|
By Julmunir I. Jannaral, Correspondent
Darul Jambangan, Sulu: The historical bilateral relations of the
Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) and the Sultanate of
Brunei where based on historical account indicating the two have
blood relations would have more chances of being revived as the
rulers of the two Sultanates met for the first in Malacanang Palace
last week.
Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram 1st, the
35th de jure reigning ruler of the Sultan of Sulu and Sultan of
Sabah had personally met His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
Mu’izzadin Waddaulah during a state dinner in honor of the latter
hosted by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the First Gentleman
lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo held in Malacanang recently.
Aside from the Sultan of Sulu and Sabah, senior
officials of the Philippine government and Brunei also attended the
state dinner. Among them were Chief Justice Reynato Puno; Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile; House Speaker Prospero Nograles; Armed
Forces Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano; business tycoon Lucio
Tan; Office on Muslim Affairs Executive Director Datu Ali Sangki;
members of the diplomatic corps as well as members of the Senate and
the House of Representatives; and cabinet members. Brunei Foreign
Minister Pehin Lim Jock Seng who was also among the official
entourage of the Sultan of Brunei that attended the exclusive state
dinner.
Sultan Fuad Kiram told The Manila Times in an
exclusive interview that he was pleased to meet Sultan Bolkiah
especially when he shook the hand of the ruler of Brunei, and
greeted him the Muslim greetings “Assalamu Alaykum [Peace be with
you] your majesty.” He said Sultan Bolkiah responded to him
“Alaykum Wassalam [Peace be with you too] your majesty.”
Based on the genealogy, the two Sultans are
related by blood as one family because their common ancestor was
Brunei Sultan Muhammad Hassan whose reign was from 1582 to 1598.
The genealogy further stated that Sultan Muhammad Hassan had a wife
who was a Brunei princess and that the past sultans of Brunei
originated and finally descended down to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
On the other hand, Sultan Muhammad Hassan also
had another wife who was a princess from Sulu where the past Sultans
of Sulu and Sabah had also originated, and descended eventually to
Sultan Fuad Kiram as the current 35th reigning Sultan of Sulu and
Sabah.
The historical account also stated that Palawan
and North Borneo, which is now the timber and oil rich Sabah were
gifts by the Sultan of Brunei to the Sultan of Sulu in 1658 after
the Sulu Sultan helped the former quell rebellion in Borneo. Thus,
Palawan and Sabah became properties of the Sulu crown from 1658 up
to this day.
Prior to Spain’s invasion in 1521, the place
that is now the Philippines was a Muslim dominion with the Sultan of
Brunei ruling Luzon, while the Sultan of Sulu ruled Visayas and
Mindanao. In a joint force, the Sultans of Brunei and Sultan of Sulu
fought the Spanish invasion together that lasted until 1690.
However, from 1691 up to 1898, the Sultans who
ruled the Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah fought the Spaniards
single-handedly. Thus, the meeting of Sultan Fuad and Sultan Bolkiah
in Malacanang last week was considered as historic among royal
cousins, and was indeed a sort of family reunion.
As this developed, according to Prince Omar
Kiram, the grand prince and prince marshal of the Sultanate of Sulu
and North Borneo, the official invitation by President Arroyo to
Sultan Fuad to attend the exclusive state dinner, where he was
formally acknowledged as the “Sultan of Sulu and Sultan of Sabah”
was an official recognition of Sultan Fuad as the legitimate ruler
of the Sulu Sultanate.
Prince Omar also emphasized that the momentous
event attended by Sultan Fuad should now put to rest the issue as to
the rightful owner of the present and only throne as claimed by
other members of the royal family in Sulu.
|
