PHILIPPINE GOVT CHANGES TACT, ENGAGES KIRAMS IN DIALOGUE

Hopes for a peaceful resolution to the Sabah conflict which could draw the Philippines to a diplomatic row with Malaysia brightened yesterday after Malacanang suddenly engaged a member of the Sulu Sultanate in a dialogue.

A brief news item which appeared in the abs-cbn.com and the Philippine Daily Inquirer websites said that Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas met yesterday with Ismael Kiram, reportedly a brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, leader of the Sultanate of Sulu.

The meeting came a few days after the fiery rhetoric from Malacanang Palace directed at the Sultan and his alleged conspirators in the Sabah expedition noticeably mellowed and later died down.

It was a welcome development for Mindanao leaders, including myself, who believe that the unnecessary tough talk demanding that the Sultan and his men who are in Sabah must surrender, was contributing to the worsening of the situation.

I have recommended in my previous posts in this page that instead of ordering the Sultanate of Sulu’s Royal Army in Sabah to surrender and threatening them with arrest, it was best to engage the aging and sickly Sultan to a dialogue and to convince him to withdraw his troops from Sabah.

The threats of arrest worsened the situation as the Sultan of Sulu dug his heels in the sand and said his men would rather die than surrender.

While Malaysian forces have reported killing at least 59 of the Sultan’s Royal Army members who sailed to Sabah to dramatize their claim of ownership of the area given to the Sultanate of Sulu in the 1800s by the Sultan of Brunei, the engagement between the Kirams and the government could save the other members of the Tausog expeditionary force.

It could also help prevent the maltreatment of many Filipinos living in Sabah including Tausugs who have become Malaysian citizens after living in Sabah for many years.

It is also expected to prevent a diplomatic row between the two countries resulting from the reported maltreatment of Filipinos by Malaysian policemen.

(Photo of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III from AP photo file.)