor Nur Misuari, Ustadz Hashim Salamat and the other leaders recognize the Sulu Sultanate’s claim over Sabah. This is because former Prime Minister Tuan Tunku Abdul Rahman was helping the MNLF by making Sabah their staging ground for military training and also providing them of armaments.

                        In the shaping of the concept of the Moro people’s right to self-determination and the armed struggle waged by the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), I have not seen nor heard the Kiram sultanate involved in the struggle. The heirs of Sulu Sultanate were known to mingle with the elite people in Manila, or as in the previous election, be part of a national political party.

                        The right to self-determination of the Moro people is directed against the Philippine government whose historical neglect and injustice towards the Moro national minorities justifies their separation, through autonomy and secession, against an oppressive state.

                        In the 70’s until 80’s, the Moro people were massacred by the Marcos administration in the series of annihilation campaign against the MNLF. Until now, the Tausugs could not recover from the destructive Burning of Jolo by the Marcos administration in 1974.

                        In the 90’s up to the present, the Moro people are tagged as terrorists and forced out of their lands. The Tausugs were displaced from Sulu and found home in Zamboanga, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and even Sabah, Malaysia.

                        Misuari’s assertion of the Moro people’s territory through the Bangsmoro Republik, however, involved only MinSuPala (Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan), excluding Sabah. There was no mention of the Sabah claim in both 1976 Tripoli Agreement and in the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. There was also no mention of the Sabah claim in the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Ancestral Domain in 2008 and the GPH-MILF Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro in 2012.

                        But we cannot ignore that the Sulu Sultanate have relatives within the MNLF and MILF, especially those residing in Sulu and Sabah, Malaysia. Hence, it is difficult for these revolutionary groups to ignore the sultanate and its claim over Sabah. And with the almost 80,000 Filipinos (mostly Moro) living in Sabah, all the more that the MNLF and MILF cannot ignore the calls for help of the Moro migrants in Malaysia.

                        First part: The princess of her people

                        Amira Ali Lidasan is an Iranun and hails from a prominent Moro clan in Maguindanao. She is an observer of Moro politics and an activist. Write to Amira at [email protected].
                        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Sabah under control, claims Malaysia
                          By TJ Burgonio, Allan Nawal
                          Inquirer Mindanao, Philippine Daily Inquirer
                          1:40 am | Monday, March 25th, 2013

                          AP FILE PHOTO

                          MANILA, Philippines—After more than a month of military operations against forces of the sultan of Sulu, Malaysian authorities have declared the crisis in eastern Sabah “under control,” Malacañang reported on Sunday.

                          National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia, quoting Malaysian authorities, said police operatives were now conducting a “small unit” operation against the remnants of Agbimuddin Kiram’s group, who were believed to have broken up into small groups in Lahad Datu town.

                          “It’s a small unit operation. That’s how it is right now. They think the group has broken into small groups and scattered to different villages,” Garcia said in an interview by phone.

                          Malaysian security forces and the Sulu royal army clashed anew in Tanjung Batu in Lahad Datu on Sunday, during which four people, including two children, were killed and two others, a soldier and another boy, were wounded.

                          Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Zulkifeli Zin said in a news conference that the boy was airlifted to a hospital and the bodies of the four people with Filipino ancestry were taken to a morgue.

                          He said Malaysian security forces entered a house in Tanjung Batu around 9:15 a.m. as they tailed “two terrorists” but they were fired upon instead, prompting them to retaliate.

                          On March 19, the Malaysian authorities downgraded the alert level from red to amber in Lahad Datu, more than a month after Agbimuddin and members of the Sulu royal army launched an offensive to press their claim on Sabah, according to Garcia.

                          The alert downgrade would indicate that “they’ve got the situation under control,” he said.

                          The downgrade came after the arrest of an alleged top commander of the Sulu sultan’s forces and his wife. Malaysia identified the new captives as Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, 50, and his wife, Gina Teves, 47. They were reported arrested in a marshy area in Kampung Sri Melor Bugaya, Semporna, last Saturday.

                          So far, Garcia said, he had no direct information if Amirbahar and his wife were part of Agbimuddin Kiram’s group.

                          But for more than a week now, the Sulu royal army has not launched any attack against Malaysian security forces.

                          Malaysian police deputy chief Khalid Abu Bakas told a Sabah-based radio station that the “Sulu terrorists” had become leaderless with the arrest of Amirbahar and the death of one Commander Musa more than two weeks ago.

