Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has sent a note verbale to the Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines seeking permission for the Philippine contingent that will extend humanitarian and consular aid to Filipinos in Sabah.
“We have been asking for full access to those who are in custody and we were asking for the go-signal to be able to treat the wounded, to provide consular assistance,” she said over government radio. “As of today, the ship remains at the border ready to be deployed as soon as we have the signal to do so,” she added.
She said the government’s main concern is the safety of the 800,000 Filipinos living in Sabah who may be affected by the gunfight in the area.
Amid the rising death toll, President Benigno S. Aquino III earlier called on the Filipino gunmen pressing claim over Sabah to surrender to avoid bloodshed. Aquino expressed concern about the welfare of other Filipinos whose lives are put at risk by the action of the Sulu sultan’s followers in Sabah.
Valte said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has opened a “humanitarian corridor” in Sulu to assist families of the slain Filipino gunmen. The social workers will provide counselling and other assistance to families of those who perished in the gunbattle in Sabah, according to Valte.
Malacañang once again appealed to the loyalists of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III holding fort in Sabah to reconsider their defiance and surrender immediately “to preserve life.”
Valte assured that the territorial claim on Sabah, which the Sultanate of Sulu has been fighting for, is now under study by the Philippine government.
“Surrender is the best way at this point to preserve lives of the people who are there,” Valte said in Pilipino over government radio.
“I don’t think anybody would really say that somebody needs to die for this. There is no need for more people to die. We have other ways on how to discuss and pursue their proprietary claim,” she added.
Valte said no one has the right to endanger the lives of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah and the Republic just because of a proprietary claim by the Sultanate of Sulu.
The fate of the Filipino gunmen in Sabah, on the other hand, is now in the hands of the Malaysian authority, according to Valte.
“That is up to the Malaysian authorities. It is not a secret that they have control of the situation there at present,” she said when asked if the Filipinos who surrender will be arrested or given safe passage back to the Philippines.
The Malaysian government earlier warned it would take drastic action against the Filipino gunmen if they don’t surrender. At least 12 Filipinos were reportedly killed in the violent encounter with the Malaysian troops seeking to end the standoff that started early last month in Sabah.
President Aquino has called on Kiram’s supporters to surrender without conditions to avoid violence but the Sulu sultan has rejected this request.
Valte said the invasion of the sultan’s followers in Sabah was the “wrong method” to pursue their ancestral land since it was putting the lives of other Filipinos at risk.
She also compared the incident in Sabah to a home invasion where intruders demand to be heard. It is difficult to talk with intruders especially if they are armed, she added.
Allaying concerns the government has abandoned its claim over Sabah, Valte said the President has already ordered a study into the historical and legal context of the decades-old claim to the land.
Malacanang, meantime, could still not confirm if the President has already contacted Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak about the situation in Sabah.
When asked if the President has appealed to Malaysia not to kill the Filipinos in the disputed territory, Valte said the Philippine government has been “continuously coordinating” with the Malaysian authorities and the Kiram family to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict in Sabah.
She said the President continues to monitor the situation in Sabah and remains in contact with concerned government officials.
Meanwhile, senators yesterday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to intensify dialogues and diplomacy with Malaysia as it pursues an immediate resolution to the crisis that erupted in Sabah.
Sen. Loren Legarda said the DFA should ensure that collateral damage among Filipinos in Sabah is minimized following the reported clashes between the Malaysian police and supporters of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Sabah.
Sen. Francis Escudero said the country’s interest should be detached from the private claim of the Sulu Sultanate since involving the whole nation in it may affect the Philippines’ good relations with Malaysia.
“My personal view is that the Sabah claim is a personal issue involving the Sultan of Sulu,” Escudero said.
