The Mindanao Factor will haunt President Aquino if...

"Yes, the Mindanao Factor will haunt this president if the pudding cooked by the bilateral chefs does not accommodate the entire country at the banquet. The best leaders are the ones who listen best and who engage the opponent with a strong respect for unvarnished dialogue. Practice truth and fear nothing!"

By Yolanda Ortega Stern
26 January 2013

President Aquino, in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer last week, stated that that he did not think the legendary Nur Misuari, founding Chair of the Moro National Liberation Force (MNLF) was a spent force.

The Inquirer wrote that Mr Aquino remains wary of those who would want to spoil the gains of a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The Inquirer also asked the Chief Executive if there might be people from the MNLF who might be agitated by a peace agreement between government and the MILF. Mr Aquino said: 

“Yes, I am sure. It could be the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters), or it could be some other group. They might be a new group.”

My view:

His Excellency, President Benigno Aquino Jr., must of course be wary not only of Nur Musuari but also of every Filipino Moslem who at some point in their lives walked both sides of war and peace in search of  'self determination.'
  
He must also be wary of Filipino Lumads and Christians who comprise the majority of poor Filipinos without a visible promise of opportunity. We must also all remember, along with the President, that there have been many other Deals reached and signed before he came along, one in particular not yet implemented. And it was not because of 'spoilers'.

Spoilers are but a very small number of people who are aware of ongoing business and want theur voices heard. Ask the lonely fisherman in Sacol: What about the new deal, and he would have no clue. They just live and die by the bullet, the fire, or the poverty they all inherited decade after decade.   

Yes, the Mindanao Factor will haunt this president if the pudding cooked by the bilateral chefs does not accomodate the entire country at the banquet. The best leaders are the ones who listen best and who engage the opponent with a strong respect for unvarnished dialogue. Practice truth and fear Nothing!
  
~~~~O~~~~

Yolanda Ortega Stern is the President at One World Institute, a US registered NGO for health, education, livelihood, disaster relief; Mr Stern has given her permission for the publication of her view on this blog. 

~~~~O~~~~

INQUIRER REPORT: Aquino wary of Misuari, other peace deal spoilers
By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:29 am | Sunday, January 26th, 2014

President Benigno Aquino III said he did not consider Nur Misuari, the fugitive founding chair of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a “spent force,” as he remained wary of those who would want to spoil the gains of a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“Yes, I am sure. It could be the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters), or it could be some other group. They might be a new group,” the President said when asked in an interview with the Inquirer on Wednesday if there could be people from the MNLF who might be agitated by a peace agreement between government and the MILF.

Government and MILF negotiators completed talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday on the normalization annex, the last document that would complete a peace agreement between the two parties aimed at ending four decades of fighting in central Mindanao.

Asked if he considered Misuari a spent force, the President said in Filipino: “I won’t say that. If you are a terrorist, even if there are only three of you, it’s enough. Even if you’re alone, it’s enough.”

Hunting Misuari

Authorities are hunting Misuari for instigating his followers to take over Zamboanga City in September last year, claiming that the government abrogated the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF after it proposed to wind down the tripartite review of the organic law facilitated by Indonesia.

The government and the MNLF are reviewing some provisions of the organic law creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).  Mr. Aquino once described the ARMM as a “failed experiment.”

In the Zamboanga siege, Misuari loyalists took hostage more than 200 residents and left a part of the city in ruins.

It was the first urban warfare fought by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the worst security threat faced by Mr. Aquino’s three-year-old administration. As commander in chief, the President personally oversaw the military operations to expel the rebels from Zamboanga.

Lost cause

President Aquino said spoilers would certainly be “alienated” once the people started to feel the gains of a peace agreement.

“We start off with a vast majority who is no longer supportive of your (the spoilers’) clandestine activities … There would be no more safe havens. It would be difficult for the bandit groups. If electricity is disrupted, a bridge is blown up and the produce is not brought to the market … All of this, would they gain sympathy? Probably not, so the majority will tell the others, we are living quiet lives and you don’t want to help us? So the more they would be alienated. The more they would become a lost cause, a weak factor,” Mr. Aquino said.

