It's sad that the present standoff in Sabah between the Malaysian government and the "royal army" of the Sultanate of Sulu has resulted in bloodshed and even reports of Malaysian abuses of Filipino civilians caught in the crossfire.
But what is sadder is the utter mismanagement of the issue by the administration and President Aquino's glaring ignorance and even stupidity by his orders for "surrender." To make matters worse, PNoy has even resorted to playing the blame-game and throwing below-the-belt attacks on the Sultan of Sulu.
Rather than quickly organize and lead a crisis committee, PNoy has instead launched a propaganda war against the former administration of allegedly being part of or leading a conspiracy to sabotage the on-going peace talks with the MILF. My God, PNoy is well past halfway his term and still all he does is blame GMA who happens to be in detention anyway.
Rather than immediately hold a dialogue with Sultan Kiram, PNoy has been spending more time campaigning for his senatorial team-patay and team-political-dynasties. PNoy is the president of ALL Filipinos, including especially the ordinary foot soldiers and followers of the Sultan of Sulu who committed themselves to the Sabah question by actual "invasion" or physical occupation of a portion of Sabah in Lahad Datu. They are equally his "bosses" too.
Whether Sultan Kiram and his people are right or wrong in their quest is a matter that PNoy could have immediately handled with Malaysia through diplomatic channels. Here it bears stressing that the Sabah question remains to this day an international issue that goes back to our pre-colonial history and centuries of colonization under Spain and the USA.
Any Philippine president should not be standing idly by while Filipinos are being killed by foreign forces and Filipino civilians are reportedly being abused, discriminated against, arrested and imprisoned, and uprooted from their homes and means of livelihood by retaliatory deportation. But alas, PNoy is acting more of a Malaysian cheer leader than Filipino by his beh-buti-nga stance as the Sulu Sultanate's forces are being attacked and killed by Malaysian forces.
Moving forward to prevent further bloodshed and dislocation of Filipinos in Malaysia, PNoy should press with Malaysia the call by no less than the United Nations for ceasefire and dialogue. That the UN, as the representative of the international community, has issued that call carries significant legal, political and humanitarian implications that both the Philippines and Malaysia are bound by international law to respect and uphold. For every UN member must save lives and is barred from the use of force unless in self-defense.
It must be stressed, too, that PNoy cannot hide behind the skirt of Malaysian present exercise of sovereignty in Sabah because the Philippines remains to have an un-dropped historical claim to sovereignty over Sabah.
Thus, we call for ceasefire and dialogue now!