No bowing to Malaysia amid Sabah incident, Palace reassures public

Malacañang on Saturday reassured the public it will not bow to Malaysia in resolving the dispute over Sabah between a group of armed Filipinos and Malaysian forces, despite Friday’s shootout that left at least “10 to 12” Filipinos dead. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office head Ramon Carandang said the Benigno Aquino III administration will do what is needed to peacefully promote Philippine interests in Sabah. “Hindi pwedeng sabihin na takot tayo sa kanila. Ginagawa natin, sa tingin natin, ang nakakatulong sa interest ng ating bansa," he said on government-run dzRB radio. Malaysian forces are going “all out” against the followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in the wake of Friday’s incident that also left at least two Malaysian policemen dead. But Carandang said the Philippine government continues to exhaust all means to resolve the problem peacefully. On the other hand, Carandang said the Philippines values Malaysia’s friendship because Malaysia had played a major role in the government’s peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Malaysia had helped broker a framework deal with the MILF that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with the Bangsamoro political entity. “Totoong nakatulong sila sa peace negotiations at binigyang-halaga natin ang relations natin sa Malaysia," he said. Early in February, a group of followers of the Sulu Sultan, some of them armed, entered Sabah to assert their claim over the land and engaged Malaysian authorities in a standoff that resulted in Friday's bloody clash. — LBG, GMA News