19 Pinoys intercepted off Sabah – Malaysia news agency

 News
Dec 192013
 

At least 19 Filipinos are in Malaysian custody after they were intercepted while allegedly trying to enter Sabah late Wednesday, Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported Thursday.

The Bernama report quoted Eastern Sabah Security Command director-general (Esscom) Datuk Mohammad Mentek as saying the 19 included seven men, four women and eight children.

Mohammad Mentek said the 19 Filipinos arrived in a boat at 8:45 p.m. and tried to enter Sabah at the Felda Sahabat in Lahad Datu.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1002263

“The illegal immigrants were detained after (our forces received) information from the public,” the Bernama report quoted him as saying.

Lahad Datu had been the site of an armed confrontation between Malaysian forces and followers of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III last February and March.

Kiram died last October but sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said the sultan left instructions to his followers to continue efforts to reclaim Sabah.

Mohammad Mentek said an initial investigation showed the boat carrying the 19 Filipinos was heading to Sinakut in Labian, Felda Sahabat. — ELR, GMA News

Trial of 27 Filipinos in Sabah standoff to start January

 News
Nov 022013
 
Trial of 27 Filipinos in Sabah standoff to start January

By Julliane Love de JesusINQUIRER.net 5:31 pm | Saturday, November 2nd, 2013 In this March 14, 2013 photo released by Malaysia’s Ministry of Defense, Malaysian soldiers discuss strategies at Sungai Nyamuk where a stand-off with Filipino gunmen took place, near Tanduo village in Lahad Datu, Borneo’s Sabah state, Malaysia. File photo MANILA, Philippines—The Malaysian high court will start hearing in January the case of  27 Filipino armed followers of the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram III involved in a bloody clash with Malaysian forces in Sabah in February. In a Malaysian news agency report on Friday, the high court of Malaysia allotted 17 days starting January 6 until February next year to hear the case of the Filipinos and three Malaysian nationals for allegedly being involved with terrorist groups against Malaysia’s head of state Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Justice Stephen Chung set the trial on the following dates: January 6 to10, 15 to17, 27 to 30 and February 10 to14 in 2014. But starting next month, the prosecution and defense will have to file before the court the agreed facts and issues of the case. The report said the hearing, which will be in open court, will be held at the Sabah Prisons Department in Malaysia. The court could have attended to the case last September 17 in a supposed 11-day trial but the counsel sought more time to go through “voluminous documents and recordings as well as satellite imaging in relation to the case.” Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said Read More …

Sabah police: Kiram revenge letter a hoax

 News
Jul 272013
 
Sabah police: Kiram revenge letter a hoax

A letter that threatened a revenge attack by followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Sabah turned out to be a hoax after all, Sabah police claimed Saturday. Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib disclosed this, according to a report by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency posted on Malaysia’s The Star Online. The letter dated July 3 had warned of an attack by Kiram followers in Sabah this August, supposedly in retaliation of the deadly clashes in Sabah earlier this year. “Please don’t spread such rumors to scare the public,” Hamza said. He added Sabah residents should remain calm and stop speculating, and instead cooperate with the security forces to prevent such incidents. Earlier this year, Kiram’s followers engaged Malaysian forces in a standoff that lasted three weeks. The standoff ended in deadly clashes March 1 and 2. In turn, Malaysian forces mounted offensive operations to flush out Kiram’s followers from Lahad Datu. Earlier this month, a letter circulated supposedly signed by a “Militant Commando” who claimed to be acting on behalf of Kiram’s family. But the police did not take the rumors lightly – Hamza said they took steps to tighten security. Such steps included mobilizing 100 strike force personnel who can respond quickly to any contingency. On the other hand, he urged the community to keep alert for any suspicious activity, and to inform security forces accordingly. — LBG, GMA News

LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

 News
Apr 102013
 
LP candidates on way to rally lost at sea, end up in Sabah jail

By Nikko Dizon Philippine Daily Inquirer 3:53 am | Thursday, April 11th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Rough seas swept away a motorboat carrying a Liberal Party mayoral candidate, his running mate and 30 supporters from Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday and took it to, of all places, Lahad Datu in Sabah, site of five weeks of fighting between Malaysian security forces and followers of the sultan of Sulu. As a result, Rommel Matba, his vice mayoral running mate Amman Matba and 30 village leaders from Languyan town in Tawi-Tawi landed in a police station in Sandakan, where Malaysian police took them on suspicion they were reinforcements for the decimated forces of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. Jamalul’s press officer Abraham Idjirani confirmed on Wednesday that Matba and his group were politicians campaigning for local elections in Languyan and not members of the sultanate’s security forces. “I was told they were traveling to Mapun municipality, also in Tawi-Tawi, for [a Liberal Party] rally when they were lost at sea because of strong currents in Tambisan Bay,” Idjirani told the Inquirer by phone. Capt. Rene Yongque, commander of Naval Task Force 62, reported that rough seas swept the Liberal Party group’s motorboat across the border at Taganak Island in Tawi-Tawi where it was intercepted by Malaysian border police. Rescued? But Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao used a different term to describe the misadventure of Matba’s group. “They were rescued by Malaysian maritime personnel and were taken to Sabah,” Hataman said. “We Read More …

15 Pinoys, Malaysian cop to face court Friday for Sabah intrusion

 News
Apr 102013
 
15 Pinoys, Malaysian cop to face court Friday for Sabah intrusion

Fifteen Filipinos and a Malaysian police officer will face a high court on Friday over the standoff and fatal clashes in Sabah between followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and Malaysian security forces. The 16 had been tentatively charged before the magistrate’s court due to the Lahad Datu incident, Malaysia’s state-run Bernama news agency reported Wednesday evening. Of the 16 who will be brought before the Tawau High Court Friday, eight are facing a possible death penalty as they were slapped the additional charge of waging war on the King. The other Filipinos face charges of terrorism, harboring terrorists and recruiting people to join terrorist groups, the Bernama report said. The policeman is charged with concealing information on terrorist activities. Armed followers of Kiram led by Kiram’s brother Raja Muda entered Sabah last February and engaged Malaysian forces in a two-week standoff that resulted in deadly clashes March 1 and 2, which in turn prompted Malaysian forces to mount offensives against Kiram’s followers starting March 5. — BM, GMA News

Jamalul Kiram rules out disengagement from Sabah

 News
Mar 132013
 
Jamalul Kiram rules out disengagement from Sabah

By Marlon RamosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:14 pm | Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 Filipino Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of his armed followers leaving Sabah soon, saying he did not authorize his younger brother to negotiate with the government about the “disengagement” of the sultanate’s “royal army”  from the east Malaysian state the sultanate claims to own. Speaking to reporters at his residence in Taguig City, Kiram maintained that while he allowed his brother, Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, to meet with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, he did not give the green light to negotiate in behalf of the sultanate. “The truth is I don’t like him to talk to anybody. If possible, I told him to stay with me,” Kiram said. “There is no (negotiation on disengagement). I don’t like that. It’s like playing baseball. I’m already on the third base, why would I leave? Why would I go out?” “That (disengagement) will only happen after I talk with my brother in Sabah,” he said, referring to his younger brother, Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, who led a 234-strong contingent of the “royal sultanate forces” which occupied Tanduao village in Lahad Datu on February 9. Malaysian security forces have dispersed the group in operations, backed by aerial and artillery bombardment, that have claimed 57 Filipino and 9 Malaysian lives. Asked if he thought Esmail acted on his own when he claimed that the sultanate was open Read More …

Malaysian police believe Raja Muda alive, still in Lahad Datu

 News
Mar 132013
 
Malaysian police believe Raja Muda alive, still in Lahad Datu

Malaysian cops check papers of Sabah residents. Malaysian policemen check a woman’s documents during a security check in Lahad Datu on Monday, March 11. Malaysian police shot dead a teenager and injured a man on March 10 as they try to end a month-long incursion by Filipino gunmen in remote Sabah state that has seen 62 people killed. AFP/Mohd Rasfan Malaysian police believe Raja Muda Azzimudie (Agbimuddin) Kiram, brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, is still alive and in the Lahad Datu district in Sabah and likely could not get past the tight cordon there, a Malaysian news site reported Wednesday. Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib also said Agbimuddin is not likely to abandon his followers, who remain the subjects of Malaysian mopping-up operations, The New Straits Times reported. “That is why we have a high confidence that he is still here. Our security at sea is very tight and there is no way he could have escaped,” the NST quoted him as saying. Agbimuddin is leading the armed Kiram followers in Sabah. Malaysian forces continue to hold operations in Sabah to flush them out, after Kuala Lumpur rejected a ceasefire offer from the sultan. Teenage boy killed, considered a terrorist Meanwhile, Hamza said a teenage boy gunned down at Sungai Bilis last Sunday was likely one of Kiram’s followers. Hamza said the boy was among the “terrorists” as he exited from the war zone area. “We could not confirm whether he was a Malaysian or a foreigner Read More …

