Aquino says ‘no’ to Sulu Sultan extradition

Philippine President Beningo Aquino said the sultan will first have to face charges in the Philippines.

MANILA: In a move reminiscent of Malaysia’s actions toward billion-peso scammer Manuel Amalillo, President Benigno Aquino today rejected suggestions from Malaysia that Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III be extradited for ordering his followers to go to Sabah, saying the latter has to first face criminal charges in the Philippines.

“From my perspective, let them face the issues. Let our citizens here in the country face the charges that we will be proffering first, then we will talk about other developments after they have satisfied the requirements of our laws,” Aquino said in an interview aired over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

The president’s tack is similar to the one Malaysia used when the Philippines tried to arrest Amalillo, who fled to Sabah November last year after he was ordered arrested for scamming Filipinos of 12 billion pesos.

Sabah police arrested the Aman Futures Group owner for holding a “fake” Philippine passport late January and refused to hand him over to the Philippine government.

The president said he will not send the military to Sabah to rescue Kiram’s brother, Agbimuddin, and their followers who are still holed up in the island despite losing 23 members in a series of gunfights with Malaysian forces.

“What do they want me to do? Send our Armed Forces of the Philippines? Are they not thinking? Do they want to solve this or inflame the problem further?” he said.

Aquino said the Kirams will never succeed with their armed incursion of Sabah.

“With a force that small and their taking the violent track, it will be impossible for them to achieve their goal,” he said.

“So again, the equation is not that hard for me. You have 20 to 30 armed followers as opposed to the 300,000 to 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah,” the president said.

-Agencies