The President said reports reaching him indicated that other MNLF factions were supportive of the peace initiatives of the government.

To read full report, link here.

Pictures of President Benigno Aquino III and Nur Misuari. AP FILE PHOTOS

Armed conflicts in Mindanao: Influenced by Malaysia to keep Sabah

All the events involving armed conflicts in Mindanao from 1968, 1969 and specifically in the early 70s until today between the Govt forces and Muslim rebel groups were triggered by the one standing unresolved issue between the Republic of the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia: Sovereignty rights over Sabah or the Manila Accord. These 'events' have been "influenced" by Malaysia. 

- Malaysia commenced "influencing events" in Southern Mindanao immediately after the discovery of a plan by the Republic to take control of Sabah in 1968

- Malaysia's Tunku Abdul Razak (father of current Malaysia Prime Minister Najib) was the first PM to pour money into Muslim secessionist rebels who at the time were led by Nur Misuari (first chair of MNLF) and seconded by Hashim Salamat (founder of MILF)

- Malaysia's PM Mahathir as soon as he took over continued the exercise and improved Tunku Abdul Razak's modus operandi by modernising the Malaysian armed forces. He then poured resources after resources into and "enlarged" Muslim secessionist training camps in Sabah. Mahathir devoted a great deal of effort in the Islamisation of Sabah by allowing the influx of Muslims from all over the region and granting them Malaysia citizenship in exchange for their votes so that Barisan Nasional (his party) would remain in power. He was responsible for the nationalisation of the oil resources of Sabah and created PETRONAS that would control the industry.

- When FVR's Govt, finally concluded a peace deal with the MNLF in 1996 with the backing of the OIC, Malaysia realised that their attempts to sow trouble in Southern Mindanao through the MNLF of which they were patrons might be endangered. The MILF shunned the 1996 Peace Agreement. Mahathir trained his efforts on the break-away faction headed by Hashim Salamat aka MILF and funded and supported the rebel group.

- In 1998, President Estrada who had just been elected to the presidency, who was despised by Mahathir, decided to launch an offensive against the MILF after intel revealed that the MILF, fully armed with weapons from Malaysia (including missile systems that Mahathir had ordered earlier on) was gearing up for a full scale offensive against government military bases in the South. The AFP won.

- In 1999, the Sipadan hostage crisis took place. Sipadan is a Malaysian resort island. The hostage crisis began the long descent to hell of Estrada.

- In 2004, Gloria Macapagal accepted MILF's demand that Malaysia be the head of the monitoring team to supervise a Framework Agreement. Malaysian troops began to arrive in Southern Mindanao.

- Shortly thereafter, Senator Nene Pimentel questioned the wisdom of calling on Malaysia to oversee the proposed "peace talks" with the MILF invoking the fact that PH has a standing unresolved issue over Sabah

- In 2012, President Aquino handed over to Najib the signed "Talking points" for shared sovereignty between GPH and MILF

- In 2013, Sultanate of Sulu launched siege in Tanduo, Sabah in a bid to re-take Sabah; many Tausugs died; in September, MNLF decided to rally against the planned signing of the Malaysia-inspired wealth sharing agreement between GPH and MILF which is scheduled on 16 September, on the 50th anniversary of the illegal annexation of Sabah to the created Malaysia Federation.

The bottom line is that Malaysia has always put one over GPH in their bid to ensure that PH will never be able to turn around to re-claim Sabah.

Setting the record straight: Malaysian armies were very backward in the 70s; did not have the capability to train the MNLF

Last month, almost to the day, Hadji Acmad Bayam, former chief propagandist of the MNLF, revealed that MNLF forces joined the Kiram fighters in Sabah which would force Malaysian security forces to face 'battle-tested' Libya-trained MNLF forces (and not Malaysian-trained as Manila Bulletin report said -- see 'nota bene'). 

