Sultan Esmail Kiram II and other claimant-sultans of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (SSNB) will attend the Senate hearing on Monday (May 25, 2015) on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to register their strong opposition.
The Manila Bulletin learned about this Sunday from Abraham “Abe” J. Idjirani, secretary general of the Sultanate.
“Sultan Esmail Kiram II and the other sultans of Sulu will join the Senate hearing to voice their collective opposition to the BBL,” Idjirani said.
“We deny there was massive consultation with the Sultanate about the proposed BBL,” he added.
Relatedly, Idjirani provided this journalist a copy of an 18-page position paper of the Sultanate that details the reasons and sentiments of the leadership of the SSNB over what they described the exclusion in the envisioned Bangsamoro autonomous region for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
He already submitted the document to Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., to Malacañang, House of Representatives, Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel, Embassy of Malaysia, Embassy of the United States, Embassy of Indonesia, Embassy of Brunei, United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and some individuals.
Manila Bulletin
