SULU CLAN IN SABAH STANDOFF FACES TAX RAPS
The Palace seems to have finally taken a stand yesterday on the current standoff in Sabah between Filipinos claiming to represent the Sulu Sultanate and Malaysian forces by warning the Filipino group of likely facing tax evasion charges over the lease the Sultanate has been getting from Malaysia which the Sultanate uses as basis for its stake of ownership on the territory.
The threat to sue the Sabah claimants, who ceded territorial jurisidiction to the Philippines under President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962, came after President Aquino was supposedly infuriated that the Malaysian incursion of the armed Filipinos was calculated to scuttle the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro (FAB) that he signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
An article of former Ambassador to Greece Rigoberto Tiglao said Aquino was angling for the Nobel Peace Prize in arranging the Bangsamoro project which apparently is a reason for Aquino to consider the Sulu militants as working to sabotage the peace agreement.
Brothers Jamalul Kiram and Raja Muda Abimuddin Kiram, who are heirs to the Sultan, could be facing tax evasion charges for non-payment of income tax from the Malaysian government lease payments.
The Kiram’s clan claimed they have been receiving payments of at least $1,500 monthly from the government of Federal government of Malaysia.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is already looking into the income tax records of the Kiram family.
“The BIR through the commissioner, motu propio, may conduct investigation on any income that is taxable. They have admitted the payment on lease. It’s in the newspapers,” the source said.
Under the tax law, a non-payment of taxes is a criminal act and punishable by imprisonment.
The source said Kiram’s as Filipinos are not exempt from the payment of taxes.
“They could be arrested, if a warrant is issued by the court for non payment of taxes. Tax is non-negotiable. But of course, they have to be charged first,” the Malacañang official said.
A Palace source added that the Bangsamoro agreement would be used as Aquino’s achievement showcase for the 22nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit to be held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on April.
A top Malacañang official said the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu could be facing tax evasion cases for non payment of income tax based on the lease contract as they admitted in public.
The official told the Tribune the Aquino administration is already preparing for the incoming meeting of the Asean leaders in Brunei and the FAB was on top of the agenda for the publicity hype on Aquino.
“There is nothing wrong with it as the President is set to attend to the Summit. But of course, the President has to say something good as accomplishments in which one is the Sajahatra Bangsamoro project,” the Malacañang source said.
The Sajahatra project is important to Aquino which prompted the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to fasttrack the sealing of the agreement.
“There was a deadline for the OPAPP. It’s already March next month and that is the word of the President in Sultan Kudarat that by March the provisions of the Framework would be completed already,” the Tribune source said.
Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, meanwhile, said the Sajahatra Bangsamoro project of the Aquino administration would have to push through despite he already week-long Sabah standoff.
“I cannot speak for the Palace. I speak as somebody who is involved in the Mindanao Sajahatra and all that. Of course, everything that we’re trying to do clearly there are people who are also not happy with it. So, my instructions were very clear, which is to pursue the peace process in the best way we can, to push whatever development we can do there so we intend to do that. Now, as to the effect of this incident, I would not be in a position to comment exactly what the effect would be,” Almendras said.
Almendras, who is mandated by administrative order 37 to head the newly created Task Force on Bangsamoro, refused to provide comments on the impending Sabah claims by the Philippine government.
“I’m sorry, I’m not competent to make a comment. I think that will be a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issue. I think, right now there are no comments as of now,” Almendras said.
Almendras said the Aquino administration has not seen a necessity to call for a cabinet meeting only to discuss matters affecting the Sabah issue, and considered not of national significance.
“I don’t think you need to call a full Cabinet meeting. I can assure you that the President is on top of the situation. It’s just that there are some things that are best handled in smaller groups so it’s not a full Cabinet issue,” Almendras said.
Almendras said he was in Mindanao when the Sabah incident broke out that he could not say anything about the trouble the Aquino administration is facing.
Almendras said there was no any meeting with the Kiram clan and President Aquino besetting the issue of Sabah incident.
Almendras denied having any knowledge of President Aquino having really commissioning Mujiv Hataman, governor of the Aotonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to explore negotiations in Sabah for possible cooling off on the demands by the 100 armed group Filipino Muslim.
“The projects in Mindanao will now push through. Sajahatra is going to push through. We are already planning for the next phases of the Sajahatra’s. As a matter of fact, the panel is in Kuala Lumpur for discussion and part of the discussion is the Sajahatra,” Almendras said.
The Sabah issue should be resolved peacefully via diplomatic channels. According to Team PNoy senatorial candidate former Sen. Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr. a diplomatic resolution to the Sabah land struggle is in order even as he urged the group of armed Filipinos in Tanduao to retreat and return to their homeland in Sulu.
The Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate made the call following an announcement from Malaysia’s Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein that there will be no compromise on the Sabah claim issue.
“It’s very embarrassing during these times of good diplomacy. We must remember that Malaysia is a very friendly country to us. Let’s discuss the issue diplomatically,” Magsaysay said in a press conference in Cebu City yesterday morning.
A party-list representative said the government should either make a stand on Sabah or let go of it completely like the country’s strong and indignant claim on the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal.
This was the call of Party-list Rep Sherwin Tugna of Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) who is also the House Assistant Majority Leader regarding the Sabah claim that has recently been put on spotlight because of a tense standoff by armed Filpino men claiming to be Royal guards of the Sultanate of Sulu.
“We do not know why this issue suddenly materialized. As reported in the news, this issue has long been dormant. And now that it’s back in the spotlight, I don’t think a return to the status quo is sensible. It would be prudent if we decide whether or not we are going to reassert our authority and claim over Sabah. Otherwise it would always be an issue that we would evade and not have a resolution on. It may be difficult, but a clear stand on the issue is needed,” said Tugna, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Reports indicate that while Malaysian security forces maintained a distance of over 500 meters from the armed group of Rajah Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram, as police, army and naval activities have significantly increased in Tanduao, Lahad Datu in the last 24 hours.
Makabayan Coalition Senate bet, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño yesterday said it was time to seriously consider reviving the Philippine claim to Sabah and “vigorously pursue a diplomatic and peaceful solution on the Sabah dispute based on the national interest of the Filipino people. Government should not turn its back on our Muslim brothers. We should start talks with Malaysia for a just, comprehensive and peaceful solution to the issue,” he added.
“It is in the interest of the nation that the Philippine government pursues the Sabah claim with the same intensity as it is asserting our sovereignty and territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea. Sabah is populated by Filipino Muslims and has rich natural resources that can help provide food, jobs and materials needed by industry,” Casiño said.
Casiño furthered that by pursuing negotiations with Malaysia, “we can strengthen the Philippines’ historical position to regain what rightfully belongs to the Sultanate of Sulu and the Philippine territory.”
The Philippines’ official claim to Sabah on behalf of the Sultanate of Sulu was first made during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962, before Sabah was officially made a state of Malaysia. Malaysia continues to pay a token annual rent of about 5,300 ringgit (P77,000) to the Sultanate of Sulu as a “cession fee.”
Charlie V. Manalo, Gerry Baldo
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