Back in the 70s, the MNLF were onto a secession war with PH thanks to support of Kuala Lumpur politicians who began funding rebellion wars in Midnanao during the time of Tunku Abdul Razak, father of current Malaysia PM Najib Razak). 

NOTA BENE:

It is imperative to understand that Malaysian armies at the time still were very backward and did not have the capability to train the MNLF.

The modernisation of Malaysia's armies, including their training, only kicked in when Prime Minister Mahathir came into the picture. They themselves got delivery of their first really modernised defence kits only in the early 80s.

So we beg to disagree with Manila Bulletin report* which highlighted that MNLF forces were trained by Malaysian armies back in the 70s. THIS IS NOT QUITE RIGHT! The MNLF forces were trained in large part by Libya's forces back in the 70s. 

The Malaysians did fund the MNLF (and later, the MILF), supplied them with weapons cache and allowed them to train in Sabah -- as war against PH by proxy -- but Malaysian military DID NOT TRAIN the MNLF because Malaysian militarydid not have the capability to do that in the late 60s and the early 70s.

In fact, the Malaysian military at that time was so backward that PH military could have defeated them even with one hand tied behind their back back then. 

French secret service back in the 70s provided Ph with intel that Gaddafi forces were training PH Islamic secessionists right in Sabah complete with picture evidence submitted to Malacanang at the time. 

Up to the 90s, French secret service had been submitting reports to successive PH govts in place -- in fact, up to the time of the Estrada Administration -- that Filipino Muslim secessionists had also been training in Afghanistan and that some had fought under the Northern Alliance armies commanded by Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir who were then fighting the Soviets. (Massoud was killed by Al Qaeda just before 9/11.)

~~By Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims 
03 March 2013

* Hereunder is the MANILA BULLETIN REPORT:

Bayam said, "You know, if Mindanao is to Manila, Sabah is to Kuala Lumpur,” said Bayam, explaining that Mindanao and Sabah are the “milking cows” of the Philippines and Malaysia, respectively, for their rich natural resources." 

Malaysian security forces are now facing battle-tested, Malaysian-trained commanders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), who know Sabah like the palm of their hands. 

Hadji Acmad Bayam, former chief propagandist of the MNLF, revealed this yesterday to the Manila Bulletin, adding that these MNLF forces may have at their disposal a huge arsenal, which they hid deep in Sabah’s rugged terrain when they returned to the Philippines after their rigid training.

~~By Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims 
03 March 2013

* Hereunder is the MANILA BULLETIN REPORT:

Bayam said, "You know, if Mindanao is to Manila, Sabah is to Kuala Lumpur,” said Bayam, explaining that Mindanao and Sabah are the “milking cows” of the Philippines and Malaysia, respectively, for their rich natural resources." 

Malaysian security forces are now facing battle-tested, Malaysian-trained commanders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), who know Sabah like the palm of their hands. 

Hadji Acmad Bayam, former chief propagandist of the MNLF, revealed this yesterday to the Manila Bulletin, adding that these MNLF forces may have at their disposal a huge arsenal, which they hid deep in Sabah’s rugged terrain when they returned to the Philippines after their rigid training.

IN PICTURE: BRACING FOR MORE FIGHTING – Malaysian soldiers aboard an armored personnel carrier drive toward the site of the standoff with Filipino gunmen in Tanduo village, Sabah. Malaysia has vowed to beef up security in the area as the death toll increased following new attacks. (AFP)

HOW LOW WILL PRESIDENT AQUINO, PH GOVERNMENT GO TO APPEASE KUALA LUMPUR?

Philippine Army gives bronze medals to
Malaysian troops part of the outgoing
International Monitoring Team batch 7
in recognition of their efforts to monitor peace
between the Philippine government
and the MILF. (Photo by Ferdinand Cabrera) 

REPORT: Malaysian military peace monitors in PH despite standoff [the conflict is also known as Malaysia military's murder of Filipino citizens in Sabah] (Please see report below)

In Mindanao, outgoing Malaysian troops acting as "peacekeepers" for Malaysia-engineered GPH-MILF Bangsamoro homeland in the making are awarded Bronze medals by Philippine Army and are replaced by fresh Malaysian armed forces troops headed by a Malaysian general.