                          Still missing

                          Malaysia also announced it had filed terrorism and rebellion charges against eight persons arrested in Lahad Datu and investigations were ongoing into the possible participation of over 100 more detainees.

                          The fate of the alleged leader, Agbimuddin Kiram, a brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, remained unknown.

                          Garcia said the government had received conflicting reports—either he was still in Lahad Datu or he had slipped back into the Philippines. “The Malaysians are convinced that he’s still there,” Garcia said, quoting news reports from Malaysia.

                          The reported defeat of the sultan’s offensive to reclaim Sabah, however, was denied by Agbimuddin’s son-in-law, Danilo Datu Abdullah Virtudazo.

                          Virtudazo told the INQUIRER in Cagayan de Oro City that the Sulu royal army was “merely in a defensive stance in deference to a ceasefire declared by Sultan Jamalul Kiram III based on a recent letter of appeal from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.”

                          “The sultanate respected the call for a ceasefire but Malaysia did not,” said Virtudazo, who is married to Agbimuddin’s fourth daughter, Dayang Mura Napsa.

                          Statements as psy-war

                          Another spokesperson of the sultan, Abraham Idjirani, the sultanate’s secretary general, also cast doubt on the official statements of Malaysian authorities, branding them as propaganda “psy-war.”

                          Two of the eight alleged supporters of the sultan who were charged by Malaysian authorities with terrorism and rebellion (one Kalbi and Madzalie) were earlier reported killed during the March 1 clashes in Lahad Datu, Idjirani said.

                          “This is an integral part of the psy-war tactics of the Malaysians. Because they don’t want to bare the truth, they are using the names of dead people to support their lies,” Idjirani said over the phone.

                          Idjirani said they had also received information that the Malaysian government had sent additional troops, military tanks and helicopters to Lahad Datu to search for Agbimuddin and the remaining Sulu fighters.

                          As the Sabah crisis lingers, a descendant of the Sulu royal house, Rita Tuban of the state-run University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City, urged the Sulu royals to retry the diplomatic way of settling the Sabah claim.

                          Tuban, who is known among Tausugs as Princess Jamala-Rah II, urged the government to facilitate a meeting of all Sulu royals so peaceful solutions could be agreed upon.

                          At a forum organized by Universiti Malaya on Friday, Julkipli Wadi of the University of the Philippines was reported to have urged Malaysia and the Philippines to find ways to immediately resolve the Sabah issue as it could create a larger problem, especially if a third party steps in. With reports from Germelina Lacorte and Bobby Lagsa, Inquirer Mindanao, and Marlon Ramos in Manila

                          Read more: Sabah under control, claims Malaysia | Inquirer Global Nation
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                          Thought this was funny.
                          Clueless on Sabah, messed up on Jabidah, toothless on China - Manila Standard Today

                          Clueless on Sabah, messed up on Jabidah, toothless on China
                          By Francisco S. Tatad | Posted on Mar. 25, 2013 at 12:01am | 270 views

                          6

                          President B.S. Aquino III’s actions and utterances on Sabah have won for him not only much derision and ridicule at home and abroad but also renewed Chinese irritations against the Philippines in the Spratlys. The country does not deserve any of these.

                          Filipinos can only express their dismay that China has apparently decided to exploit the leadership vacuum shown by Aquino’s total mishandling of the Sabah crisis by pressing its aggressive stance in the Kalayaan Island Group, which the Philippines has incorporated within its territory.

                          Despite Aquino’s bellicose posture during the Philippine-China maritime standoff in Scarborough Shoal last year, he has done nothing to prevent or minimize the latest reported Chinese air and maritime incursions into what the Philippines claims to be its lawful domain.

                          All of Aquino’s efforts seem focused on campaigning for “Team Patay” in what promises to be a thoroughly debased process skewed in favor of his announced senatorial favorites, and on pressing his horrible official line against the followers of the Sultan of Sulu who had gone to Lahad Datu in Sabah on February 9 to press for a settlement of the Sultan’s (and Philippines’) territorial claim.

                          Not content with the Malaysian security forces killing as many as they could of the Sultan’s Filipino followers, charging those arrested with terrorism and other crimes, and rounding up thousands of Filipino residents, who had nothing at all to do with the Sultan’s undertaking, Aquino has directed his Secretary of Justice to study the possibility of charging those who have survived the Malaysian slaughter or escaped the dragnet with conspiracy and other crimes.

