SENATORIAL candidate Teddy Casiño condemned the military attack by Malaysia on the group led by the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate.
Casiño said the action was an utter breach of diplomacy and an affront to the Filipino people and the civilized world.
“Malaysia is practically in control of Sabah. They did not need to resort to military operations. In fact, there is still time and opportunity to exhaust all options to peacefully solve the problem. It is an attack against a civilized world that now settles conflict among nations through peaceful means. They should be held accountable for the deaths of our Filipino Muslim brothers,” he said.
Casiño also criticized Aquino for mishandling the Sabah problem. “His hardline policy of no-talk unless they pull out, in addition to prosecution, practically pushed Kiram’s group against the wall. Paano sila uuwi eh kakasuhan din sila? This position definitely did not solve the issue but worsened it. It may even have emboldened Malaysia to attack them because their own President appears hostile against the Filipino Muslims’ attempt to stake their claim to Sabah,” he said
Earlier today, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the group’s leader and brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, told media that they were being shot at by Malaysian security forces.
Amid conflicting reports on the number of casualties, Casiño said President Benigno Aquino III is also accountable for the tragic incident. He added that a cabinet official’s comment ‘matigas kasi ang ulo,’ referring to Kiram’s group after the attack, was a reflection of the administration’s arrogant and dismissive stand on the issue.
“What kind of President orders a group with a strong historical and legal claim to just leave Sabah without any promise of dialogue? We find it perplexing that Aquino is refusing to dialogue with our Muslim countrymen about the Sabah claim” he said.
Casiño reiterated his earlier call for the Philippine government to revive the claim on Sabah, elevate it to the United Nations, and pursue diplomatic talks with Malaysia for a just, comprehensive and peaceful solution.
“The government cannot just dismiss the Sabah claim and order all Filipino Muslims in Sabah to ‘come home.’ Many historical accounts reveal that the Sultanate of Sulu predates all existing governments. The Philippine government must follow through on its official claim to the territory not only for the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, but for Filipino people and nation. It must defend our Filipino Muslim brothers and sisters on the island that they consider their ancestral domain,” Casiño said.