Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, 72, the leader of the 235-strong self-styled Royal Security Force (RSF) of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, is a teacher, not a fighter.
He is a brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who issued a royal decree allowing him and the RSF members to make a “journey home” to Sabah, Malaysia, referring to the sultanate’s “ancestral right” over the oil-rich island.
But Malaysia stands firm that Sabah is part of its federation.
They are now the target of Malaysia’s ongoing “Oplan Daulat,” an all-out offensive that started on March 5 in Kampung (Village) Tanduo, Felda Sahabat 17, near Lahad Datu, Sabah.
Manila Bulletin spoke with the rajah muda’s close kins, including his son Datu Shayeed and his (rajah muda’s) younger brother Datu Abdilnaser, as the Sabah standoff escalated into a firefight on March 1 that further widened into a massive offensive again them.
Of all the descriptions they gave about him, fighter is not one of them.
They said he is soft-spoken, a fisherman, a farmer, and a religious person.
When the rajah muda was a kid, he was known as “the silent type,” and used “diplomacy” in settling things, said Datu Abdilnaser.
“If ever he uttered words, he was always diplomatic. He did not get into a fight,” he adds.
Rajah muda studied at the Sulu Trade School in Jolo, Sulu, getting up to second year college, he said.
But it was enough, he said, to make him an elementary teacher for two years in Tabawan, Tawi-Tawi. He is married to Hadja Nurkisa, also an elementary teacher, who retired about five years ago.
They have 10 children.
“Back then, a second year college education could get you a teaching job,” he recalls.
Rajah muda, or crown prince of the Sultanate of Sulu, taught for two years at a Tawi-Tawi school.
When President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law all over the Philippines on Sept. 21, 1972, Datu Punjungan Kiram, a crown prince then, hied off to Sabah.
Datu Abdilnaser said then Chief Minister Tun Mustapha, a fellow Tausug, invited their father Sultan Punjungan.
“After six months, we followed our father,” says Datu Abdilnaser, except Kiram III, Datu Phugdar, and Datu Bararuddin.
Tun Mustapha had promised to crown their father as sultan of Sulu, but a jealous brother of the chief minister stopped it, he said.
“All the preparations, the royal raiment and regalia were ready,” he said.
Datu Abdilnaser said they were provided 1,000 Malaysian ringgit by the chief minister as allowances.
“We stayed from 1971 to 1979,” he recalls.
Marcos went to Sabah and convinced their father to return home.
Datu Abdilnaser said during their time in Kudat, Sabah, rajah muda was a fisherman, a farmer to support his children’s studies.
There was a time the rajah muda worked as assistant district officer in Kudat for two years, he said.
“Rajah muda was helpful to his brothers, also to other people. If he has nothing, he will find a way to help,” he said.
His son Datu Shayeed recalled his father, saying even at only 5’6” inches tall he was a “star player” in basketball because of his ability to jump high.
“My father also loves to box, he also loves going fishing and harvesting ‘agar-agar’ (seaweed),” the young Kiram said.
On the Sabah standoff, he said his father was reluctant to lead the RSF members because of the resources needed.
“It took long to convince him,” he said.
He finally agreed when they said they will pay for themselves.
Datu Abdilnaser said rajah muda is the leader of what he claimed a 10,000-strong RSF, also called “Royal Army.”
RSF members, he said, are in Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Presently, the rajah muda and his men have heeded Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s imposition of a unilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities on Sabah island.