Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, is interviewed by a newspaper reporter at his home in Taguig City, south of Manila yesterday.

Manila Times/Sabah

As followers of the sultan of Sulu continued to defy requests for them to leave Sabah peacefully amid threats of forceful action by Malaysian authorities, officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that they are prepared for the “worst.”

‘“When government plans, there is also a plan for any eventualities. We have to take into consideration . . . the worst. [But] hope things will work out the way we want it in expeditious manner,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a press briefing yesterday.

He did not elaborate.

Hernandez disclosed that to prevent bloodshed, Secretary Albert del Rosario of the Foreign Affairs department is in constant contact with the Malaysian prime minister.

“[Del Rosario] is talking to the minister of Malaysia everyday, almost twice a day. Both governments are also in touch with each other [and] both are committed to solving [the issue] peacefully and expeditiously,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez added that Malaysia has been “cooperative and tolerant” and has given directions “to solve this issue peacefully”.

The spokesman of the sultanate of Sulu, Abraham Idjirani, earlier said that none of their followers will be boarding the ship sent by the government to fetch them if there is no official order from the sultan of Sulu.

This, as Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram 3rd, said in a radio interview that it was a case of “do or die” for them

“I believe we are right [and] this place belongs to us. We will stay,” he added.

He said that they would not leave Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town “until the issue is resolved.”

Despite the deadline set by the Malaysian government, Raja Muda maintained that he and the “royal army” would remain in Tanduao to assert their claim on Sabah.

In Malacañang, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda reiterated that the government’s call on the entire group to go back to their homes and families, while the country’s officials are addressing the core issues they have raised.

“They already were informed that they said that they will refuse to board. But, again, we hope that that report is not true but we certainly hope that they will think about their women and, if there are any children there or if there are any sickly among them, that they will consider allowing our social workers, our doctors to take care of them,” he said.

“The ship will stay there as long as it is needed,” Lacierda said.

“It’s a humanitarian mission. There are confirmed reports of women but we don’t know of children. But certainly there are women and a number of them, if you recall, only—I think the DFA mentioned already that among the group, there are only 30 armed security personnel of Datu Puing,” he said

Lacierda said that the government, the Malaysian government and the Kiram family would like to have a peaceful resolution to this entire situation.

“We continue to hold that prayer. And we would certainly hope that the Kiram family, or Datu Puing in Sabah would recognize that there may be some concerns there, certain difficulties that they’re experiencing, and that’s why we sent a humanitarian ship to Sabah,” he added

Del Rosario earlier asked the Malaysian government to extend until today the deadline for the so-called royal army of the Sulu sultanate to head for home but the Malaysian government has yet to respond to the request.

“Since there are no movements there, it means that the deadline did not set in,” Hernandez said, referring to the deadline that was due on Sunday.

It was the second time that the Malaysian government extended the deadline. Del Rosario’s request for a Tuesday deadline will be the third extension already.

Once the deadline lapses, Malaysian authorities are expected to forcibly deport the Filipinos back to Mindanao, or to make arrests there.

“It is important for us to really persuade . . . We are doing things that we could do to persuade them [group]. There’s an ongoing talk to the people on the ground, including the leadership and Kiram,” he stressed.

The Foreign Affairs department has urged the armed group holed up in the Lahad Datu town of Sabah to board the ship that was sent there by the Philippine government on Sunday and end the weeks-long standoff in the contested island.

Hernandez explained that the ship will be pre-positioned at the Malaysian border to fetch the women and civilians who would like to be sent home to their families in Mindanao.

From Lahad Datu, the Malaysian government will bring the women and civilians to where the ship will be anchored along the border.

Hernandez said that together with the Department of Justice, they are studying the best way to address the issue of the country’s claim on Sabah.

“The issue of Sabah claim will have to be dealt with in an appropriate time. What is important now is the Lahad Datu issue and to have these people go home safely and unhurt,” Hernandez said.

He added that President Benigno Aquino 3rd has already directed the concerned departments to look into the matter.

Sabah is a contested territory between the Philippines and Malaysia.

Sabah was believed to have been leased to the British North Borneo Co. by the sultanate of Sulu in the late 1800s, but Great Britain officially transferred the island to Malaysia in 1963.