Manila: Catholic bishops on Thursday called on the government to soften its stand on Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram as clerics try to weigh on an issue that has hitherto been avoided by the country’s religious leaders.
In an interview by the Church-run radio station Veritas 486 Radyo Totoo (Truth Radio), Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue chairman Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma urged President Benigno Aquino to engage Kiram in a dialogue to put an end to the hostilities between the Sulu Sultan’s followers and Malaysian security forces in Sabah.
“First of all, we regret the violence because this was not necessary. What they should have done was to pursue the dialogue with the stake holders because this is what is important in Mindanao at this time. Well, what we will be asking Malacanang is that they should have handled the issue with sensitivity with regard to the discipline of our Muslim brothers and that we should always continue to ask for peaceful settlement to this issue,” Ledesma said.
The issue involving Sabah had been rooted mainly on the ages old claim of the Sultanate of Sulu on the territory which is now with Malaysia. The matter had transcended religious divisions as several Christians are reportedly fighting for Kiram, a Muslim.
Ledesma also urged the Aquino administration to take immediate steps to prevent the situation in Sabah from worsening. Reports reaching Manila from Malaysia said the crackdown by Malaysian security forces on Kiram’s men under the Royal Army of the Sultanate of Sulu (RASS) had seriously affected the lives of people living in areas in Sabah as people flee the fighting.
Aside from Malaysian residents, among those affected are Filipinos living and working in Sabah.
Reports reaching Manila said the Malaysian are enforcing a food blockade, to deny Kiram’s fighters of support and starve them into surrendering.
Marbel Cotabato Bishop Dimualdo Gutierrez in the same interview by Veritas 486 urged Aquino to take steps to prevent a humanitarian problem as thousands of Sabah residents are running short of food supply as a result of the blockade.
While the Church called on the government to be more sensitive of the situation of Filipinos in Sabah, the Department of Justice issued directives to the National Bureau of Investigation to prepare charges against Kiram and his supporters.
“The instruction of the President is this: Prepare airtight charges which will be filed in Philippine courts,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said in a television interview.
