NBI director Nonnatus Rojas confirmed to GMA News Online on Tuesday that his agency has not yet finished their investigation on the incident, but said they are already putting together various reports on the incident from other government agencies.
“That is because we are still consolidating the NBI, Department of Justice, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group’s final reports,” Rojas said.
Kiram’s followers, who engaged in sporadic clashes with Malaysian authorities in early March, went to Sabah in February supposedly to assert their historical claim on the disputed territory.
Sabah, located in the island of Borneo close to southwestern Mindanao, is territorially disputed by the Philippines and Malaysia.
A Philippine claim for sovereignty over it has lain dormant for decades, but Malaysia continues to pay a yearly rent to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who claim to be the descendants of the original Filipino sultan who had control over the territory for centuries.
President Benigno Aquino III had earlier asked for an investigation on the incursion, believing that Kiram was part of an effort to sabotage the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a supporter of Kiram’s cause, was earlier accused of playing a role in the incursion and was supposed to be invited by the NBI for the probe.
Misuari, a rebel leader before becoming a local official in Mindanao, has denied the accusation. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News
