Sultan Esmail D. Kiram, of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, has sent out an invitation to the heirs of the Moro sultanate to send representatives to participate in a general convention on March 7 to be held in Zamboanga City.

The notice of invitation sent to the Manila Bulletin by Noor Saada, through the Facebook social networking, is addressed to “all Royal Kiram families.”

The invitation says that “His Royal Highness, Sultan Esmail D. Kiram, announces that there will be a general convention of all the heirs of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.”

“All royal families are required to send a delegate who will represent the family,” the invitation reads.

Further, it says the convention’s main agenda concerns “the incoming proprietary exercise and the structure of financial support that the royal families will be entitled in proportion.”

It was learned that the convention also seeks to reorganize and appoint “sultans of their respective jurisdiction” to prevent traditional functions being duplicated.

Another agenda to be tackled concerns economic and business programs, which the sultanate under Kiram is presently undertaking.

The Sultanate of Sulu, which once ruled over Sabah (the former North Borneo), an island with rich natural resources but under a dispute between the Philippine and Malaysian governments, has a long history that goes back to 1457.

Records show it was founded in 1457 by Abu Bakr, born in Johore, Malaysia, who later assumed the name Paduka Mahasari Maulana al-Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim.

The sultanate’s first seat was in Buansa, Sulu.

Several sultans later ruled over the sultanate, which provided the Golden Days of Moro governance, trading with far away countries, among others.

At present, many others are claiming to be the rightful sultan of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

“North Borneo” is called Sabah today, a resource-island owned and ruled by the Sulu Moro kingdom.

Sabah is now part of the Malaysian federation, but the Malaysian government is still paying rent to the heirs of the Sulu sultan.
The Sabah issue has been a sore point in relations between Manila and Kuala Lumpur.