This is happening as Kuala Lumpur officials order Malaysia military to "wipe out" all Filipino Tausugs involved in the 'Sabah stand off.' 

JUST HOW LOW WILL THIS GOVERNMENT GO TO APPEASE kUALA LUMPUR? What is our Government doing while our fellow Filipinos are being chased by foreign troops in Sabah which, by Philippine law (Republic Act 5446), is a Philippine territory? Why does our Govt allow Malaysian military (disguised as Peacekeepers) to take control of Mindanao territory while PH citizens are being massacred in Sabah by the same Malaysian forces?

Govt should suspend permission for any and all Malaysian military (even under pretense of peacekeeping in Mindanao) missions and should not allow Kuala Lumpur troops to walk about in our territory while Malaysian forces are killing our people and are committing human rights abuses on Filipinos in Sabah.

It is absolutely insane to allow these Malaysian military troops on Mindanao while there is even the remotest conflict involving the citizens of the Republic on a mission to recoer their homeland and Malaysia troops. It is like allowing Kuala Lumpur military to build a beachhead into our territory with total impunity so they could prepare for a potential Malaysia armed forces invasion operation of our territory! INSANE!

Completely insane! PH even goes as far as to award outgoing "peacekeeping" Malaysian troops medals while Filipino Tausug fighting for Sabah homeland are getting murdered by Malaysia military forces! Does Govt not realise that these Malaysian 'Bronze Medalists' (courtesy of PH Army) just might be assigned to Sabah to kill our fellow Filipino Tasugs in Sabah?

HOW LOW WILL THIS GOVERNMENT GO TO APPEASE KUALA LUMPUR?

~~ Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims 

=========

NEWS REPORT BY RAPPLER.COM POSTED ON 03/11/2013 6:51 PM | UPDATED 03/11/2013 6:50 PM

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao – Despite tensions stemming from the month-long Sabah standoff, Malaysia sent a new set of troops to Mindanao as peace monitors. 

The troops arrived over the weekend to replace the outgoing batch of peace monitors whose one-year tour of duty under the International Monitoring Team (IMT) batch 7 expired. 

Malaysia is brokering a peace deal with the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The peace process is now in the fine-tuning phase, with the recent signing of one of the annexes on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. 

Four of the 19 contingents are from the combined Royal Army of Malaysia, Royal Navy, Royal Police and civilian components. They arrived as part of the advanced party of the Malaysian monitors. 

IMT batch 8 headed by Maj Gen Dato Fadzil Bin Mokhtar received a welcome during a farewell dinner for IMT batch 7. 

Mokhtar addressed questions on whether or not the Sabah standoff will affect his team’s mission. 

“I don’t think so. We arrived in wrong timing [but] we have no apprehension at all [that] this new tour of duty will be tarnished in relation to the Sabah issue. We are clear on our mission here: to continue to monitor the ceasefire,” said Mokhtar. 

Outgoing head-of-mission of IMT batch 7, MGen Dato Abdul Rahim Bin Mohd Yusuff echoed the view. 

“IMT is concerned only [with] the directive by the Philippine government and the MILF to monitor the ceasefire,” Yusuff said. 

The Malaysian troops arrived amid criticism from some sectors of Philippine society about the crackdown on Filipinos in Sabah. Refugees from Sabah have reported abuses and atrocities supposedly committed by Malaysian security forces. 

A total of 52 militants and 8 Malaysian police officers have been shot dead and 85 people have been arrested for possible links to the followers of the Sultanate of Sulu. 

The standoff began exactly one month ago when the followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III crossed over to Sabah to assert their historical claim over the territory. 

