Kiram's lost letter found with DFA

MANILA, Philippines - The reportedly "missing" letter of Sulu Raja Muda (Crown Prince) Agbimuddin Kiram has recently been found with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), a statement from the agency said Wednesday.

Saying it was  an "oversight ", the DFA added that  Del Rosario is taking "full responsibility" for failing to attend to the letter, sent by Agbimuddin to President Benigno Aquino III right before the latter was sworn into the presidency in June 2010.

"On the issue of the missing letter written by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram to the President days before the President took his oath in June 2010, that letter has been found with the DFA," the DFA said.

The lost letter of Agbimuddin supposedly contains the royalty's desire to seek guidance from the president on the course of action for a newly created council under the sultanate on the Sabah claim.

Agbimuddin also stated that he wishes Aquino would express the clan's position in international fora, such as the gathering of leaders for the Asean summit, as their cause had seemingly been forgotten through the years.

In 1962, the Philippine government and the sultanate forged a national contract to pursue the family's territorial authority over Sabah against the UK and Malaysia.

Agbimuddin,  brother of  Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III,  and some 200 men went to Lahad Datu, Sabah last February 11 in  an effort to reclaim their "home," expressing disappointment for being ignored by the government on the issue.

The Kirams' royal army is now engaged in a standoff with Malaysian authorities wishing to drive them out of the area.

Aquino, in a statement last February 26, said that he has just "been made aware" of the letter sent through his office at the start of his term and then the document went missing in the "bureaucratic maze."

"Let me make clear that there was no intention to ignore your letter," Aquino said in an appeal to Kiram to stand down.

The Kirams said in earlier reports that they decided to stake their claim in the region anew as they have been excluded in the peace talks with Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose cause the government is pursuing through the Bangsamoro deal.

Amid the Sabah crisis, however, Del Rosario said the country's bilateral relations with Malaysia "remain strong".

"A close cooperation between the two countries is necessary for dealing with the challenges presented by the current issue," he said.