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Maritime Security in the Sulu Zone: Readings on History, Peacemaking and Terrorism

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Maritime Security in the Sulu Zone: Readings on History, Peacemaking and Terrorism Maritime Security in the Sulu Zone: Readings on History, Peacemaking and Terrorism Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDiSS) Copyright © 2019 by the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDiSS) First Edition: 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written, prior permisson from the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDiSS). Published by: Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDiSS) National Defence University of Malaysia Kem Sungai Besi 57000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Tel: +603 – 9051 3030 Fax: +603 – 9051 3031 eISBN: 978-967-5985-90-4 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Putting the Sulu Zone Crisis in Perspective…………………………………………………………………..1 BA Hamzah & Vivian Forbes Celebes and Sulu Seas: Maritime Jurisdictional Limits……………………………………………………..6 Vivian Louis Forbes HISTORY The Sulu Zone, the World Capitalist Economy and the Historical Imagination: Problematizing Global- Local Interconnections and Interdependencies………………………………………………………….....26 James Francis Warren Looking Back on ‘The Sulu Zone’: State Formation, Slave Raiding and Ethnic Diversity in Southeast Asia………………………………………………………………………………………………………………63 James Francis Warren MARITIME SECURITY AND TERRORISM The Sulu Arms Market: The Players…………………………………………………………………………73 Lino Miani Securing the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas from Maritime Terrorism………………………………………………88 Senia Febrica Confronting Threats in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas: Opportunities and Challenges………………………108 Prashanth Parameswaran The Lahad Datu Incursion and Its Impact on Malaysia’s Security………………………………………111 Jasmine Jawhar, Kennimrod Sariburaja PEACE PROCESS AND REGIONAL COOPERATION Regional Cooperation through BIMP-EAGA Projects and Economics Security……………………….142 Jennifer Chan Kim Lian, Janice Nga Armed Violence in Mindanao: Militia and Private Armies………………………………………………...155 The Institute of Bangsamoro Studies and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue The Philippines: Renewing Prospects for Peace in Mindanao…………………………………………..209 Asia Report N°281 The Peace Process in Mindanao, the Philippines: Evolution and Lessons Learned…………………226 Kristian Helbozheimer INTRODUCTION Putting the Sulu Zone Crisis in Perspective BA Hamzah & Vivian Forbes This book is a collection of articles from established authorities. With its own narrative, each article/Report helps explain the background and the undercurrents to the current (2018) crisis in the Sulu Zone (after James Warren), which refers to the large and complex maritime eco-system comprising the Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea and their adjacent areas in Southern Philippines, the coastal areas off the Eastern coast of Sabah and Eastern part of Indonesian Kalimantan. The Sulu Zone is largely a vast expanse of maritime space bordered by three littoral states, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines comprising an area of about 900,000 square kilometres. This book is a small effort on our part to provide reading materials initially for students at the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College to understand the contemporary issues afflicting the maritime security situation in the region as well as to provide an understanding of the history of the once proud Moro people in the Sulu Zone and their quest for a homeland. The quest for a Moro homeland followed the Spanish colonisation of the Philippines. Both the Spaniards and later Americans tried unsuccessfully to integrate the Muslims in South Philippines - popularly known as Moros - and their land with the rest of the Philippines. There remains very little motivation for them to rise against the Government had their quest for some form of political autonomy been attended to. The failure of successive regimes at Manila to restore political power to the Moros and to bring about development to the people in MORO land in Southern Philippines was instrumental in their armed struggles. For the most part of Philippines' history, the region and most of Mindanao have been a separate territory, which enabled it to develop its own culture and identity. As independent states, the Sultanates transacted diplomatic relations with foreign nations, conducted business and trading activities with those in the region as well as with China on their own terms (James Warren). There are records of the business deals between the Sultan of Sulu with Chinese merchants and Great Britain, among others, for example. Following years of wars with the colonisers, the Sulu Sultanate and other Sultanates in Mindanao succumbed to internal intrigues. Unable to defend against occasional interferences from the resource-rich