Photo: Sunrise In Jolo Island

Sunrise in Jolo.

Jolo is located in the southern Sulu Archipelago, approximately halfway between Zamboanga on Mindanao Island and the Malaysian state of Sabah. Jolo has an area of 894 sq. km (345 sq. mi). A volcanic island, Jolo contains a number of extinct volcanic cones. So the island is truly a garden paradise of white beaches with crystal clear water and lush green mountains. The area is noted for its pearl fisheries. The town of Jolo, the capital and largest town of Sulu Province, is located on the northwestern coast. In the late 1800s, the island became a Spanish protectorate. The United States seized control in 1899 after winning the Spanish-American War in the Battle of Manila. In 1903, Jolo became a part of the United States and was established as a province. The province was later renamed Sulu Province.

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Restoration of Sulu Sultanate is best solution to unrest in South RP

Map of Mindanao (Photo by Mindanao Examiner)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AKI / 25 Aug) The restoration of the ancient Islamic Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo would be the best solution to unrest in the southern Philippines unrest, a local historian told AdnKronos International (AKI).

Professor Emmanuel Mangubat, a member of the Sulu Restoration Movement, argued that a return to monarchial and Islamic tradition is exactly what the conflict-ridden region needs.(Read more)

Sulu sultan rejects plan to put up Mindanao Republic

The influential sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Muhammad Pulalun, has flatly rejected attempts by a secessionist organization to convince his group in the southern Philippines to support a proposal for an independent Mindanao, his spokesman said.

Prof. Sami Tanjil said a former transportation secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, organizer of One People Mindanao, a movement lobbying for a separate Mindanao Republic, was in Zamboanga City early this year and tried, but failed to convince the sultan and his cabinet members to support the proposal.

"Alvarez tried, but failed to convince the sultan to throw his support to the proposal. Sultan Pulalun walked out from the meeting after Alvarez sought his support for the so-called Mindanao Republic."

"The sultan was angry and said that he shall not allow Mindanao to be dismembered and for the Muslims not to be used for political agenda,” Tanjil said.

Pulalun has confirmed the meeting and said he was unaware of Alvarez’s real motives. He said the meeting was attended by cabinet members of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo and advisers.

“I was shocked to learn that he was here to convince us to support this so-called Mindanao Republic, and I walked away. We don’t want any part of this political agenda.”

“We will not allow ourselves be used for whatever purpose other than promoting peace and unity in the southern Philippines,” Pulalun, a staunch supporter of President Arroyo, said.

Pulalun said the Muslims are supporting the government and President Arroyo’s peace and economic agenda in the southern region. “I have told my people to continue to stay united and not to allow themselves be used by any political groups,” the sultan said.

Alvarez previously said that only a separate Mindanao Republic can help solve the problems the island is facing. He said a Charter change, as proposed by lawmakers, would not resolve the current political problems and crisis the country is experiencing.

But many Mindanao leaders are also supporting proposals to convene a Constitutional Assembly in order to allow amendments in the Charter that would institutionalize wide-ranging reforms. The proposal would also limit the agenda of amendments and protect the good provisions of the Charter.

The OPM had been advocating for a separate Mindanao and urged citizens to demand the separation of the region from Manila's administrative control.

It held various consultations for a plebiscite to separate the mineral-rich region from the rest of the country, but Visayas and Luzon islands also threatened to split should Mindanao secede.

