Manila to give legal aid for eight held in Sabah crisis

Agencies/ManilaThe Philippines government will provide legal assistance to eight of its nationals charged in Malaysia for intruding into the North Borneo state of Sabah, despite not supporting their campaign, President Beningo Aquino III said yesterday.The eight Filipinos are believed to be armed followers of Philippine Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who set up a base in the Lahad Datu camp in Sabah on February 12 to assert their ancestral claim over the territory.“It is automatic that we will give legal assistance to any Filipino facing charges overseas regardless of whether we believe in what they are fighting for or not,” Aquino told reporters. “We have an obligation to protect their rights and the departments of foreign affairs and justice are closely monitoring the development,” he added. Aquino has criticised Kiram for sending his men to Sabah to stake their claim on the land, and has repeatedly called on the sultan to tell his followers to return to the Philippines.Malaysia on Wednesday charged the eight Filipinos with terrorism and waging war against the king for the incursion into Sabah. Both crimes carry a maximum death penalty.The eight were arrested after fighting broke out between Kiram’s followers and Malaysian police on March 1. The clashes have left at least 57 Filipino gunmen and 10 Malaysian security forces dead.An unidentified teenage boy was also shot by a Malaysian patrol. A previous sultan leased Sabah in 1878 to the British North Borneo Co, which passed it to Malaysia when the latter gained independence. Kuala Lumpur pays the current sultan 5,300 ringgit (1,680 dollars) per year in rent.A group of Sabah-based lawyers have also expressed their intention to help the eight detained men.The Sabah Law Association, in a report carried by Malaysian news agency The Star, said it is ready to ensure that the eight Filipinos are accorded due process. Aquino earlier ordered an inter-agency team led by executive secretary Paquito Ochoa to come up with a roadmap to resolve the Sabah conflict peacefully. “I have tasked the department of foreign affairs, the department of justice and our executive secretary to research and recommend a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of the Sabah conflict,” the president said.The President also formed a team comprising the departments of foreign affairs and justice, presidential communications development and strategic planning office to study the status of the country’s claim on Sabah and how the government can move it forward. Aquino said the Philippines is open to negotiating with Malaysia and embarking on a rules-based approach to resolve the Sabah claim similar to the case filed by Manila against Beijing to address the territorial dispute over Panatag Shoal.“What is needed here is a careful and truthful evaluation of the facts, and a subsequent negotiation along those lines, to produce the right solution,” the president said.