Sabah Death Toll “33” atrocities hinting Civil War: Villagers Attacking Malaysian Police killing 3

• March 1: 12 Sulu Royal Army killed, and 2 Malaysian Police
• March 2: 2 Malaysian Police killed by ambushed
• March 3: 3 Malaysian Policed killed by Villagers, 3 other Malaysian Police killed by armed men, 5 Sulu Royal Army supporters killed by police, 1 armed man killed by villager, 1 Imam religious leader and his 4 sons killed by Malaysian Police

Death counts: [12+2+2+3+3+5+1+1+4=33]

Update as of March 4, 2013 8:50 AM +8 GMT

At least six followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and six Malaysian policemen were killed in clashes in Sabah over the weekend, following Friday's violent shootout that killed 12 Royal Sulu Army and two Malaysian commandos.

Sources from the Philippines authorities monitoring the Kampung Tanduo standoff said Friday's bloody clash that left 12 South Philippines gunmen dead may have provoked sentiments among their followers who have settled along the coastal villages between Tawau and Lahad Datu.

"These gunmen from the Sulu Sultanate are made up mainly of four tribes, namely the Tausug, Maguindanao, Badjao and Samal. These tribes have great brotherhood among them and regardless of their nationalities; they will rise in show of loyalty to their ethnicity.

"It will be no surprise if these tribes living in Malaysia join forces to fight the cause of their Sultanate of Sulu in the Southern Philippines counterparts.

"In Southern Philippines, these tribes also make up the bulk of MNLF, MILF and Abu Sayaf rebels, joining forces in an alliance of convenience to fight common causes. They are hardcore rebels who have battle in their blood and do not give up easily. It is not unusual for them fight to their death." said a source.

The sources said intelligence reports showed that the armed group of about 200 who are followers of the Sulu Ruler Sultan Jamalul Kiram III had planned of settling North Borneo for their claimed as their territory at least four months earlier.

" Sultan Jamalul Kiram III held a meeting with his followers, members of the MNLF and remnants of the Abu Sayaf rebels in October last year and offered them land in Sabah if they fought along to capture the state. They have been entering Sabah undetected since before the standoff on Feb 12, 2013. Other large groups had also attempted to penetrate the Sabah coast since the standoff but it was thwarted by the Philippines navy that has deployed seven ships to keep them away from Malaysian waters."

It is learnt that Sultan Jamalul Kiram III's brother, crowned prince Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram who is leading the armed group in Kampung Tanduo, had on Saturday pleaded for medical assistance for his injured men from the Philippines forces guarding their waters.

However, when he was told that aid would only be rendered if his group gave up their firearms and surrender, Azzimudie refused and remained defiant. It is also learnt that the group had been burying its dead members since Saturday.

Friday's clash ended the 16-day standoff that began on Feb 12 with two police commandos of the Malaysian General Operations Force elite VAT 69 killed and their three squad members severely injured.

Meanwhile, Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, the younger brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, claimed during a telephone interview with a Philippines radio station that his men had captured at least five Malaysian policemen and seized a cache of firearms. His claims have yet to be verified with police.

Sources also revealed that three of the five policemen who were killed in the ambush at Kampung Sri Jaya Siminul in Semporna were ruthlessly attacked with parangs and keris by a dozen of people said to be Tausug villagers living there.

It is learnt that a prominent and religious leader who was part of the group that was ambushed and shot by the police party was killed when police returned fire, and this infuriated the rest who went on a rampage with knives and sharp objects.

The superintendent had led three dozen police personnel in an operation at Kampung Sri Jaya Siminul, about 180km from the original area of the stand-off in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu.

The operation was launched at 4pm on Saturday following intelligence reports of the existence of a cache of firearms in the village and that an uprising by certain groups of villagers believed to be of Southern Philippines origin and residing there was in the making.

About three hours into the operation, the team came under gunfire attack while it was scouring one village after another.

It is learnt that the superintendent who was the first to be hit by a hail of gunshots fired by hiding gunmen died moments later.  

