The briefing was held in Makati in March 2013.
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ZAMBOANGA CITY-Sultan Esmail Kiram II of the Sultanate of Sulu died on Saturday night.
“He passed away last night at around 6:15 o’clock at the Zamboanga Peninsula Hospital because of kidney problem”, Idjirani said in a telephone interview Sunday.
After arrival in Jolo, the body will be brought to the seat of the Sultanate in Maimbung town for burial at the family plot beside his brother Jamalul Kiram III and father Pujungan Kiram.
Kiram’s remains was scheduled to be airlifted to Sulu on Sunday afternoon.
Kiram’s daughter, Princess Jacel Kiram, who married an Army major, has been reported as being eyed for a senate slate in the presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay. The sultanate has about 75,000 followers in Sulu and outlying islands that are among the country’s poorest regions and are troubled by Muslim rebels, al-Qaida-linked extremists and outlaws. Darul Jambangan was the old seat of the Sultanate of Sulu where the reigning Sultan used to have a palace.
After Esmail was installed as Sultan of Sulu, he declared that he would continue Jamalul’s fight to claim Sabah. The event saw conflicts between the Filipino gunmen and Malaysian security forces.
Kiram’s younger brother who led that invasion survived the intense clashes and managed to return home to the southern Philippines, where he died previous year of a heart attack, Idjirani said.
Agbimuddin died on January 14 of cardiac arrests in his hometown in Simunul.
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The Kirams claim Sabah has belonged to their sultanate for centuries and was only leased to Malaysia, which they say pays them a paltry annual rent.
