First of two parts

MAIMBUNG, Sulu: The 35th ruler of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo on Sunday accused Malaysia of having a hidden agenda in brokering peace between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The talks had led to the creation of the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, or BJE, a homeland for Muslims in Mindanao.

Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st said that at first glance, Malaysia should be commended for its peace initiatives in the four-decades old MILF insurgency. But under close scrutiny, he added, Malaysia does not measure up as an honest and impartial peace broker.

Kiram claimed Malaysia has a vested interest in hosting the peace talks in its capital, Kuala Lumpur —to maintain that country’s supposedly illegal occupation of Sabah or Northern Borneo, which is controlled by Malaysia but is also claimed by the Philippines. The sultan fears that in exchange for Malaysia’s initiatives, Manila could keep quiet about its claim to Sabah or drop it altogether.

Sabah, which is rich in oil and timber, is owned by the Sultanate of Sulu, as it has been since 1658, Kiram insisted. “That’s why we maintain even in our communications, both private and public, the heading of Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.”

In a statement, the Sultanate of Sulu accused Malaysia of financing the MILF insurgency.

But in a text message to The Manila Times, the MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said they have not made any agreement with Malaysia regarding the dropping of the Sabah claim by the Philippines in exchange for Malaysia hosting the peace talks in Kuala Lumpur.

“There is no such agreement. Sabah has never been an agenda for [the] talks,” Iqbal added.

Regarding the charge that Malaysia is financing the MILF insurgency, Iqbal said Kuala Lumpur is spending a huge amount of money but only for the peace process.

In a related development, the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, a civil society group based in Cotabato City, also publicly acknowledges the important role of Malaysia in the MILF insurgency.

Professor Abhoud Syed Lingga, institute executive director, said that while many have criticized Malaysia as partial to the MILF in heading the International Monitoring Team, that country is playing an important role in realizing peace that has eluded Mindanao.

Lingga said that when Malaysia withdrew 28 of its peacekeepers from the 65-man monitoring team, the number of clashes between the MILF and military went up.


Not consulted

Kiram said no one could deny the fact that the Sultanate of Sulu is one of the stakeholders in Mindanao, but it was never invited nor consulted regarding the formation of the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. He said the “ancestral-domain” under the guise of the entity is ill-conceived and ignores the true owners of the lands and territories being claimed by the MILF as its ancestral domain.

The sultan argued that “ancestral domain” suggests that the land in question is owned by the ancestors of the claimant. But the MILF cannot present proof of traditional or historical ownership by their ancestors of the land and territories for inclusion under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. “We refer to the provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Palawan, and the Zamboanga Peninsula consisting of Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay . . . [as] the ancestral domain of the Sultanate of Sulu,” Kiram said.

Kiram said he respects the opinion of his Muslim brothers in the MILF for defending Malaysia’s motives for helping bring about peace. Despite the denial of the MILF, he insisted Malaysia would not give so much financial help without wanting something in return.


Sultanate for peace process

Despite a likely agenda, the Sultan of Sulu said he fully supports the peace talks and hopes peace would finally come to Mindanao. He said he wishes for the conflict to end so the region can move toward economic development, which is likely when Muslims or Christians learn to live in harmony.

Kiram also declared his support for the full implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement signed by the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under then- Chairman Nur Misuari and with the concurrence of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

As a matter of fact, an alliance between the Sultanate of Sulu and MNLF was sealed in Davao City recently that also coincided with the 40th founding anniversary of the MNLF.

As the sole representative of Filipino Muslims in the Organization of Islamic Conference, the MNLF declared its full recognition and support to the Sultanate of Sulu’s dominion over North Borneo, or Sabah, citing the territorial baseline of the Sultanate that dates back to 1658.

According to the MNLF statement, “It is our stated policy that the illegal Malaysian occupation of Sabah must end, and, therefore, Sabah must be returned to the Sultanate of Sulu.”

(To be continued)

Editor’s note: The previous part reported about the claim to Sabah by the Sultanate of Sulu, and how the reigning sultan there was suspicious about Malaysia’s initiatives to host peace talks between the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But MILF leaders deny that Sabah is not on the peace talks agenda.


Last of two parts

MAIMBUNG, Sulu: The 54-year-old Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st said that as the crowned ruler, he would also extend his hand of peace and unity with all nine declared heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, the Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo from 1893 to 1936.

Kiram said the nine heirs must unite, if they are to succeed in pursuing their Sabah claim. The nine were declared by the High Court of North Borneo on December 19, 1939 as the private heirs entitled to receive what the court termed as “cession­ money.”

