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NBI chief: No final, official report yet on Sabah incursion
(Updated 3:24 p.m.) The head of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday clarified that its report on the Sabah incursion instigated by Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III's supporters was not yet the final and official version that will be submitted to President Benigno Aquino III.
NBI director Nonnatus Rojas said their report would still have to be synthesized with the final reports from the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Department of Justice, of which the NBI is under.
"We are still consolidating all final reports and coordinations are now being made with CIDG and DOJ prosecutors," Rojas told GMA News Online on Wednesday. "Nothing is official yet, since we will come up with a final joint report."
Rojas issued the clarification following published reports on the supposed NBI report that recommended the filing of criminal charges against Kiram and his relatives both in Sulu and in Taguig City, where the plan to go to Sabah to press their claim over the disputed territory was allegedly drawn up as early as November 2012.
The NBI probe results were reportedly handed over to the DOJ in late May.
No report yet
Kiram's followers, who engaged in sporadic clashes with Malaysian authorities in early March, went to Sabah in February supposedly to assert their historical claim on the disputed territory.
Sabah, located in the island of Borneo close to southwestern Mindanao, is territorially disputed by the Philippines and Malaysia.
A Philippine claim for sovereignty over it has lain dormant for decades, but Malaysia continues to pay a yearly rent to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who claim to be the descendants of the original Filipino sultan who had control over the territory for centuries.
President Benigno Aquino III had earlier asked for an investigation on the incursion, believing that Kiram was part of an effort to sabotage the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a supporter of Kiram's cause, was earlier accused of playing a role in the incursion and was supposed to be invited by the NBI for the probe.
Misuari, a rebel leader before becoming a local official in Mindanao, has denied the accusation. — Mark Merueñas/KBK/RSJ, GMA News
NBI director Nonnatus Rojas said their report would still have to be synthesized with the final reports from the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Department of Justice, of which the NBI is under.
"We are still consolidating all final reports and coordinations are now being made with CIDG and DOJ prosecutors," Rojas told GMA News Online on Wednesday. "Nothing is official yet, since we will come up with a final joint report."
Rojas issued the clarification following published reports on the supposed NBI report that recommended the filing of criminal charges against Kiram and his relatives both in Sulu and in Taguig City, where the plan to go to Sabah to press their claim over the disputed territory was allegedly drawn up as early as November 2012.
The NBI probe results were reportedly handed over to the DOJ in late May.
No report yet
For her part, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said no report, whether a draft or a final one, has been submitted yet to the DOJ and to her office.
"That’s not a correct report... As soon as I saw that news item, I immediately verified it with Director Rojas and sabi niya meron na nga daw report but they are still fine-tuning it before submission to me," De Loma said.
De Lima admitted she was already getting fed up leaked information about NBI investigations finding its way to the media.
"Pagod na pagod na rin naman ako sa kaka-remind sa NBI about that. Sabi ko nga it takes two to tango. Kung wala namang nakukuhang information ang reporter, wala namang ire-report," she said.
'Historical claim'
'Historical claim'
Kiram's followers, who engaged in sporadic clashes with Malaysian authorities in early March, went to Sabah in February supposedly to assert their historical claim on the disputed territory.
Sabah, located in the island of Borneo close to southwestern Mindanao, is territorially disputed by the Philippines and Malaysia.
A Philippine claim for sovereignty over it has lain dormant for decades, but Malaysia continues to pay a yearly rent to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who claim to be the descendants of the original Filipino sultan who had control over the territory for centuries.
President Benigno Aquino III had earlier asked for an investigation on the incursion, believing that Kiram was part of an effort to sabotage the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and a supporter of Kiram's cause, was earlier accused of playing a role in the incursion and was supposed to be invited by the NBI for the probe.
Misuari, a rebel leader before becoming a local official in Mindanao, has denied the accusation. — Mark Merueñas/KBK/RSJ, GMA News
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