Palace sympathizes with Kirams over sultan’s death

From GMA News (Oct 20): Palace sympathizes with Kirams over sultan’s death

Malacañang on Sunday sympathized with the friends and relatives of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who died after a battle with a kidney condition.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said the Palace continues to study how the Philippines would go about its claim to Sabah.

“We offer our condolences to the bereaved family and to his loved ones,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.

Kiram died before dawn Sunday at the Philippine Heart Center. His remains were brought to his house in Taguig City and then to the Blue Mosque.

Before he died, he had "ordered" his followers to continue their efforts to “repossess” Sabah.

However, Valte said President Benigno Aquino’s order to the government to study how to go about pursuing the Philippine claim to Sabah is “still ongoing.”

She added Philippines' efforts to pursue Sabah will not be dependent on Kiram alone.

“The study is still ongoing,” she said.

Last March, two party-list lawmakers had asked Aquino to elevate the Philippines' claim to the International Court of Justice.

The appeal was done  days after conflict erupted in Lahad Datu in Sabah, between Malaysian authorities and followers of the Sulu sultanate.

In February this year, Kiram's followers engaged Malaysian forces in an effort to assert their claim on what they call their ancestral territory.

Based in Mindanao, the Islamic sultanate once controlled Sabah in northern Borneo, including Lahad Datu, the site of the stand-off.

Until now, the sultanate's heirs have been receiving a nominal yearly compensation package from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement for possession of Sabah.

Malaysian forces conducted offensives in Sabah to flush out Kiram's followers, and have since charged several of the "intruders" with terrorism and waging war on the King.

The second offense carries the death penalty upon conviction.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/331677/news/nation/palace-sympathizes-with-kirams-over-sultan-s-death