Sultan’s daughter weds Army major

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines   â€“ Amid the crisis that surrounds the family, Jacel Kiram, daughter of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, tied the knot yesterday with her long-time boyfriend, a junior officer of the Philippine Army, in a simple and private wedding.

Jacel, 35, the eldest daughter of Kiram and his wife, Fatima Cellah, is the go-to person in the Kiram household, ready to protect the welfare of their people on behalf of her father.

Jacel is so low-key that she even begged off from disclosing the name of her betrothed hours before the wedding.

“Let’s just say he’s a Tausug, a fighter from Sulu,” Jacel told The STAR.

Sources, however, identified the groom as Army Maj. Mohammad Yusop Hassan.

“This wedding is a sacrifice for both of us because this will happen only once in our lives,” Jacel said.

Only a few people who are very close to the couple witnessed the ceremony at the Garden Orchid Hotel here.

Those who stood as sponsors were Pastor Boy Saycon (Mutahmeen), Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri and Sitti Khrisna, wife of Sulu sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani.

Jacel said their family decided to make the affair private because of the ongoing standoff between members of the sultanate of Sulu and Malaysian forces over their claim on Sabah.

“We are aware that the families of our fallen royal army and sultanate members and other civilians from Sulu continue to mourn the unfortunate incidents,” Jacel said.

“But we have been preparing for our wedding even before the standoff happened and we decided to push through with it because our elders say it is not good to forgo the original wedding date,” she said, adding that they did not even send out invitations.

In a text message to The STAR, Idjirani said tradition dictates that a dowry for the princess of Sulu is one island, “but the Sultan decided to forgo the tradition.”

“It’s up to the groom to decide what will be his dowry for the princess,” Idjirani said.

He said the wedding of Jacel and Hassan was supposed to be grandiose but they decided otherwise.

Meanwhile, during the wedding yesterday, Kiram instructed the royal army, which reportedly numbers 1,500, not to disrupt the May 5 elections in Malaysia so that the people in Sabah who are mostly Tausugs can exercise their right to vote. - With Perseus Echeminada