The heirs argue that it should be called “rental money” instead.

The nine are Dayang-Dayang Hadji Piandao, Putli Tarhata Kiram, Putlih Sakinur Kiram, Datu Esmail Kiram, Datu Punjungan Kiram, Sitti Mariam Kiram, Sitti Rada Kiram, Sitti Putli Jahara Kiram and Mora Napsa.

Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st, whom many of his Tausug followers and supporters called as the most amiable reigning monarch in the history of his sultanate, vowed to restore the grandeur of one of the surviving sultanates of Mindanao. He said he plans to build a modest astanah or royal palace right in the historical seat of the sultanate Dar’ul Jambangan (which means “place of garden”), in this coastal town of Maimbung, Sulu.


Claim to Sabah

Sultan Kiram argues that before Malaysia’s current occupation of Northern Borneo, or Sabah, that country never owned that disputed territory. Malaysia and the Philippines claim the area, but Malaysia has controlled Northern Borneo since gaining independence from Great Britain.

In the past, Malaysia refused to recognize the Sulu sultan, who was then derided as a pirate.

On September 11, 1962, then President Diosdado Macapagal accepted in behalf of the Republic of the Philippines the cession or transfer of sovereignty over the territory of North Borneo from Sultan Muhammad Esmail Kiram 1st, the reigning sultan of Sulu at the time and also the father of Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st.

As a consequence of that transfer, the legislature in Manila attempted to pass a bill that would have included Sabah within Philippine territory.

But on September 5, 1968, then-Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman warned then-Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos regarding the Sabah bill. The premier said Malaysia would have to “take action” if Marcos signs the bill into law.

Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st believes it is now time to return Sabah to Sulu. He noted that Malaysia celebrated its 51st independence or Merdeka on August 31, saying that he hopes the sultan would once again rule Sabah, or at least have it returned to the Philippines, to which the province of Sulu also belongs.

But political observers say that aspiration remains, well, as a dream.

The Sabah issue could only be resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, according to legal experts. International law requires Malaysia to voluntarily submit to the jurisdiction of the international court in order for the World Court to acquire jurisdiction over the issue.

But Malaysia has not—and likely would not—submit itself to the international Court of Justice over the Sabah issue. After all, it already rules the territory.

With such claim against the Philippines, Sultan Kiram argues that Malaysia cannot be a treated as an impartial peacemaker in the MILF issue—at least a party that should be so readily trusted.


Lessor-tenant issue

Sabah and Palawan were gifts given to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658. The gifts were for the help given by the Sultan of Sulu in quelling a massive rebellion in Borneo. The sultan then had sent Tausug warriors led by Panglima Illiji, said to be the great grandfather of Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Then on January 22, 1878, Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram—the great grandfather of Sultan Fuad Kiram 1st—leased Sabah to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck of Hong Kong and to Alfred Dent, Esquire, of London. They represented a British Company, which paid an annual rent of P77,442.36 or $1,500 to the sultanate.

The lease agreement specifically prohibits the transfer of Sabah to any nation, company or individual without consent of the Sultanate of Sulu. But that was ignored when Sabah was unilaterally transferred by Great Britain to Malaysia in 1963 after the formation of Federation of Malaysia.

Great Britain’s move violated the deed of Sabah Lease of 1878, as the Sultanate of Sulu did not give its consent to the transfer of Sabah, Sultan Fuad Kiram I explained.

Kiram is acknowledged by many of his Tausug followers as the reigning sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, based on the law of succession in the Royal House of Sulu and Sabah. And the sultanate believes the rent paid to the heirs of Kiram’s great grandfather by Malaysia is not commensurate to the vast economic value of the 73,711 square kilometers area covered by Sabah.

Sabah contributes about $100 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Malaysia, Kiram said. GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country within a year.

Just looking at fair commercial rental property transactions, Kiram estimated that his sultanate should receive rent payment that is at least 10 percent to 12 percent of Sabah’s GDP output. That comes out to between $10 billion and $12 billion per year, he said.

Instead, Kiram added, the Sulu Sultanate receives only a paltry amount.

If Malaysia wants to make its stay in Sabah legal, then the Kuala Lumpur government should pay a fair price for rent, he said.

But if the rental payment is not acceptable, Kiram proposed a “joint administration” of Sabah by the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo and Malaysia.

The sultan said that similar to the administration or “Condominium of France and Great Britain in Vanuatu” that existed before Vanuatu’s independence, all the income in Sabah should be split 50-50.