Aquino on top of Sabah situation, says Drilon

 News
Mar 042013
 
Aquino on top of Sabah situation, says Drilon

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 3:30 pm | Monday, March 4th, 2013 President Benigno S. Aquino III. Malacañang Photo Bureau MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino is on top of the situation with regards to the conflict in Sabah, Senator Franklin Drilon, Team PNoy campaign manager, said Monday. At the same time Drilon appealed to the people to stop inserting politics in the Sabah issue. “Campaign rhetoric should take a backseat so that we can properly address the welfare of the 800,000 Filipinos living in Sabah. Already 300 of our countrymen have been deported. We are making this appeal in behalf of our compatriots who are living and earning their living in Malaysia,” Drilon said at a press conference. Aquino has been criticized for being in Pampanga campaigning with Team PNoy senatorial candidates while the exchange of firefight was ongoing in Lahad Datu, Sabah. “Let me tell you from personal knowledge that while the President had to fulfill that commitment of the speaking engagement with the local leaders, he had to leave the stage to go back to the room and continue monitor the situation,” Drilon said. “He continues to govern, he’s on top of the situation and he has a schedule to follow. However, we will repeat, the welfare of 800,000 Filipinos which are caught in this very delicate situation in Sabah will be more than prime interest,” he added. “Let us not muddle an already complicated situation,” Drilon said.

10 killed, 4 injured in Sabah firefight

 News
Feb 282013
 
10 killed, 4 injured in Sabah firefight

By Tetch TorresINQUIRER.net 1:15 pm | Friday, March 1st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—At least 10 people died while four others were injured when a firefight broke out between the “royal army” of Sulu and Malaysian forces in Lahad Datu village in Sabah, the daughter of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III said Friday. Among those wounded is a woman, Princess Jaycel Kiram said in press conference in Manila. She said the information was relayed to the royal family by Rajah Muda, brother of the sultan and leader of the group that sailed from Mindanao to Lahad Datu on February 12 to stake a territorial claim on Sabah. The exchange of gunfire began at around 6 a.m. Friday when the Malaysian forces inched closer to the place where the group, which includes about 30 gunmen according to Filipino authorities,  has been holed up, Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the Sultan of Sulu, said at the press conference. The group has no intention to leave the area despite the firefight, the sultan stressed. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that shots were fired but denied reports there were casualties. Foreign Affairs spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez told ABS-CBN network that the gunfire had stopped and there were no casualties. “What he (Philippine ambassador to Malaysia) relayed to Secretary del Rosario was that this incident happened earlier, and thank God there were no casualties,” Hernandez said. Scores of followers of Sultan Kiram have been facing off with Malaysian security forces in Lahad Datu village for more than Read More …

Kiram asks Aquino: Help us, not the Malaysians

 News
Feb 282013
 
Kiram asks Aquino: Help us, not the Malaysians

By Tetch Torres-TupasINQUIRER.net 12:36 pm | Friday, March 1st, 2013 Sultan Jamalul Kiram lll speaks during a news conference at his house in Maharlika Village, Taguig City. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Sultan Jamalul Kiram on Friday called on President Benigno Aquino III to help them, not the Malaysians “Tulungan nyo naman kami. Ang nakikita ko, ang tinutulungan nya ay hindi ang Pilipino. I am just surprised,” Kiram said at a press conference aired over Radyo Inquirer 990AM. Kiram made the call following the firefight that broke out between his supporters and Malaysian forces in Lahad Datu early Friday morning. Instead of helping his fellow Filipinos, Kiram asked why the government was instead considering the filing of criminal case against him. “Dapat tulungan nila kami. Hindi kami ang kakasuhan,” Kiram said, adding that he preferred talking personally to President Aquino instead of an emissary on how to resolve the situation in Lahad Datu. Kiram reiterated that he and his family were pressing for the ownership of Sabah based ‘‘on historical truth.” He also expressed dismay over the “studies” being conducted by the Philippine government over the legality of their claim on Sabah. “Study ng study. Gusto kaming paalisin sa lugar na aming pag-aari,” he said. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Read More …

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