Kiram kin: Sabah standoff 'not part of the game plan'

The cousin-in-law of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III said they were not told that Jamalul's followers would troop to Sabah to claim their rights over the land — a move that eventually resulted in a standoff with Malaysian security forces.

Princess Merriam Kiram, widow of Jamalul's cousin Mahakuttah Kiram, said Jamalul's followers told her they were staying at the coastal Sabah town of Lahad Datu because they were “more relaxed and more at peace” there than they were in Sulu.

Jamalul is claiming ownership of Sabah, although according to Islam laws, the rightful king should be the Sultan's son. Jamalul is only a cousin of the late Mahakuttah Kiram.

Merriam after one of their meetings, some of Jamalul's supporters “went to visit their relatives [in Lahad Datu] to make plans for their future to live a better and more peaceful life.” 

She said the standoff, which erupted in violence over the weekend and claimed at least two dozens lives, was not “part of the game plan.”

“I am totally at loss on how this Lahad Datu escapades began,” Merriam said, noting that Lahad Datu was not part of the lease agreement between the Sulu sultanate and the Malaysian government.

Merriam said they did not support the armed struggle of Jamalul, noting they were negotiating with the Malaysian government to merely increase the rent for the disputed land.

Merriam is volunteering to be an “emissary” in the negotiation for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“As the president of the United World Foundation and Royal House of Sulu Kiram Foundation, I am offering my services to be an emissary in the negotiation with all parties concerned...” she said.

“I am confident that after I sat with them to clarify their concerns, they will all be willing to come to the negotiation table to settle all matters for the good of all concerned. A win-win solution can definitely be arrived at,” she added.

Meanwhile, Jamalul's daughter, Princess Jacel Kiram, belied the government's claims that some of their Sultanate's followers surrendered to the Malaysian government after Friday's standoff.

Princess Jacel said government should be careful in using the word “sumuko (surrender).”

“Dapat maging maingat ang mga spokesperson ni PNoy (President Benigno Aquino III) sa paggamit ng salitang 'sumuko'... (H)indi rin sila susuko dahil battle hardened and mga tauhan ng Sultanate,” Jacel said as tweeted by GMA News reporter Jiggy Manicad.

Kiram added that for the Tausugs, “ang pagsuko ay kawalan nila ng dangal.”

“Makakatulong ang semantics para sa writers ng Pangulo,” she added.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Raul Hernandez earlier said 10 followers of the Kiram sultanate surrendered to Malaysian authorities on Friday. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/KBK, GMA News