Sultan Muedzul Kiram of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) pledges to uphold oath to obtain justice for the Tausugs, Filipinos over Sabah sovereignty rights

In photo, HM Sultan Muedzul Lail T Kiram (center) with the Royal Council during official proclamation of His Majesty as 35th Reigning Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo/Sabah.

FOR EASIER READING, please find below the transcription of the STATEMENT FROM HM Sultan Muedzul Lail T Kiram 35th Reigning Sultan, Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo issued on 11th November 2012 pledging to defend and uphold his oath as defender of sovereignty rights over Sabah. 

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STATEMENT FROM HM SULTAN MUEDZUL LAIL T. KIRAM, 35th Reigning Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)

11 November 2012

TO MY FELLOW FILIPINOS, MY FELLOW TAUSUGS, AND ALL COMPATRIOTS

I am a simple man who, by birth, inherited the moral and legal responsibility left by my forebears to lead the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah).

My grandfather, Sultan Esmail Kiram I, transferred sovereignty rights over Sabah to the Republic of the Philippines on September 11, 1962. Upon his death in 1974, his eldest son, my father, Sultan Moh. Mahakuttah A. Kiram, assumed the title of Sultan in the State of Sulu and all its districts and dependencies. Upon my father's death in 1986, as his eldest son, I, the crowned Rajamuda (crowned prince) and direct descendant of Sultan Jamalul Kiram I, founder of the Sultanate of Sulu, assumed the mantle of leadership for the Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo.

On September 16, 2012, the Royal Council (Ruma Bichara) of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, officially proclaimed me the 35th Sultan of Sulu and all its districts and dependencies.

My fellow Filipinos, my fellow Tausugs, my compatriots wherever you may be, I solemnly vow to defend and uphold my oath as defender of our sovereignty rights over Sabah. With your help, I will do my very best to obtain justice so that Sabah may be returned to its rightful owners, the Tausugs, the people of Sulu and the people of the Philippines.

With your prayers and support, I, Sultan Muedzul-Lail T. Kiram, 35th Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah), declare before you that I am prepared to retake and to uphold sovereignty rights of the Republic of the Philippines over North Borneo (Sabah).

So help me God.

HM SULTAN MUEDZUL LAIL T. KIRAM
Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)
Royal House of Sulu