Malaysian Propaganda: Navy killing 35 Sulu Royal Army Supporters denied by the Philippines

photo: Malaysiakini.com 

Though Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed press reports that 35 Sulu Royal Force supporters were shot dead by the Philippines Navy, the latter denied any knowledge of the incident.

Confirming an Utusan Malaysia report today, Zahid told reporters in Penang that Sulu Royal Force supporters were shot in Sibutu Island in Tawi-tawi Province.

He said based on intelligence reports and information, the militants had "intended to enter Sabah to create chaos" in the days before the May 5 general election.

He said that the Malaysian security personnel "would have taken them out" if these militants had bypassed the Philippine forces.

"We will defend our country," the minister said.

Utusan reported that the Philippine security forces shot dead 35 members of the Kiram terrorists, led by its senior leader Kalling Amirul, in a fierce battle at Sibutu Island last Saturday.

The report claimed that the group was planning a strategy to encroach and attack the Sabah east coast to obstruct the GE13 process.

It also claimed that the Philippine security forces had seized 20 M16 and Grand Rifles.

Zahid went on to even thank the Philippines Navy and its coastguards.

But strangely enough the the Philippines Navy has denied any such incident.

Philippine Navy branded as "mere propaganda" Malaysia's claim

Malaysia Caretaker Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Photo from Malaysiakini.com

It's peaceful here Philippine Navy Captain Renato Yonkey said. "Only evacuees from Sabah have been arriving in Tawi-Tawi," he said.

"There's no news because if there is something big it would explode."

 "Our Task Force Commander in Tawi-Tawi said that he does not have any such information pertaining to the reported death of 35 RSF supporters," said Col. Edgar Arevalo, spokesman on the Sabah issue. The Naval Task Force based in Tawi-Tawi also categorically denied the report, adding that the prevailing peace and order environment in his jurisdiction remained "favorable."

"We have not monitored of any incident transpiring in Tawi- Tawi as the situation here is peaceful," Navy Capt Renato Yonke, Commander of Task Force 62 tasked to guard the southern back door shoreline of any RSF supporters departing for Sabah.

Yonkie said that if the report was true, the information would surely spread quickly among the residents in Taw-Tawi and as far as Basilan and Jolo.

The Sulu Sultanate likewise laughed off Zahid's claim, saying a shootout between the Philippine Navy and the Sulu Royal Force Supporters would not have escaped the attention of the Philippine government, much more the local media.

"That's funny, really. It seemed they (Malaysians) had ran out of wild stories. Their past propaganda has not been successful so they are trying to create a story so we Filipinos would fight each other," Idjirani said.

The Sultanate official said he had just returned Wednesday night from Jolo, Sulu where he witnessed the public demonstration of thousands of Tausugs against the Malaysian government.

"I was in Jolo since Thursday last week. If something happens in Jolo, we will certainly know it, and fast," Idjirani said.

"We've been saying all along that we would not cause any trouble to the Malaysian elections," Idjirani added.

The May 5 Malaysian general election will have Prime Minister Najib Razak running against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Najib is running under Barisan National (BN) against Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat party,

In his campaign speeches, Najib and BN party candidates had emphasized the importance of the military offensive to end the armed conflict in Sabah.

Unlike the BN government, Najib said Pakatan Rakyat has been batting for the other side by "meeting up with those who don't like Sabah to remain within Malaysia".

But the Sultanate said that whoever wins the elections in Malaysia, it would continue to fight for the ownership of Sabah.

"Even if Najib lost in the elections, we will maintain our position on a win-win process, that is to reclaim Sabah," he added.

He said the electoral process in Malaysia is also important for the sultanate since many Tausug people, who are supporters of the Sultan have settled in Sabah and will cast their votes.

Agbimuddin will allow the Tausug and Malaysian people to participate in the elections peacefully, according to Idjirani.

With report from, Manila Standard Today, Free Malaysia Today and Malaysia Kini

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Why Extremely Poor in the Philippines keeps rising in spite of Fastest Economic Growth in Asia?

Analysts and even the Philippine government said "The effect of this Economic growth could not be experience by the poor" in an overnight which means maybe tomorrow everyone will enjoy a better life but could it be possible, when could it happen?

