Cebu archbishop to take up Sabah crisis in Vatican visit

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma described his meeting with Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on the Sabah issue as “like a meeting of brothers.”

The Cebu prelate who is also president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said their discussion centered on the search for a peaceful resolution of the Sabah conflict that pits the Sultanate of Sulu and Malaysia.

“As we say, there is a Christian and Muslim way of searching for peace especially of course in the situation of Sabah. Basically it’s like brothers going to brothers and say there is a bond between us and that’s the bond that unites people who search for peace,” said Palma in his statement posted in the CBCP website.

Palma met with Kiram last Monday in Manila before leaving for Rome to attend the meetings for the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress to be hosted by Cebu.

He assured Kiram that he will relay the issue regarding the Sabah conflict to the Vatican aside from bringing the matter to the CBCP permanent council.

Palma said the situation in Sabah is no longer about religion but about the quest for peace and harmony.

Aside from their Sabah claim, Kiram also discussed with Palma the alleged human rights abuses committed by the Malaysian government against Filipinos in Sabah.

Kiram was accompanied by her daughter Princes Jacel Kiram, Sultanate of Sulu spokesperson Abraham Idjirani, Pastor Boy Saycon and lawyer Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crimes and Corruption (VACC).

Palma said he didn’t promise really much to Kiram’s group except that he will seek the advice of people who can help resolve the conflict.

“At the moment, I have no particular person in mind. I believe there are agencies in Rome that can be of service in this regard,” the archbishop said.

Jimenez said Palma’s visit to the Vatican is “very timely.”

“He is attending a meeting where he promised to bring this matter to any council in Rome. Jacel here is saying, it must have been divine providence intervening now and I agree with that,” Jimenez was quoted as saying in a statement posted in the CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com).

The meeting between Kiram’s group and Palma was arranged by the (VACC) and the Gausbaug Coalition for Peace and Humanitarian Resolution of Sabah.

Saycon, adviser of the Sulu Sultan, said the Sultanate of Sulu wants peace.

“We at least expect a global appeal for peace. What it really wants to do is sit down and talk. So why is it so hard for these people to understand that dialogue is better than war,” he said.

Kiram has been asserting the unresolved territorial claim of the Philippines to Sabah.

On February 11, 2013, about 200 people from Sulu lead by Agbimuddin Kiram, the crown prince of the Sultanate of Sulu holed up at the Lahad Datu in Sabah in a bid to reclaim what they say rightfully belongs to the sultanate.

After several days of asking the group of Agbimuddin to return to Sulu, security forces in Malaysia launched an armed crackdown on the Sabah claimants resulting in tens of casualties from both sides.

A crackdown against members of the Filipino community and exodus of Filipinos living in Sabah back to the country followed.