Pinoys in Sabah standoff getting food from abandoned homes — report

With their food supplies running out, the group of Filipinos in Sabah claiming to be followers of the Sultan of Sulu are coping by "living off" houses abandoned by local villagers, a Malaysian news site reported Thursday.

But a report on Malaysia's The Star online said the Filipinos claimed they were "all fine" despite the land and sea blockade by Malaysian security forces.

"Reports had emerged from Tanduo that the group was living off from whatever was left behind by villagers who fled their homes when the Sulu intruders landed on Feb. 9," the report said.

It added the Malaysian security forces are "holding their fire" pending orders to deport the Filipinos.

The group had engaged Malaysian forces in a standoff since early February.

On Wednesday, the group remained defiant after a "deadline" for them to leave peacefully by midnight Tuesday lapsed. Philippine officials have since sought a deadline extension.

'Further negotiations'

The report also said the Filipinos were open to "further negotiations" with Malaysian officials but group leader Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram said this should be between the Malaysian government and the Sulu sultanate.

Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram is the brother of self-proclaimed Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

Malaysia's The Star cited a phone interview with Azzimudie where he said, “(a)ll negotiations have to go through my brother in Manila. The final line is my brother.”

He added the talks are "between the Sultanate of Sulu and the Government of Malaysia. They must negotiate with the Sultan.”

Also, he stressed his readiness to reopen negotiations does not mean he has softened his stance.

“Our demands remain the same. In short, Sabah is owned by the Sultan of Sulu. I will stay here as long as my brother says I must,” he said. — LBG, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more