Rice prices soar as supply drops in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The crisis in Sabah which triggered trade blockade is now taking its toll on Sulu, an adjacent province of Tawi-Tawi, which is also heavily importing its goods, including rice, from Sabah, a lawmaker said.

Sulu 1st District Rep. Tupay Loong said the rice supply in his province is continuously running low triggering prices to soar.

Loong said the province is 80 percent dependent of its rice supply from nearby Sabah, where trade by Filipino businessmen halted due to the ongoing operations by the Malaysian authorities against remaining members of the royal security force of the Sulu sultanate led by Raja Muda (crown prince) Agbimuddin Kiram.

The Sulu congressman appealed to the national government to increase the rice supply in the province, which also suffered the brunt of the violence that sparked in Sabah for almost two months now.

Prices of goods and other commodities, including gasoline and diesel in Tawi-Tawi province went up early as trade stopped.

Meanwhile, Loong said residents held a rally to denounce abuses allegedly committed by Malaysian forces to Filipinos even those who were born and raised in Sabah but remained unregistered.

He said the people were asking Malaysian authorities to spare sending back Filipinos who have nothing to do with the conflict.

The exodus of Filipinos, who escaped or displaced by the violence from Sabah has already swelled to more than 2,500 people, mostly women and children, according to the emergency response team of the Task Force Basulta (Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi).

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said more than 233 displaced Filipinos, who arrived last week in Taganak Island, Tawi-Tawi from Sandakan, arrived in this city late Wednesday on board their patrol ship.

Lt. Commander Joemark Ange, PCG district spokesman, said some of the displaced Filipinos were disembarked in Bongao, as they were residents in the area and the rest brought in this city were natives of Basilan and mainland Mindanao.

Loong also called on the heirs of the sultanate of Sulu to unite if only to have a strong stand in its claim for Sabah instead of pushing its personal interest to the throne.