                          Still not content with that, he recently tried to promulgate as unadulterated official and historical truth the most sensational fisherman’s tale, hyped in the media of the late 60s but never confirmed or documented, about the so-called “Jabidah massacre” of unnamed and unnumbered Muslim “trainees”, purportedly recruited by the Marcos government in 1967-68, for the purpose of “invading” Sabah.

                          Without any evidence to back up his claim, or any rationale remotely allied to any recognizable national interest or purpose, B.S. Aquino went to Corregidor Island on the 18th of March to “commemorate”, at government expense, the “45th anniversary” of the alleged massacre, solely for propaganda purposes.

                          It was an extraordinary attempt to make former President Ferdinand Marcos, dead for nearly a quarter of a century, the convenient scapegoat for a problem which unnecessary official ignorance has compounded beyond all telling, and to further glorify the memory of Aquino’s late father, in whom Malacañang and the conscript media have already invested more heroic virtues than he himself ever sought to attain in his lifetime. The attempt was as audacious as it was baseless, and it all but blew up in B. S. Aquino’s face.

                          Aquino sought to promote as a historical fact the so-called 1968 “Jabidah massacre” on Corregidor Island on the basis of one rabble-rousing speech delivered by the late former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. on March 28, 1968. That speech repeated what Ninoy had heard about the alleged massacre, but ultimately cast serious doubt on the veracity of the entire tale.

                          Whoever wrote that Corregidor speech did an atrocious job in digesting the referenced Senate speech, as written and delivered, and in coming up with the exact opposite of what it says. Obviously our machine-made President never read his father’s speech himself. Otherwise, he would never have said the so-called Jabidah massacre really “happened” and that “it is our responsibility to recognize this event as part of our national narrative.”

                          Indeed, Ninoy’s speech—entitled “Jabidah! Special Forces of Evil?”—repeated allegations of a massacre by the purported lone survivor Jibin Arula, who quickly fell under the control of Marcos’s sworn political enemies in Cavite, but it ultimately questioned the credibility of his narrative.

                          After entertaining his audience with salacious details about how Marcos’ so-called “Operation Merdeka” was conceived, and how the recruits were shipped off to Corregidor from Sulu and finally massacred there after they threatened to walk out in protest against the delayed payment of their meager allowances, Ninoy Aquino finally said:

                          “In Jolo yesterday, I met the first batch of 24 recruits aboard RP-68. This group was earlier reported missing—or even worse, believed ‘massacred’.

                          “William Patarasa, 16 years old, one of the leaders of the petitioners, in effect corroborated all the points raised by Jibin Arula. But he denied knowledge of any massacre.

                          “Like Jibin Arula, up to yesterday he claimed he had no knowledge of what had happened to their four leaders called by Major (Eduardo) Martelino last March 3. He confirmed, though, some suspicion among the petitioners that the four had been ‘liquidated’ by Major Martelino’s boys.

                          “One of the leaders has since presented himself to army authorities.

                          “This morning, The Manila Times, in its banner headline, quoted me as saying that I believed there was no mass massacre on Corregidor Island.

                          “And I submit it was not a hasty conclusion, but one borne out by careful deductions. What brought me to this conclusion:

                          “1) Massacre means, to my mind, the wanton killing of men—maybe premeditated, but definitely committed according to a previous plan. I submit that there was no plan to kill the Muslim recruits.

                          “2) What would have been the motive for the ‘massacre’? Some quarters have advanced the theory that the trainees were liquidated to silence them. But then, 24 boys have already shown up in Jolo safe and healthy. To release 24 men who can spill the beans and liquidate the remaining 24 ‘to seal’ their lips would defy logic.

                          “3) Jibin Arula has been telling the truth all along. However, his fears, which in his place may be considered valid, may not be supported by the recent turn of events. Twenty-four recruits have turned up.

                          “I went to Sulu with a sworn statement of Jibin Arula. I checked out everything Jibin Arula had told me—the description of the camp, the names of the boys—and everything that Jibin Arula had told me checked out.

                          “It must be emphasized here that Jibin Arula never said that the four were murdered. All he said was that they were taken by Major Martelino and never returned.”

                          In the 45 years that have elapsed since the alleged massacre reportedly took place, no grieving widows, fathers, orphans or siblings had surfaced to protest their kin’s brutal murder, or to claim financial indemnity for any of the victims, in the same manner that the “human rights victims” in the communist insurgency against Marcos had claimed, and been awarded, “damages” by an external American court.

