MANILA, Philippines - The wife of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III on Wednesday asked the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to probe how the Sulu Sultanate’s letter to President Aquino got lost.
Fatima Fatima Cecilia Kiram told reporters that had President Aquino received the Sultanate’s letter, the ongoing fighting between Malaysian security forces and the more than 200 fighters of the Sulu Royal Army could have been averted.
“The Civil Service Commission should decide on that matter. Kung talagang mahigpit sila sa kanilang batas, siguro may dapat parusahan. It is gross negligence on the part of the civil servant,†she said.
Mrs. Kiram said under the rules of the CSC, a civil servant should respond to a letter within 15 days or be subject to either suspension or dismissal from office.
“Bilang retired government employee, hindi naalis sa isipan ko na within 15 days pag may sumulat sa yo, under the law, ay kailangang sagutin mo yun or you will be subject to suspension or dismissal from the office. That is very clear under the Civil Service Law natin. Dapat binibigyan ng pansin ang sulat ng mamamayang Filipino,†she told reporters.
“Whoever is the head of the agency o sino man ang civil servant, hindi sususulat say o ang isang tao kung walang lamang mabuti o magsusumbong man lang,†she added.
Mrs. Kiram said they wrote to the President three times.
“As far as we are concerned na-receive ito sa Malacanang, addressed to the President. I don’t know paano napunta ito sa DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs),†she said.
“Gusto naming iparating sa gobyerno na huwag naman kaming i-pwera. Bakit ayaw kaming pakinggan? Had the Sultan been heard with these letters and was given a response and been given the authority to deal with these people na may ginagawa palagay ko hindi magiging impatient. Hindi kami naging remiss sa pagsasabi sa government,†she added.
“You want to solve the problem in Mindanao, use as a mechanism. Yung politicians walang nagawa lalo pang naging grabe ang situation. You could see the interest of these people in power .The concern of the Sultanate of Sulu and the Sultan of Sulu is for a better place for his people and for everybody. It has been tested by time,†Mrs. Kiram added.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had earlier taken “full responsibility†for failing to attend to a letter that Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s brother had sent the President in 2010, where he sought the Sulu sultanate’s participation in the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The DFA bared that the “missing letter†of Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram had been found to be in the foreign office’s custody.
The Raja Muda is now leading some 200 forces of the Royal Sulu Army in fighting the Malaysian security forces in Sabah.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Kiram said that as of yesterday afternoon, fighting between the Malaysian forces and the Royal Sulu Army had again erupted.
“As of last night (Tuesday) walang assault. As of noontime kanina (Wednesday) tuloy na naman,†she told reporters.
Mrs. Kiram also said that there was no information coming from the Royal Sulu Army about a member of the Sulu Army being killed in a fresh encounter in Lahad Datu which was reported by the Malaysia Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar.
“Walang nabanggit,†she said.