With reports from the Sun Daily, NewStraitsTimes , ABS-CBN News & GMA News

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Philippines’ elite swallow country’s new wealth

Optimism is soaring that the Philippines is finally becoming an Asian tiger economy, but critics caution a tiny elite that has long dominated is amassing most of the new wealth while the poor miss out.

President Benigno Aquino has overseen some of the highest growth rates in the region since he took office in 2010, while the stock market has hovered in record territory, credit ratings have improved and debt ratios have dropped.

"The Philippines is no longer the sick man of East Asia, but the rising tiger," World Bank country director Motoo Konishi told a forum attended by many of Aquino's economic planning chiefs recently.

However economists say that, despite genuine efforts from Aquino's team to create inclusive growth, little progress has been made in changing a structure that for decades has allowed one of Asia's worst rich-poor divides to develop.

"I think it's obvious to everyone that something is structurally wrong. The oligarchy has too much control of the country's resources," Cielito Habito, a respected former economic planning minister, told AFP.

He presented data to the same economic forum at which Konishi spoke, showing that in 2011 the 40 richest families on the Forbes wealth list accounted for 76 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

This was the highest in Asia, compared with Thailand where the top 40 accounted for 33.7 percent of wealth growth, 5.6 percent for Malaysia and just 2.8 percent for Japan, according to Habito.

According to the Forbes 2012 annual rich list, the two wealthiest people in the Philippines, ethnic Chinese magnates Henry Sy and Lucio Tan, were worth a combined $13.6 billion.

This equated to six percent of the entire Philippine economy.

In contrast, about 25 million people, or one quarter of the population, lived on $1 a day or less in 2009, which was little changed from a decade earlier, according to the government's most recent data.

Some of the elite families have dominated since the Spanish colonial era that ended in the late 1800s.

Prominent Spanish names, such as Ayala and Aboitiz, continue to control large chunks of the economy and members of the families are consistent high placers on Forbes' annual top-40 wealth list.

Their business interests range from utilities to property development to banking, telecommunications and the booming business process outsourcing industry.

Many of the ethnic Chinese tycoons, such as Sy and Tan, got their start soon after the country gained post-World War II independence from the United States.

The tendency for the same names to dominate major industries can be partly attributed to government regulations that continue to allow near monopolies and protections for key players.

For decades after independence from the United States in 1946, important sectors such as air transport and telecommunications were under monopoly control, according to a Philippine Institute for Development Studies paper.

Despite wide-ranging reforms since 1981, big chunks of the market remain effective oligopolies or cartels, it said.

Habito said the path to riches for the few is also helped by a political culture that allows personal connections to easily open doors.

The Aquino government's mantra since succeeding graft-tainted Gloria Arroyo's administration has been good governance and inclusive growth, and their efforts have been applauded by the international community.

The government is spending more than $1 billion this year on one of its signature programmes to bridge the rich-poor divide.

The conditional cash transfers programme will see 15 million of the nation's poorest people receive money directly in exchange for going to school and getting proper health care.

However Louie Montemar, a political science professor at Manila's De La Salle University, said little had been done at the top end to impact on the dominance of the elite.

"There's some sense to the argument that we've never had a real democracy because only a few have controlled economic power," Montemar told AFP.

"The country dances to the tune of the tiny elite."

Nevertheless, the government and economists say there are many other reforms that can be taken to bring about inclusive growth.

Analysts said the most direct path out of poverty was improving worker skills, using higher tax revenues to boost spending on infrastructure, and rebuilding the country's manufacturing sector.

To this end, many economists endorse the Aquino government's cash transfer programme as well as reforms to the education system, which include extending the primary and high school system from 10 to 13 years.

But for people such as mother-of-five Remy del Rosario, who earns about 1,500 pesos ($36) a week selling cigarettes on a Manila roadside, talk of structural reform and inclusive growth mean little.

With her bus driver husband out of work, the family has no savings and her income is barely enough to cover food, bus fare, and prescription medicines.

"Other people may be better off now, but we see no improvement in our lives," she said. (http://bit.ly/Ximlsw)

AFP/ INQUIRER Business 

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