                          And against B.S. Aquino’s claim that it was the alleged “Jabidah massacre” that triggered the Moro National Liberation Front’s secessionist rebellion in the South, there is no mention of that extravagant claim in any MNLF document or in the political discourse of its most responsible leaders.

                          Rereading Ninoy’s speech after 45 years, or reading it for the first time today, one necessarily has to wonder: If Ninoy Aquino doubted the veracity of the massacre story, why did he choose to repeat it in his privilege speech and spread it on the record of the Senate?

                          Was it simply to satisfy a natural craving for publicity? Or did he just want to blow the cover off a top-secret state project which he could not allow Marcos to pursue, even in the name of national security?

                          To Marcos, the most damaging and therefore unacceptable part of Ninoy’s “expose” was not his repetition of allegations which could not be independently confirmed, and which he himself doubted, but rather his disclosure of the alleged existence of “Operation Merdeka,” a secret state project to infiltrate Philippine government agents inside Sabah.

                          That disclosure was deemed irresponsible and dangerous, to say the least, and risked, among other things, possible armed confrontation with Malaysia.

                          In a democracy, the government has a right to undertake state security projects to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and other national interests. It has a right to count on every official or citizen, even when he or she is identified with the political opposition, to protect and safeguard the secrecy of such project.

                          A responsible official, on getting wind of any such project, would instantly recognize his duty to protect the national interest . Should he have any doubts or questions in his mind, he has a right and a duty to demand that the responsible officers concerned, including the President and Commander-in-Chief himself, tell him, in the strictest confidence, what the project is all about, if they did not want him to talk to the press instead.

                          This was what Aquino was expected to do, but did not. His first impulse was to deliver a privilege speech in the Senate, and in the process inform the Malaysian and British authorities, the other parties in interest, of what he suspected Marcos was up to. He faulted Marcos for keeping the reported project “secret,” and its objectives “known only to himself and a handful of his confidants.”

                          There is reason to believe there was a national state security project called “Operation Merdeka.” But it is so silly to suggest that its objective was to “invade” Sabah. No country uses a handful of amateurs to invade another country, unless it was to film a wacky movie about an invasion that failed. It is more reasonable to assume the objective was to infiltrate propaganda agents into Sabah.

                          Given the Philippines’ legal claim to Sabah, lodged in 1963 after the Sultan of Sulu ceded his sovereignty over the territory to the Philippine government, such a project would be fully in keeping with the national interest. Marcos did not have to announce it in a press release, and no opposition leader had any duty to expose it to the media, or any foreign government.

                          The unasked—and unanswered—question, therefore is, was Aquino acting as a patriot when he exposed the project’s purported existence? Or was he acting solely in his own interest, regardless of its potential injury to his own country’s interests and the consequential benefits to Britain and Malaysia?

                          In the only interview I ever had with Marcos in Makiki, Hawaii, in July of 1987—seven years after I left the Cabinet, and a couple of months after Cory Aquino’s senatorial slate ran away with 22 of the 24 senatorial seats in the elections that year—the exiled fallen leader was completely dismissive of Aquino.

                          Curious why he had not been more lenient and accommodating to Aquino during martial law, I reminded him that in their June 21, 1977 conversation in Malacañang, which I witnessed, Ninoy had asked to be made special envoy to the MNLF and the Islamic countries in the Middle East. Marcos’ reply to me sharp: “Ninoy was never a political rival. He was an enemy of the State.”

                          Now, in his inept summarization of his father’s speech, B.S. Aquino says Marcos had ordered the recruitment of Muslim trainees to “sow chaos and destabilization” in Sabah, so that “in the midst of the chaos, the Marcos regime would then find a way to claim Sabah for the Philippines.”

                          After all the blood that has been spilled in Lahad Datu and Samporna, it is absolutely cruel to see so much ignorance spouting out of so high a source. The Philippine government, for Mr. B. S. Aquino’s information, lodged its Sabah claim not in 1968, but in 1963, first with Britain, with whom we held one round of diplomatic talks in London, and then with Malaysia, after it incorporated Sabah as one of its 13 states.

                          How can we expect any intelligent word from government on this issue when the President himself does not have the slightest notion what it is all about? How in Heaven’s name did we ever get to have such a president who is clueless on Sabah, messed up on Jabidah, and toothless on China?