Filipino Fisherfolk Benefit From Sultan’s Medical Mission

Princess Pulalun, top photo, assists in the medical mission of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY — When Muslims and Christians work together, the poor ones stand to benefit. Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, head of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, has just proved once again that this obvious but often ignored arrangement remains a viable solution to the conflict in the southern Philippines. Last month, the influential Pulalun brought with him volunteers from the Bantay-Bata Foundation and private firms, along with military doctors and nurses to the fishing village of Sinunuc in Zamboanga City’s outskirts for a medical outreach mission. The result: Hundreds of poor Muslim and Christian villagers finally had their medical check-up, something most of them could not afford. “My family is really lucky. We got free consultation from those soldiers and we will go home with all these medicines. This is really a good day,” said Umar Sakandal, a 45-year-old fisherman. Some said the only time they see a doctor is when they get really bedridden. “We hope to hold similar medical missions in other areas, of course in partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and non-governmental organizations and private firms supporting this humanitarian undertaking,” Pulalun told the Arab News. It was the second time this year that Pulalun organized a medical mission in poor areas in this port city. He also led a humanitarian mission early this year to help feed more than 500 families left homeless after a huge fire swept through Canelar village. Pulalun, a staunch supporter of the peace process in the southern Philippines, has rejected attempts by a secessionist organization to convince his group to support a proposal for an independent Mindanao. Pantaleon Alvarez, former transportation secretary and organizer of One People Mindanao (OPM), a movement lobbying for a separate Mindanao Republic, tried but failed to convince Pulalun and his Cabinet members to support the proposal. Professor Sami Tanjil, Pulalun’s spokesman, said the Muslim leader flatly rejected the proposal. “The sultan said that he shall not allow Mindanao to be dismembered and for the Muslims not to be used for political agenda,” Tanjil said. Pulalun said Muslims in the southern region are supporting the government’s peace and economic agenda in Mindanao. “I have told my people to continue to stay united and not to allow themselves be used by any political groups,” he said. Print Article |

Sultan Leads Pro-US Rally In Jolo

Sultan Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, top, leads a huge pro-US rally in Jolo island as the mayor Alkramer Izquierdo looks on.

JOLO ISLAND — More than 1,000 Muslims staged a surprising pro-US rally in Jolo in February, where thousands of American and Filipino soldiers held a controversial month-long joint military drills and humanitarian mission in the impoverished island, about 950 km south of Manila.

Hundreds of placard-bearing villagers, some came as far as the Parang town, south of the island, to join the rally led by the influential Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun.

It was the first time the secluded Pulalun came out in the open to publicly support the Balikatan (shoulder-to-shourlder) 2006, the codename for the RP-US military drills

“I call on every Muslims in Sulu to support the government and the Balikatan program because this will bring us more humanitarian aid. Let us show the world that we are peaceful citizens. I appeal to every Muslims to welcome our American visitors and support their peaceful cause,” the 50-year old leader, who is a staunch supporter of President Gloria Arroyo, said.

Pulalun appealed to Washington to send more humanitarian aid to poor Muslims in Jolo.

Dozens of Muslim activists previously demanded that US troops leave Jolo. They had burned mock US flags and displayed anti-US placards, including one that read “Bud Daho, never again,” referring to a Jolo area where American forces bloodily crushed a Muslim uprising about a century ago.

The training in Jolo brought humanitarian and medical aid to many poor families on the island, one of the poorest provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.The US Navy medical ship, Mercy, also held a medical mission in Jolo just several months ago.

But Jolo is also a known stronghold of the kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the spate of kidnappings and terrorism in the troubled southern region, and any attack on US soldiers could jeopardize government efforts to bring aid and development to the island.

A small number of US troops are still in Jolo, providing training to Filipino soldiers and humanitarian missions.

This year’s joint training was the 22nd in a series of drills that began in 1981, and would involve about 250 US troops and 4,000 Filipino infantry and marine troops, said Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, then commander of the Philippine Army in Jolo.

Security was tight during the exercises to protect the US and Filippino soldiers against possible attacks by Abu Sayyaf militants.

The Abu Sayyaf previously threatened to attack US targets in the Philippines, and had killed three Americans, including a soldier, in Zamboanga City in 2002.(Arab News)

Sultan Pulalun as Rajah Muda Circa 1838

Sultan Pulalun and his seal

Sultan Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun In Jolo Island

Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, the Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo

The Sultanate of Sulu was a Muslim state that ruled over much of the islands of the Sulu Sea, in the southern Philippines. The sultanate was founded in the 1457 (other sources claim earlier) and is believed by Muslim historians to have existed for a few centuries although most sources mention that the sultanate was conquered by the Spanish in the 17th century.

The Philippines was later annexed by the United States, in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War. Only North Borneo went to the British, and later became part of Malaysia as Sabah in 1963.

At its peak, it stretched over the islands that bordered the western peninsula of Mindanao in the east, to North Borneo, currently known as Sabah, in the west and south, and to Palawan in the north. Today significant number of Tausug have been living in Sabah. During the MNLF and Philippines war in the early 1970s, the number increased...(Read more)