MILF to Sulu sultan’s heirs: We consulted you on peace talks

From the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Feb 19): MILF to Sulu sultan’s heirs: We consulted you on peace talks

“We have reached out to you as we did to other groups in Mindanao on the subject of resolving the conflict in Mindanao. We did this on several occasions particularly when the MILF peace panel had a sortie in Zamboanga City more than a year ago.”
This was the explanation of Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information, in response to allegation purportedly coming from one of the spokesmen of the Sultan of Sulu that they were not consulted on issues surrounding the GPH-MILF peace negotiation.

Currently, followers of the Sulu sultan are reportedly involved in the standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.

In the Zamboanga forum, one of the relatives of the Sulu sultan asked the policy of the MILF regarding the sultanate especially the Sulu sultanate and the answer was: “We want to preserve it but we will not revive it.”

“The sultanate is part of Moro history and heritage and it is one of the basis of the present Moro’s assertion of its right to self-determination,” Musa stressed.

He, however, clarified that the MILF will not stand on the way if the various sultanates would want to revive themselves.

“We respect their decisions,” he added.

In 1935, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon abolished the sultanates and the datu system. In one of his meeting with them, he had this blunt message:

“… The sultans have no more rights than the humblest Moro and that under my administration the humblest Moro will be given as much protection as any datu under the law, and that his rights will be recognized exactly as the rights of a datu will be, and that every datu will have to comply with his duties as citizen to same extent and in the same manner that the humblest Moro is obligated.”

In the sultanate or datu system, the people are generally divided into three categories: the nobles, the commoners, and the slaves. Some say correctly or wrongly this system has roots in the caste system in India. The only difference is that amongst Moros, slaves were at times given the chance to buy his or her freedom or were freed by benevolent nobles.

Asked to comment on the Sabah standoff, Musa declined to make any statement, saying it is highly sensitive issue that the MILF Central Committee has not yet made the necessary guidelines.

“It is better to remain silent,” he confessed.

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