KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The Philippines government’s hardline approach
against the Sulu militants in Sabah had likely worsened the ongoing
bloodshed, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said today, heaping criticism against the Aquino administration for allegedly mishandling the crisis.
In a hard-hitting editorial, the country’s most widely-read broadsheet took a swipe at Philippines President Benigno Aquino III (picture) for
taking the same tone as his Malaysian counterpart Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Razak when demanding that the Sulu Sultanate’s followers lay
down arms.
The paper reminded the president that the group of Sulu gunmen, who
have set up camp in Sabah since February 9, are Filipino citizens who
sincerely believe the east Malaysian state is their home.
“When he (Aquino) appealed to the followers to ‘[c]ome back home and
we will talk’, he inadvertently confirmed their suspicion that he did
not understand what they saw as the core issue: Sabah as home,” the Inquirer said.
The paper also pointed to talk that the Sulu Sultanate had been
neglected in peace talks between the Philippines government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to end decades of armed conflict in
Mindanao, which involves Malaysia as facilitator.
This could have led to Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s reason for
deploying his men to Sabah, it said, leading to the past few days of
violent clashes between the Filipino militants and Malaysia’s security
forces.
As at Day 22 since the incursion, eight Malaysian policemen and 20
militants have reportedly died during skirmishes in three districts in
the eastern coast of Sabah.
The Inquirer said, however, that the “real problem” with the
Philippine government’s approach to the Sulu claim on Sabah was in its
lack of sympathy to the Sultan’s followers and purpose.
Source: The Malaysian Insider...More...
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