Full story in this link http://www.rappler.com/nation/23573-malaysian-peace-monitors-in-ph-despite-standoff

"CITIZENSHIP-FOR-VOTES" FOR DISPLACED FILIPINOS IN SABAH WAS MALAYSIA PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR'S BRAINCHILD

"CITIZENSHIP-FOR-VOTES" FOR DISPLACED FILIPINOS IN SABAH WAS MALAYSIA PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR'S BRAINCHILD POTENTIALLY TO ENSURE THAT THE PHILIPPINE SABAH CLAIM WILL BE 'BURIED' FOREVER

By Admin ADB
For the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
30 January 2013

MALAYSIANS ARE ASKING: "Why quiet about Dr Mahathir’s confession?"

The "confession" is all about the "role" of the former prime minister of Malaysia in the citizenship-for-votes scandal in Sabah that has rocked Malaysia. The report is actually misleading because if I am to believe some of the rather influential people I met in KL, the leader who engineered the scheme was Mr Mahathir himself. It was his "baby" so to speak. He was the brain behind it!

I first talked about this citizenship-for-votes -- although without exactly using those words, to the same group of Admins here a couple of years ago when we were first setting up a Sabah forum with some people (who, fortunately, we discovered early enough to be as degrading con artists as PM Mahathir was.)

The 'citizenship-for-votes' was a scheme that Dr Mahathir hatched and put in place in Sabah to ensure UMNO election in the province that would give the coalition control of Malaysia Parliament. I discovered this in the 90s in KL through people I knew there who were in politics and in business (most of them were in both -- the two sectors were inseparable) who were 'in the know' -- it was a kind of an open secret. But no one, absolutely no one in Malaysia politics - or big business for that matter, would dare speak of it publicly out of fear of the all-powerful Mahathir whose men in the Treasury held the purse strings for the party, for government contracts and for almost anything.

Sabah was the gold mine of votes for UMNO for PM Mahathir then. Without Sabah's votes -- hence the distribution of Malaysia ID cards, the coalition headed by BN would have collapsed in the Malaysia Parliament. UMNO was on tenuous ground following the resignation of Hussein Onn in 1981, PM Mahathir's predecessor. Mahathir knew that if a solution was not found, UMNO coalition would explode -- and if UMNO exploded, Barisan Nasional, his party had no chance of controlling Parliament.

The scheme was simple: UMNO rounded up most displaced Filipinos who had fled the Mindanao Secession War in the 70s and who had more or less integrated in the Sabah way of life and offered them citizenship. In exchange, they would vote UMNO in the elections. It worked. Mahathir won 5 consecutive general elections giving him the majority in Malaysia Parliament. I have every reason to believe that the 'citizenship-for-votes' in Sabah existed up to the early 90s (especially after his deputy and rising political star Anwar Ibrahim began to give him a run for his money and began to contest his leadership.)

In the 90s when I began visiting Sabah, I met several Sabahanos who fled to Sabah following the Mindanao Secession War. A few of those with whom I became friends admitted that they were benificiaries of the Mahathir citizenship-for-votes scheme. They had no choice -- they felt vulnerable and so accepted PM Mahathir's/UMNO's largesse in order to be able to stay in Sabah "legally."

Malaysia press hasn't got the 'bite' that Philippine media enjoys and they will find it very difficult to expose the extent of the citizenship-for-votes scheme that Mahathir had organised. According to one Basilan-born Sabahan leader I know and with whom I have remained in contact, he reckons, not counting Indonesians, that there were tens of thousands of Filipinos who had taken advantage of the citizenship-for-votes scheme of Mahathir. He told me that during the general election, it was amusing to see that the queus of voters in the polling stations were mostly people from Mindanao.

Sabah and Sarawak represent the most number of seats in the Malaysia parliament with Sabah delivering every election the most votes for UMNO -- not sure anymore how many (if I remember rightly they were in the 40s) but enough to maintain UMNO majority at election time; this is why Sabah is so important to BN (Barisan National or National Front) leaders who make up the majority in the UMNO coalition which then dominates the Malaysia Parliament.

Sabah votes were Mahathir's Malaysia Parliament lifeline without which his UMNO coalition had a poor chance of obtaining control of Parliament. In fact, even today, PM Najib, who lost in his own hometown in a recent election, without Sabah's gold mine of votes, there is every chance that UMNO, let alone BN, will not win the number of seats necessary to give him the majority of seats in Malaysia Parliament.