The Philippine government since the Arroyo administration introduced the easy "Band Aid" solution for the poor through a "direct cash transfer programme" which is known as "Pantawid Program". The same system is followed by the Aquino Administration but how effective is the Pantawid program?

There is a sayings "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The pantawid program is good but it is not a long and lasting solution to end the poverty in the Philippines.

While other neighbors are enjoying thousands of dollars remittance from the "OFW" abroad, other neighbors on the other hand are continuously suffering hunger and living below the standards which we could consider as "extremely poor".

Do you think that it is right that Tax payers are paying their taxes to the government and would just be distributed to the poor families for their basic needs for one day then tomorrow the same problem again?  

There seems to be a paradox in the present Philippine situation with a large number of Filipinos still mired in extreme poverty amidst an economic growth that is among the fastest in the region.

On Tuesday, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), a government agency, announced that the poverty incidence in the Philippines stood at 27.9 percent in the first semester of 2012, practically unchanged from the same period in 2009, which was 28.6 percent, and in 2006 which was 28.8 percent.

The NSCB data show that 10 percent of the country's population of about 97 million is still living below the poverty level.

In a briefing, NSCB Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert said that during the first semester of 2012, a Filipino family of five needed 5,458 Philippine pesos (136 U.S. dollars) monthly to meet basic food needs.

"Families earning that amount were considered to be living in extreme poverty," Albert said.

After the bad news, that was bannered by leading Manila newspapers, came the good news on Wednesday when Moody's Analytics described the Philippines as a "rising star" poised to record one of the fastest growth rates in the world.

Moody's Analytics said that the Philippines is likely to grow between 6.5 and 7 percent this year and within the same range next year, "outperforming not only the anemic advanced economies but also many robustly growing emerging markets."

It also said that if favorable economic trends continue, the growth rate for the Philippines could be close to 8 percent by 2016.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank also upped their growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 6 percent.

Moody's Analytics, a sister company of credit rating watchdog Moody's Investor Service, said the country's 6.6 percent growth in 2012 was achieved despite weak growth in the United States, a crisis in the eurozone and a slowdown in China.

On March 27, the Philippines also obtained its first-ever investment-grade rating from Fitch Ratings.

On a similar vein, international credit rating firm Standard & Poor's has raised its growth forecast for the Philippines for this year from 5.9 to 6.5 percent. At the same time, it said the economy was expected to post another robust growth of 6.3 percent in 2014.

"The ASEAN 5 - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - are more domestically driven and, therefore, continue to enjoy relatively high and stable growth rates. This is not the case elsewhere," S&P said.

The paradox of continuing poverty amidst strong growth has been explained by analysts here.

Norio Usui, ADB senior country economist, said that the government must solve the problem of jobless growth if it hoped to reduce poverty.

"I am not surprised at all. The benefits of strong economic growth have not spilled over to the people because they still cannot find a job," Usui was quoted as saying in a report.

In January 2013 jobless rate stood at 7.1 percent, with a further 20.9 percent underemployed or those working fewer than 40 hours a week. About 41.8 percent of the underemployed are in the farming sector.

Professor Benjamin Diokno of the University of the Philippines School of Economics said that the strong economic growth in 2010 and 2012 "were not enough to extricate a lot of people from the poverty trap."

Sen. Ralph Recto, chairman of the ways and means committee of the Philippine Senate, said that only the rich and the educated have benefited from the infrastructure projects of the government and not the poor and uneducated.

"This led to income inequality with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer," Recto said.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the challenge now is to spur growth in agriculture to create more jobs, increase production and ensure that the production translates to a greater income for farmers since the bulk of the population was still in the agricultural sector.

Lacierda noted that private investments had increased, and that public infrastructure spending in 2012 was around 250 billion pesos (6.25 billion U.S. dollars).

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it hoped to see improved results given new investments in infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.

"Although this first semester result on poverty incidence is not the dramatic result we wanted, we remain hopeful that, with the timely measures we are now implementing, the next rounds of poverty statistics will give much better results," NEDA Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said at a briefing.

With reports from Wall Street Journal, Inquirer, Malaya and philSTAR

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