More Pinoy fighters want to join Sabah conflict — Kiram's daughter

The daughter of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Tuesday said several Mindanaoans have expressed their willingness to fight alongside her father’s followers who are engaged in sporadic clashes with Malaysian security forces in Sabah. However, Princess Jacel Kiram said despite this willingness, she and her family are doing all they can to discourage the group from pushing through with their plans, noting that they do not want the conflict to escalate further. "Ang dami ngang gusto [na pumunta sa Sabah]. Ang dami talagang gusto. 'Yung isang cousin ko nga pinapunta na namin ng Sulu para lang pigilin 'yung mga tao. Nago-organize-organize na sila e hindi naman po natin talaga hangad na lumaki pa ang gulong ito," Jacel said at a briefing in Quezon City. "Kaya sa abot ng aming makakaya, we are trying to appease these people. We call for sobriety and for them to calm. We are trying our best na maresolba ito nang maayos," she added. According to Jacel, more than a hundred men have expressed their intentions to take part in the conflict, which has so far killed 62 of Kiram’s followers since the clashes began last March 1. "Marami. From Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Zamboanga. Alam mo kung sabihin lang natin na 'Sugod!' siguro sumugod na mga iyon. Pero syempre hindi ho natin ine-encourage 'yun,” Jacel said. A standoff between Malaysian forces and Kiram's followers led to violence as the Filipinos refused to stand down amid a Malaysian ultimatum to withdraw from Sabah without conditions. Kiram said he sent his followers to Sabah to reclaim their homeland as efforts to get it back from Malaysia has been relegated to the backburner by the Philippine government. Jacel had earlier clarified that she is only expressing her personal opinions during media appearances, and has stressed that Abraham Iridjani remains the Sulu sultanate's lone spokesperson. Jacel said as far as she knows, the unilateral ceasefire they declared on March 7 was still in place, although it was reported on Monday that they are studying the possibility of lifting it. She also denied that Raja Muda Azzimudie (Agbimuddin) Kiram, the Sulu sultan's brother, has returned to the Philippines. Human rights abuses Meanwhile, at the same forum, Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of progressive human rights group Karapatan, ran down a list of alleged human rights violations committed by Malaysian authorities on Filipinos in Sabah. She mentioned the detention of Filipinos who were suspected Kiram symphatizes as well as allegations of arbitrary arrests, summary executions, and profiling. She noted that these were just an addendum to what she said were decades of recorded human rights violations against Filipinos in Sabah. Palabay also mentioned that there were proposals among several organizations to conduct fact-finding missions in Sabah to find out the real ground situation there, as well as in the areas in the Philippines where the Filipino evacuees fled to. More than 1,000 Filipinos so far have fled Sabah to escape the clashes there. Malaysia has already denied that its forces committed human rights violations against the Filipinos, but the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it would still have to validate these claims. At that time, it was reported that the DFA has not received an official clarification from Malaysia on the alleged human rights abuses. It was also reported on Sunday that it could take nearly a month for Philippine representatives to visit more than a hundred Filipinos detained by Malaysian authorities for allegedly supporting Kiram and his followers. — KBK, GMA News