external powers, the Sultanates soon lost their political independence and international legal personality. Yet despite their weaknesses, the defiant Moro people continued to wage wars, sometimes separately, against those who have occupied their land. In this book Vivian Forbes examines the issues hindering the finalisation of the maritime boundary delimitation in the two seas as a problem for regional cooperation in maritime security. It is obvious that such a vast area of maritime space and a large marine ecosystem poses a mammoth task for governance by any one authority. Forbes further suggests the need for closer collaborative efforts in all aspects of ocean management in the Sulu Zone. In his opinion, the overlapping jurisdictions at sea are obstacles to regional cooperation. Forbes further explains on the importance of the Zone to international shipping and regional commerce. While the jurisdictional problems in the Sulu Zone will take time to resolve, it is hoped that the recently established (2017) regional mechanisms like the Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP) and its sister Trilateral Air Patrol (TAP) by the three littoral states (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines) would provide a strong foundation for confidence building among the states and other stakeholders in the Zulu Zone. These coordinated patrols are called the Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP) –INDOMALPHI- an acronym for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The coordinated patrols have proven to be successful in mitigating criminal maritime activities like taking hostage for ransom and sea robbery in the Sulu Sea since 2017. While it will be possible to eliminate the menace, the incident of sea robbery and other 1 forms of maritime violence has declined. The credit for pushing for a more robust regional cooperation in the Sulu Zone must go to President Rodrigo Duterte who worked very hard to convince his counterparts in Malaysia and Indonesia to combat and mitigate the “common” problems at sea, especially those operating in the no man’s land or overlapping jurisdictions. Apart from active enforcement at sea, President Rodrigo Duterte also promised to bring development to the people in the South and to defeat the insurgency on land as a strategy to end the lawlessness in the Sulu Zone. Genuine transformation of the social-cultural aspects of the people there will only come after a homeland for the Moros is genuinely established. Until then, the resistance is likely to continue. Prior to the trilateral agreements on co-ordinated patrols in the Sulu Zone, in 2017, four states (Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia) agreed in 1994 to form a sub-regional mechanism to promote social and economic development for their common frontier areas. Jennifer Chan discusses the concept known by its acronym the BIMP-NIAGA in her paper. Driven by the private sector, the BIMP-NIAGA comprises five sectors (consisting of thirty-four projects) that in the long term could promote the economic well-being of the people in the area. Professor James Warren provides the history of the region and glimpses of certain practices among the people in the Sulu Zone. He describes in some details the cultural and economic practices of the maritime peoples - the Tausug, Balangingi Samal, Samal Bajau Laut, Irranun and Maguindanao. In his article, Professor Warren challenges the popular notion among the early writings who labelled these peoples as “savages, pirates and slavers”. In reality, the maritime activities were part of the political culture and power structure of the ruling elites. Warren maintains that slave trading in the 18th Century Sulu Zone was a necessary evil that sustained their political power and influence. According to Warren, the Tausug aristocracy depended on trepang, a sea product, and slave trading for their prosperity. Warren notes that the mainstay of the economy in the 18th and 19th Centuries of those in the Zone was to provide labour to the major foreign powers in the region, with different ethnic groups “specialising” in certain economic activities. Warren further notes in his articles that “slave raiding, or what the Spanish, Dutch and British called piracy, was no longer a manifestation of decay and dependence but rather the result of phenomenal economic growth and strength.” When Western powers abolished slave trading in the region, it not only undermined the local economies but it also usurped the authority of the local elites. The Sulu Zone story is also the story of co-operation and half-hearted attempts at peace deals with the Moros. The South has rebuffed peace attempts because successive administrations at Manila failed to deliver on the core promise of a homeland for the Moros. The Moros had a history of resistance against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The violent armed struggle against the Japanese, Filipinos, Spanish, and Americans is considered
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