Incidentally, in the late 70s, a group of ethinc Chinese businessmen in Sabah tried to organise a "secession" movement and declare an independent Sabah. The repression was ruthless. Some Sabahanos who were originally displaced Filipinos were part of the movement (I know a couple of them very well) but when offered amnesty, they accepted and supported UMNO instead.

Now as to Free Malaysia Today's question: Why quiet about Dr M’s confession?

The answer is simple: PM Najib is still a recipient of the Sabah votes by those who took advantage of Mahathir's citizenship-for-votes scheme. Many of the members of BN today as well as some of the Chinese-Malaysian stalwarts of UMNO sitting in Parliament are also beneficiaries.

Why quiet? Because there is also a risk that if they insist on examining the scheme, Malaysia authorities might open cans and cans of worms that will expose not only the number of people who had been granted Malaysia citizenship for votes but also the long held secret that Mahathir even encouraged the emigration of Filipinos and Indonesians to Sabah with a view to populating Sabah with Malays predominantly to prevent the Chinese (and Indian) population from gaining ground in Sabah politically. 

But I have a deep seated suspicion that there is more to just preventing the Chinese (and Indian) population from controlling Sabah one day -- Mahathir's scheme, I am confident, had something to do too with ensuring that the Philippine Sabah claim would be buried forever.

Originally posted on : Philippine Sabah Claim Forum

=============

REPORT: Why quiet about Dr M’s confession?

By Joseph BingkasanJanuary 29, 2013Free Malaysia Today
Tuarasn MP Wilfred Bumburing is wondering why the Sabah Umno deputy chief is silent on the former premier's admission regarding the IC issue. 

KOTA KINABALU: Pro-opposition Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) has taken state Umno deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak to task for being quick to criticise the opposition but not former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who admitted his role in the citizenship-for votes scandal that has since rocked the state. 

APS president Wilfred Bumburing said Mahathir openly confessed following shocking revelations during the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) hearing but Salleh has chosen to ignore this and not challenged the former premier to testify and instead focused on Anwar Ibrahim. 

Full story:http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/01/29/why-quiet-sbout-dr-ms-confession/

It would be easy to negotiate with Tausug warrior Nur Misuari

AT THE END OF THE DAY, NUR MISUARI CAN BE A 'SOFTIE'... NO! NO! That's not meant to malign the MNLF founder and legendary Tausug warrior but merely to say that he is human and appreciates, like many of us, respect and a minimum of courtesy. 

That was actually my reaction after reading a news report in today's Freeman that said, "The stance of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari against the framework agreement may soon soften as a result of the Aquino administration's "talks" with the leader of the former rebel group."

It reminded me of a story that no less than current DND Secretary Voltz Gazmin likes to tell, that of the 1986 historic meeting between the late President Cory Aquino and the legenderary warrior -- or an incident just before the meeting, when she broke protocol and flew to Sulu to sue for peace with the MNLF. Voltz Gazmin, who was then CG, Presidential Security Group, tells the story often enough to highlight the courageous streak in the late president but which also gave us an insight into Misuari's innate Tausug character.

Voltz Gazmin recounted that the event was due to take place right in MNLF lair and as commanding general of the presidential security command, he was naturally apprehensive for the security of the chief executive. The life of the president was in his hands. He remarked that the president felt almost no fear and trusted that she would be able to achieve what she had set out to do. But he did not trust the MNLF, Misuari or not Misuari, to get anywhere near the president especially in Sulu where he would be severely outnumbered if things went wrong. But one thing he did say was that from the onset of the meeting between Cory and Misuari, the Tausug rebel exuded a very courteous demeanour towards the president, almost humble, perhaps, honoured and impressed that the president, a woman to boot, would have the courage to show up in "enemy country."