                          [email protected]


                          Last edited by troung; 24 Mar 13,, 22:26.
                          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            A prince among men
                            Sulu sultan disowns 8 accused in Malaysia
                            But Sabah law group says they’re Filipinos
                            12:01 am | Saturday, March 23rd, 2013
                            19 261 163

                            Are the eight men charged in Malaysia for the intrusion by followers of the sultan of Sulu into Sabah Filipinos or Malaysians?

                            After condemning on Thursday the filing of charges against the eight as “terroristic,” the Sulu sultanate on Friday disowned the suspects, saying they were not Filipinos but Malaysians.

                            Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the sultanate, said the sultanate learned about the “fall guys” from a source in Sabah.

                            At least one of the eight arraigned at the Tawau High Court on Thursday admitted during the proceedings that he was paid to join the group from Sulu.

                            The Star newspaper of Malaysia identified the suspect as Holland (spelled “Holan” by Idjirani) Kalbi.

                            Speaking in court through a Badjao interpreter, Kalbi said he was asked by “someone” to join the group, but did not identify who it was. He also did not say how much he was paid to go with Agbimuddin’s group.

                            “I was just being foolish,” The Star quoted Kalbi as saying in court.

                            But Gani said Kalbi’s statement should not be recorded.

                            The judge reminded Kalbi not to say anything until he has a lawyer.

                            The SLA is providing legal representation to the eight accused.

                            Idjirani said Kalbi was one of Jamalul’s followers who were killed in the March 1 “massacre” in Tanduo village in Lahad Datu town.

                            Idjirani was referring to the police assault on Agbimuddin’s group in which 18, not 10, of Jamalul’s followers were killed.

                            Idjirani apologized for the earlier body count, which proved to be wrong, he said, because full information was not available at the time.

                            ‘They are Filipinos’

                            But Syarulnizam Salleh, chair of the human rights subcommittee of the Sabah Lawyers Association (SLA), told the Inquirer by phone on Friday that the eight men charged with launching terroristic acts and waging war against Malaysian King Abdul Halim were Filipinos.

                            Salleh said he learned about the nationality of the eight men during his meeting with Malaysian Attorney General Gani Patail on Thursday night.

                            The SLA, however, said in a posting on its website that Malaysian authorities had arrested not only Filipinos but also Malaysians in the security operations to end the intrusion by followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

                            The Malaysian authorities have arrested 108 people suspected of links to the Sulu group led by Jamalul’s brother, Agbimuddin Kiram.

                            But they’re dead

                            Idjirani reiterated that Kalbi was one of the 18 “martyrs” of Tanduo.

                            “Now he is one of the eight accused. So what’s this?” Idjirani asked.

                            Another alleged follower of the Sulu sultanate charged on Wednesday and arraigned on Thursday was identified as Lin Mad Salleh.

                            But Idjirani said “Ling Mad Salli” (his own spelling) was also one of the 18 Tanduo “martyrs.”

                            “Have the Malaysians resurrected the two RSF men?” Idjirani asked, using the shorthand for the “Royal Security Forces” of the Sulu sultanate.

                            “Our basis for saying that they are not Filipinos is that our source from Sabah called us to say they are Malaysians. They are not Filipinos,” Idjirani said.

                            “To confirm this, they (Malaysian authorities) should divulge where they were caught. If they were caught outside Lahad Datu, they were [Malaysian] civilians,” he said.

                            “They were set up to make Filipinos afraid, because Malaysian security forces have become abusive because of their internal security act,” he added.

                            The accused

                            The eight alleged followers of Sultan Jamalul faced Judge P. Ravinthran of the Tawau High Court on Thursday to be arraigned of the charges brought by the Malaysian authorities against them the day before.

                            Kalbi, Salleh, Habil Suhaili and Timhar Hadir are accused of launching acts of terrorism in Sabah. They face life imprisonment on conviction.

                            Atik Hussein Abu Bakar and Basad H. Manuel are also accused of terrorism as well as waging war against the Malaysian king. If convicted, they will be sentenced to death.

                            Kadir Uyung and Lating Tiong are accused of harboring a terrorist group, and face life imprisonment. They were arrested on that charge in Tanjung Labian on March 4, a day before the Malaysian military launched air and ground operations to crush Agbimuddin’s group.

                            No plea was entered for the eight accused following an application by Attorney General Gani, who led the team of prosecutors.

                            The charges are nonbailable.

                            Gani told the court that though only two of the accused faced charges that carried the death penalty, the prosecution would see to it that all eight would have legal representation in the interest of human rights.

