Sulu sultan seeks CBCP help to resolve Sabah crisis

Roy Lagarde, CBCP News

MANILA, Philippines - Outraged over the government’s handling of the ongoing Sabah standoff, the Sultanate of Sulu on Monday asked the support of Catholic bishops to resolve the crisis.

Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III met with Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), wherein he raised their concerns over the territorial dispute and the alleged human rights abuses committed by the Malaysian government against Filipinos in Sabah. 

The meeting, which lasted for almost half an hour was arranged by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and the Gausbaug Coalition for Peace and Humanitarian Resolution of Sabah. 

Palma first met with Kiram and his party at his office in Intramuros, Manila before leaving for Rome Monday evening to attend the International Eucharistic Congress. 

The Sultan was accompanied by his daughter Princess Jaycel Kiram, the Sultanate’s spokesperson Abraham Idjirani, Pastor “Boy” Saycon and lawyer Dante Jimenez. 

In relation to the issue of rights abuses, the group said they will provide the CBCP with a video showing how the Malaysian authorities maltreated the Filipinos. 

“We have videos from some deportees from Sabah and we’ll hand this copy to the CBCP on Wednesday through Mr. Jimenez showing the abuses against Filipinos in Sabah before they were killed,” Princess Jaycel said. 

“We went here to personally thank the Bishop and also to show the Muslim-Christian solidarity in the Philippines … there are also Christians in Sabah,” she said. 

Palma assured Kiram that he will bring the matter of the Sabah crisis not just to the CBCP Permanent Council but even to the Vatican.   

“Of course they were hoping that I’m able to find a way as a bishop but I haven’t promised really much except that I will seek the advice of people who I believe can help in this situation,” Palma said. 

“At the moment, I have no particular person in mind. I believe there are agencies in Rome that can be of service in this regard,” he added. 

The CBCP leader said the situation in Sabah was not about religion anymore but about the search for peace and harmony. 

“Basically it’s like brothers going to brothers and say there is a bond between us and that’s the bond that unites people who search for peace,” said Palma. 

“As we say, there is a Christian and Muslim way of searching for peace especially of course in the situation of Sabah,” he added. 

Jimenez described the archbishop’s trip to the Vatican as “very timely”. 

“He is attending a very timely meeting where he promised to bring this matter to any council in Rome especially to the attention of the new pope (Francis),” he said. 

“In fact, I didn’t know that he is going to Rome. Jaycel here is saying it must have been divine providence intervening now and I agree with that,” Jimenez said.

Saycon, adviser of the Sulu Sultan, said: “We at least expect a global appeal for peace. The sultanate also wants peace. What it really wants to do is sit down and talk. So why is it so hard for these people to understand that dialogue is better than war.”

“From the very beginning, that is just our appeal that we only want dialogue with them. For both the Malaysian and Philippine government if they really want this issue to be resolved, prove it,” said Jaycel. 

On February 12, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram and a group of about 200 people, some of them reportedly armed, holed up at the Lahad Datu district in Sabah in a bid to reclaim what they said rightfully belonged to the Sultanate of Sulu. 

President Benigno Aquino III has condemned the actions of the Kiram group and has asked that they leave Sabah immediately. 

The government also warned that they will file charges against Kiram’s followers for illegal possession of firearms and inciting to war. 

Malaysian authorities have since conducted a series of attacks, resulting in several deaths among Kiram’s followers and have charged some of the 100 currently in police custody.