After a brief courteous exchanges, and just as the serious part of the discussions was about to begin, Mrs Aquino did the most unexpected thing -- which had not been planned at all; she ordered everyone out of the conference room except for a note taker. She decided that she was going to speak to Nur Misuari one-on-one. Voltz was naturally caught off guard. He was adamant that he did not want to leave the president alone with the rebel Tausug Misuari and insisted to be present with the president. But the president refused Gazmin's remonstrances. She was determined that they should be left alone to discuss the proecess of peace. She tried to reassure the PSG chief that everything would be alright and ordered him to leave.

With his heart trepidating, he left and waited outside the conference room. After nearly an hour, the president called for staff and the commander of the PSG. Alongside a meek-looking Nur Misuari, the president announced that they had come to an agreement to go forward to settle matters towards peace. According to Gazmin, he was left speechless. He saw Nur Misuari almost appearing like a lamb, acting with great deference to the president, in other words, respectful.

Cory Aquino left an indelible image of courage and fortitude in General Voltz Gazmin. But unknown to him, he left me personally with the appreciation that Nur Misuari, despite the rhetorics, is a reasonable man, a fierce but also gentle Tausug warrior. And that was what the MNLF commander was like when I finally met him for the first time back in the 90s. 

At the end of the day, negotiating for the much abused 'just and lasting peace' with the 'Moros' may just be possible through Nur Misuari. All it would take is to give him the respect he and his people deserves. 

By Anne de Bretagne
For The Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
24 October 2012

By desperately wanting to appease Malaysia, Philippine chief peacenicker buries national Sabah claim

Mr Marvic Leonen (shown in picture), chief peacnicker for the Philippine government panel is shortsighted and naive!

A chance for peace? You can't be serious! 

Alright, let me rephrase that... There possibly is a chance for peace -- agree, after all Mr Marvic Leonen has announced a breakthrough in the peace talks between GPH and MILF. The price of peace is the nation's willfull obliteration of national respect and dignity in favour of Malaysia.

Thanks to Mr Leonen's brilliant 10 Decision Points of Principle signed in April this year between the Malaysia-backed rebel MILF group and the Philippine government designed to allow for the Philippines to give up sovereignty over a portion of Mindanao and hand it over to the MILF and Malaysia, there just might be "peace" but even then, there is no guarantee (Malaysia just might want to grab the whole of Mindanao.). Never mind that by doing so, Mr Leonen has unilaterally given up the nation's Sabah claim...

Did I not predict that with government's timidity about the nation's standing Sabah claim, Malaysia will walk into Mindanao, land grab a huge portion of it via their MILF cronies? Well, it is happening now... 

And Mr Marvic Leonen speaks of a chance for peace? Mr Leonen himself trumpeted how our Armed Forces bent over backwards to accomodate the desideratas of the Malaysia-inspired MILF. So, of course when your Armed Forces bend over backward to accomodate the desideratas of a band of rebels, that is precursor to peace no doubt!

Mr Leonen said, “In an unprecedented manner, you saw the full cooperation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to make your consultation a success.” 

That's fine... we can live with the Armed Forces bending over backward to their natural enemies but when the MILF chief himself "expressed optimism a breakthrough could be achieved on the issue of transition" because he had more faith in the abilities and the negotiation facilitation prowess of Tengku Dato Abd Ghafar Tengku Mohamed from Malaysia, then we have a real problem.

Mr Leonen, we believe you have been not only been shortsighted, you also have been extremely naive because the "peace" that you are trumpeting today is proof that you have allowed Malaysia to screw the Philippines through and through. And when the rest of patriotic Filipinos finally realise how you sold our sovereignty out, God help us all!

Senator Nene Pimentel: Malaysia as Mindanao "peacekeepers" poses a conflict of interest, i.e., because of Philippine Sabah claim

Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr, who launched the first formal salvo tackling the Philippine Sabah claim in an October 2011 forum at the University of Makati, was the first senator and political leader of the Republic who officially expressed views on the ongoing debacle of the Republic with the Malaysia-backed MILF saying that effectively, Malaysia's incursions in Mindanao as "peacekeepers" pose a conflict of interest, i.e., because of the Philippine Sabah claim. 

