Tuesday’s feature of Kris TV was the Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, a close friend of the Aquinos.
Kris related that her family’s closeness with the Sultan of Johor, Ibrahim Ismail, dates back to their Boston stay in the mid’80s. The Sultan was a student in the United States at that time. Internet search showed that he received military training in the US–at Fort Benning, Georgia and later at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Kris said the image that she had of the Sultan during their Boston meetings was Ibrahim driving a Rolls Royce.
The Sultan showed off his collection of expensive cars, numbering 300. It is reported that the Johor Sultan and President Aquino share a passion for luxury cars.
Kris excitedly quipped while she was touring the Sultan’s air-conditioned garage, “I’ll show Noy the video and he’ll come.”
The Lahad Datu siege in March this year, which was precipitated by the decision of the Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III to press their ownership of a large part of Sabah, now one of the 13 states of Malaysia despite the claim of the Philippines over the oil and mineral rich territory , some three-fourths of it was given by the Sultan of Brunei to the Sultan of Sulu in 1704 as a reward for the latter’s help in suppressing a rebellion.
Early February, some 80 to 100 men led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Jamalul Kiram III, arrived in the coastal village of Lahad Datu in Sabah and resisted attempts by Malaysian authorities to expel them. The fighting spread to the town of Semporna. One of the Malaysian policemen killed was L/Kpl Mohd Azrol Tukiran, a close friend of the Johor prince, Tuanku Laksamana Tunku Abdul Jalil, who is also a member of the Malaysian police.
A Malaysian newspaper reported that the Sultan of Johor wept over the policeman’s death saying the victim and his son” close friends and even slept next to each other during their police special forces training in Ulu Kinta in Perak.”
The Star quoted Sultan Ibrahim as saying “losing a close friend had affected the prince.”
Innocent civilians, mostly Filipinos, were caught in the conflict. President Aquino never condemned the atrocities. He even blamed Kiram for starting the trouble and threatened him and his men with legal actions.
It was a civil society groups that filed a complaint against Malaysia for maltreatment of Filipinos before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Many wondered who was advising Aquino in his pro-Malaysian position in the Sabah conflict. Jacel Kiram, granddaughter of Jamalul Kiram III, said they have information that the Sultan of Johor was in touch with Aquino.
The position of Sultan of Johor, the 5th largest state by land area and 2nd most populous state in Malaysia, is ceremonial. The power is exercised by the chief minister.
In power plays, even figureheads have their uses. Apparently, Malaysia knows how to use them.
And the Philippines? Kris TV.
Tama ba ang ginawa ni Kiram? Wala ba siyang dapat panagutan dun sa nangyari? Anong klaseng lider ang magsasabak ng kanyang tauhan sa isang sitwasyon na wala silang kalaban-laban? And what do Kris and the Sultan have to do with the trouble that the misguided Kiram got not only his followers but his country into?
Kaya walang mangyayari sa Sabah issue mamatay man lahat ang pinoy sa Sultanate habang si Pnoy ang pangulo.
Mas pinahahalagahan nila ang pagkakaibigan sa Sultan ng Johor kesa sa buhay ng kapwa pinoy. Nakakadismaya ang treatment ng magkapatid na Noy at Kris sa issue ng Sabah at mga namatay na pinoy na bumabawi ng kanilang ari-arian.
Reyna Elena in FB:
Not just insensitivity but pulpulness to the maximum level. all the right qualifications to be the next Vice President and President of the Philippines.
Tama din ba ang ginawa o inasal ni Pnoy? Anong klaseng lider din ang hindi proprotektahan ang sarili niyang tauhan?
Anne de Bretagne in FB:
Not even an ounce of political delicadeza in that woman. We frankly shouldn’t care even if she ‘screws’ or ‘beds’ all the sultans of Malaysia if she does it discreetly but what we must care about is that because she is the sister of President NoyNoy Aquino, a showbiz person in her own right, her move is a subliminal message from Malacanang to the Kuala Lumpur royalties and politicians that NoyNoy Aquino is officially paving the way for the giving up of the nation’s right over Sabah.
The country has an outstanding issue with Kuala Lumpur. Many of our countrymen were brutalised, and murdered by Malaysian troops in the recent Kuala Lumpur attacks on Lahad Datu. Many are facing prison sentences and even the death penalty in Malaysia. This callous move by Kris Aquino is like a slap to those Tausugs in Sabah who have been fighting for a piece of dignity.
For President Aquino’s sister to be seen “cavorting with the enemy” is really despicable in the extreme.
Rewind to March 21. Popular newspaper The Malaysian Insider carried this on their front page:
Nagtatanga-tangahan lang ba si Edwin Lacierda, o wala lang talagang alam?
Kung sa palagay ninyo tama ang ginawa ni Kiram, bakit hindi kayo mag-enlist sa kanyang “army”? I am sure tatanggaping niya kayo. Kung ayaw naman ninyo sumabak sa bakbakan, bakit hindi kayo magpadala ng pera para makabili siya ng armas? Ako magpapadala ng pera, para magpa-psychiatrist si Kiram. 🙂
Manuel, dapat siguro ikaw ang magpa-psychiatrist. Isama mo na si Pnoy.
Ano yan, argument ng pikon?
if bongbong marcos runs for president in 2016 and becomes a formidable candidate, the panicky yellow army will possibly lodge kris as the most worthy opponent…and i don’t find these prospects exciting.
MB,
nag-aral ka naman, bi ba?
kinalimutan mo lang siguro ang Philippine history kaya ganyang pangkekengkoy ang sinasabi mo.
mas maige siguro para maliwanagan ka ay SUMAGLIT ka sa Jolo at makihalubilo sa mga Taosug upang malaman mo kung totoo o hindi ang claims ng mga Kiram over Sabah.