Legal aid to 8 detained Pinoys in Sabah urged

AS THE Sultanate of Sulu disowned the eight Filipinos charged with terrorism in Sabah, two members of Congress urged the government to provide immediate legal assistance to its beleaguered citizens.

Maguindanao Representative Simeon Datumanong said the government should work with Malaysian authorities to ensure that the supposed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III are treated humanely while in jail.

"The problem should be handled through diplomatic approach as our government should provide immediate legal assistance to them," Datumanong, a former Justice secretary, said.

The eight suspects are accused of "harboring persons committing terrorist acts" and "waging of war" against Malaysia's King, which is punishable by a life-term imprisonment or death.

President Benigno Aquino III earlier assured legal assistance to the detained Filipinos in Sabah, whose arrest came after a three-week standoff at the Malaysia-controlled state between Malaysian forces and Kiram's followers.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Neri Colmenares advised the government to tap lawyers from the Public Attorney's Office to monitor the case of the eight accused.

"I just hope the government would have compassion to our fellow Filipinos who were just defending their ancestral lands. I am actually worried about them being charged by the Malaysian government with terrorism now that they are captured, while our government had also earlier expressed (its) ire against the royal army. It is like a condition where they are left on their own with no one to turn to, not even their own government," Colmenares said.

On Friday, however, a spokesman for the sultanate said they had been informed that the eight suspects are "fall guys" who are actually Malaysians and are not members of the Royal Security Force of Kiram.

Malaysia's The Star Online earlier reported that one of the suspects identified as Hooland Kalbi admitted before the court that he was paid to join the group, which started the standoff in Sabah.

The sultanate's spokesperson said however that Kalbi was one of those who were killed in the March 1 bloodbath in Tanduo village in Lahad Datu. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)