Phl seeks extension for 'royal army' in Sabah

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday that they have asked Malaysia to extend the deadline it gave for the royal army of the Sultanate of Sulu to leave Sabah.

Del Rosario said that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) asked for an extension of "several days" from Malaysian authorities as the group of Rajah Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram refused to leave Lahad Datu the request of President Benigno Aquino III.

“I put through a request for another deadline and I said we should be given more time precisely to give the Kirams a chance to think about what the President have said,” Del Rosario told reporters in a chance interview.

He said that they conveyed the request on Tuesday night. The deadline lapsed Tuesday midnight.

The royal army went to Lahad Datu on February 12 to insist the sultanate's claim over Sabah.

President Aquino on Tuesday asked Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram to order Rajah Muda and his men to withdraw from Lahad Datu peacefully.

Reports said that Malaysian authorities have been dropping leaflets to the area where the royal army is holed up since Tuesday.

Del Rosario, however, said that the situation in Sabah remained "quiet."

“All is quiet. We don’t have much information. I think the fact that there is nothing coming out of there is probably attributed to the time that is being given for the Kirams to process the President’s message,” Del Rosario said.