“It’s a private right and a private claim. He cannot say, however, that Sabah is part of the Philippines,” he pointed out. (With a report fro Hannah L. Torregoza)
By: Genalyn D. Kabiling, Manila Bulletin
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Waris Sultan Sulu telah menerima ‘cession money‘ sehingga ke hari ini. Ini bermakna waris Sultan Sulu mengakui bahawa Sabah telah diserah (ceded), dan bukannya dipajak (leased), kepada British North Borneo Company.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Kerajaan Filipina telah berhenti mengiktiraf Sultan Sulu sejak kemangkatan Sultan Mohd. Mahakuttah A. Kiram pada tahun 1986.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Geran pajakan yang dijadikan sumber konflik telah ditandatangani oleh Sultan Sulu, Sultan Jamalul A’lam dengan Gustavus Baron de Overbeck serta Alfred Dent, yang mewakili British North Borneo Company, pada 22 Januari 1878.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Sepanyol, yang menguasai wilayah-wilayah Kesultanan Sulu ketika itu, telah menandatangani perjanjian dengan Jerman dan Great Britain pada 7 Mac 1885 untuk melepaskan segala tuntutan terhadap kedaulatan Sabah.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Kesultanan Sulu dianggap telah tamat sebaik sahaja Sultan Jamalul Kiram II menandatangani Perjanjian Carpenter pada 22 Mac 1915, yang menyerahkan segala kuasa politik beliau kepada Amerika Syarikat.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Malaysia telah mengambil tanggungjawab untuk membangunkan prasarana bagi kemudahan para penduduk Sabah sejak 1963 tanpa bantahan Kesultanan Sulu mahupun kerajaan Filipina. Ini membuktikan pemilikan dan pentadbiran yang aman secara berterusan oleh kerajaan Malaysia ke atas Sabah.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Mengikut dasar effectivites yang diambil kira oleh Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa (ICJ – International Court of Justice), Malaysia boleh dianugerahkan hak ke atas Sabah, sepertimana yang pernah diberikan kepada kerajaan Malaysia dalam kes Ligitan-Sipadan.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Laporan Suruhanjaya Cobbold yang dikeluarkan pada 1 Ogos 1962 mendapati bahawa 1/3 penduduk Sabah dan Sarawak menyokong kuat pembentukan Malaysia, 1/3 lagi menyokong projek Malaysia dengan syarat hak mereka dilindungi, manakala kumpulan 1/3 yang terakhir terbahagi antara mereka yang mahukan kemerdekaan dan mereka yang mahukan pentadbiran British diteruskan.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Sepanyol, yang menguasai wilayah-wilayah Kesultanan Sulu ketika itu, telah menandatangani perjanjian dengan Jerman dan Great Britain pada 7 Mac 1885 untuk melepaskan segala tuntutan terhadap kedaulatan Sabah.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Kerajaan Sepanyol melepaskan kepada Kerajaan British, semua tuntutan kedaulatan ke atas wilayah-wilayah benua Borneo yang dimiliki, atau yang telah dimiliki pada masa lampau, oleh Sultan Sulu (Jolo), termasuk pulau-pulau Balambangan, Banguey dan Malawali yang berhampiran, dan semua pulau-pulau yang berada di dalam zon tiga liga marin di sepanjang pesisir pantai dan membentuk sebahagian wilayah yang ditadbir oleh Syarikat yang digelar ‘British North Borneo Company‘.
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Setiausaha Agung PBB, U Thant, telah melaporkan pada 1963 bahawa penduduk Sabah “ingin menamatkan status kebergantungan mereka dan merealisasikan kemerdekaan mereka melalui penyekutuan yang dipilih secara bebas dengan bangsa lain dalam rantau mereka” (“wish to bring their dependent status to an end and to realize their independence through freely chosen association with other peoples in their region”).
ANTARA SEBAB-SEBAB KENAPA SABAH BUKAN MILIK SULU
ReplyDelete* Jika Kesultanan Sulu mendakwa bahawa Sabah adalah milik mereka, maka adalah konsisten bagi Kesultanan Sulu untuk tidak sahaja membuat tuntutan terhadap Sabah semata-mata, malah juga menuntut dan menguasai pusat pentadbiran mereka sendiri di Jolo, selain wilayah Palawan, Semenanjung Zamboanga, Basilan dan Tawi-Tawi di Filipina yang juga mereka dakwa merupakan milik mereka.
Walau bagaimanapun, Kesultanan Sulu tidak memiliki apa-apa kuasa politik terhadap wilayah-wilayah yang terletak di Filipina ini.
Sabah bukan lagi milik sulu, Sulu kena terima hakikat ini
ReplyDelete