DND chief denies calling Kiram followers 'guns-for-hire'

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 25): DND chief denies calling Kiram followers 'guns-for-hire'

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin Monday vehemently denied calling followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III "guns for hire".

He issued this statement after a Malaysian newspaper, the New Strait Times, quoted him as calling the Kiram followers as such.

“I didn’t say that. Who said that? We call them Royal Sultanate Army,” Gazmin stressed.

He added they should have "validated" that before they printed that story.

The DND chief added that care should also be exerted when calling the RAS terrorists as it is still to be proven that their alleged acts in Sabah were acts of terrorism.

"They still have to prove that," he added.

Gazmin also said two laws are in effect concerning this issue and that is the law of the Philippines and Malaysia.

"Depending on where they are, the RAS can be charged either with Philippines or Malaysian law," he added.

Meanwhile, representatives from the DND, the Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Foreign Affairs have agreed to call Filipinos who have left Sabah due to the tensions there as "displaced" and not as returnees as people in Sulu and Sabah regard that part of the world as one province.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=510468