                            He said he had discussed legal representation for the accused with the SLA and the Bar Council of Malaysia.

                            Salleh of the SLA confirmed earlier information received by the Inquirer that some of the accused were placed in straitjackets.

                            Straitjackets for security

                            Gani applied to the court for the procedure and Justice Ravinthran granted his application “for security reasons,” according to a copy of the court proceedings obtained by the Inquirer.

                            Ravinthran subsequently ordered the trial of the eight accused to start on April 12.

                            Gani said some of the accused would be jointly tried while individual hearings would be held for others, as they were arrested at different places or time.

                            Of the eight accused, one is under 19 years old. Some are Badjao and others are Orang Suluk or Tausug.

                            In a statement issued Friday, the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said it welcomed Gani’s assurance that the eight Filipinos would be given legal assistance.

                            The embassy and Salleh of the SLA said they were coordinating with each other for legal representation for the accused.

                            Mopping up operations

                            Mopping up operations continued in Lahad Datu Friday to clear the villages of Agbimuddin’s men.

                            Malaysian authorities said 68 members of Agbimuddin’s group had been killed in fighting since March 1.

                            But Idjirani said that by the sultanate’s reckoning, only 26 of the 235 members of Agbimuddin’s group had been killed. Four were wounded and 10 were arrested, he said.

                            Idjirani identified the 10 he earlier reported as killed in Tanduo as Kalbi, Salli, Ibrahim Suhudah, Junaidi Harain, Adulkader Jumaadil, Hawadi Jumaadil, Tar Undang, Sangkahan Ajan, and Datu and Mrs. Maharajah Sabandal.

                            He did not identify the eight others whose deaths in the police assault the sultanate learned about only later.

                            Other losses

                            In addition to the 18 killed in Tanduo on March 1, Idjirani said four were killed during the air and artillery attacks on March 5, and two others were killed later because they shielded Agbimuddin from soldiers’ fire.

                            Idjirani said 36 other sultanate followers were detained at the Philippine Naval Station in Tawi-Tawi after being intercepted at sea while trying to return to the Philippines and charged in a local court two weeks ago.

                            Of the group that sailed to Lahad Datu on Feb. 9, only Agbimuddin and 161 followers of the sultanate remain, Idjirani said.—With a report from The Star/Asia News Network

                            Read more: Sulu sultan disowns 8 accused in Malaysia | Inquirer Global Nation
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                            To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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                            • #29
                              Ah, there is nothing more entertaining than reading Manila's newspapers. Haven't been back since 2009 but for 19 years prior they were always worth a good laugh.

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                              • #30
                                Ah, there is nothing more entertaining than reading Manila's newspapers. Haven't been back since 2009 but for 19 years prior they were always worth a good laugh.
                                Weren't much better last time I was there (2012).

                                Knife to a gun fight.


                                Dead - terrorist who tried to hack

                                Published on: Friday, March 29, 2013

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                                Lahad Datu: The bodyguard to one of the Sulu militants who was killed in the encounter with Malaysian security personnel on March 2 was shot dead when he tried to slash a Malaysian personnel with a barong (Filipino machete).

                                The Malaysian was injured but not serious in the 8.40am incident in Kg Simunul, Semporna.

                                Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the security team was carrying out an integrated mopping up and search operation in the village when the man, in his 60s, suddenly tried to hack the security personnel.

                                "The security personnel managed to fire a shot at the assailant who turned out to be the bodyguard of a Sulu terrorist known as 'Imam Tua'," he told a press conference at the operation centre in Felda Sahabat 16, Friday.

                                "Imam Tua" was killed in the gun battle earlier which also claimed the lives of six Malaysian policemen, some of whose bodies were beheaded and mutilated by the terrorists.

                                Hamza said following a search on the house, the security team arrested two women, aged 45 and 30, who were the wife and daughter of the militant. Both of them did not have any valid travel documents and were currently detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

                                He said four men were also arrested during the operation. This brings the number of terrorists killed so far to 68 while 121 were arrested to facilitate investigations under Sosma and 443 others under other various Acts.

                                Hamza also said village chiefs and household heads in Kg Tanjung Batu would be allowed to join the assessment team and the National Security Council staff to assess the damage on their houses and village before they were allowed to return home on Saturday.

                                Only villagers with valid documents would be allowed to return home, while those without documents would be placed in a temporary settlement.
                                To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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