During an interview with the Philippine Star in November 2011, he said, 

 “That buffer force is supposed to be led by Malaysia and I think that is the worst choice we can have, to get Malaysia involved as a peacekeeping force on behalf of the OIC, because Malaysia has definite interests that conflict with the interests of the country."

Excerpts, Philstar November 2011 report:.

Conflict of interest

In another development, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. called on the government to consider replacing Malaysia as mediator with the MILF because of some conflicts of interest of the Malaysians. 

Pimentel said that the recent conflicts between the MILF and government troops could have been avoided if the international peacekeeping team led by Malaysia had been more effective in its work in Mindanao. 

He said that the peacekeeping force acting on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is supposed to be the buffer force between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF. 

“That buffer force is supposed to be led by Malaysia and I think that is the worst choice we can have, to get Malaysia involved as a peacekeeping force on behalf of the OIC, because Malaysia has definite interests that conflict with the interests of the country,” Pimentel said. 

He cited the long-standing claims by the Philippines and Malaysia on Sabah as well as a certain marshland in Cotabato. 

Pimentel also noted Malaysia’s identification with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which caused some problems in the past when the rebel group was still waging war on the government. 

“When the MNLF forces were trying to strengthen their group, they were training in Sabah which is jurisdictionally, as of now, under the administration of Malaysia. That is where they trained before,” Pimentel said.

Fifty years ago, Senator Jovito Salonga exhorted the Philippines to move about Sabah. That was fifty years ago. What have succeeding members of the nation's "august" Senate done about it?

Almost fifty years later, ONLY ONE SENATOR had the courage to call a spade a spade and tell the government that they were wrong to choose Malaysia as buffer force in Mindanao via the MILF and that was Senator Nene Pimentel. Has anyone else stood up to be heard or even mutter something intelligible about it? None!!!

• 
  

  
  

  
  

  NB: Shown above is  picture of books authored by Senator Pimentel. To visit the website of Senator Nene Pimentel, please click here.

1878 Sabah lease contract very clear: "...rights and powers hereby leased shall not be transferred..."

By Anne de Bretagne

Philippine Sabah Claim Forum

When the Sabah lease was signed 134 years ago -- on the 22nd of January 1878, between the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah and two foreign businessmen, the Sultanate ensured that their rights to Sabah ownership were protected with this all encompassing moral and legal clause clearly spelled out in the lease contract, to wit (lease shown, 2nd photo): 

"...but the rights and powers hereby leased shall not be transferred to any nation, or a company of other nationality, without the consent of Their Majesties Government."

The whole Mindanao-Moro problem compounded by Malaysia's continuing support for the MILF right in the heart of Philippine Moro 'homeland' is without a shadow of doubt tied to the Philippine Sabah claim.

The Malaysians know it and the Filipinos know it but Kuala Lumpur will do everything in their power to make sure that the Philippines will not have a moment's respite to turn around and raise the Sabah claim. And the problem is being compounded by the fact that successive Chinese communities in Sabah have staged their own claim over Sabah and over the last couple of decades, they have been at it, trying to muster political support from the population of Sabah to claim "independence" from Malaysia.

As years go and while this problem is unsettled, there will be more problems -- political and military, that are bound to arise and could very well bring the Sabah question to the inevitable: armed conflict which it almost did back in the 60s when the Philippines attempted to take physical control of Sabah in a covert operation code-named "Operation Merdeka."

After 134 years, it is time to examine the contents of the lease and to bring them out in the open. The Republic of the Philippines -- and Malaysia, cannot continue to be blind. Sabah is either the Philippines' or it is not -- only a minitious examination of facts done in absolute good faith can determine final legal and moral ownership.

If the parties to the claim or to the counter claim refuse -- and that includes major counter claimant Malaysia, to adhere to the principle of good faith, I'm afraid, the peace and order problem in Mindano will continue as the rebel forces in Mindanao are encouraged, maintained and funded by the the current occupiers of Sabah. And unless we face this extremely sensitive Sabah question head on, there is every chance that we will be encouraging Malaysia to invade Mindanao by proxy.