MANILA: Philippine authorities on Friday denied international media reports claiming that hundreds of militiamen supported by officials from the southern Philippines were planning to invade the Malaysian state of Sabah.
Located on the northeastern tip of Borneo island, Sabah has been the subject of a 60-year-long territorial dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia.
International media reported on Thursday that a “secret meeting” attended by 19 mayors in the Sulu archipelago in the southwestern Philippines, some 400 kilometers from Sabah, planned to recruit 600 men to stage the invasion.
The news prompted Royal Malaysia Police Chief Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani to issue a statement saying they would take immediate action to “face any possibility or threat of intrusion,” and that the state’s security was “under control.”
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on Friday that reports of an invasion were “fake news.”
Lt. Jerrica Angela Manongdo, spokesperson for the Philippine military in Sulu, said the media reports had “no basis.”
“We immediately looked into the matter when we learned of the news report. Based on the information we have gathered there is no such thing,” she told Arab News. “We don’t know what the motive behind (the reports) are.”
Manongdo added that local officials in Sulu had indeed held a meeting earlier this month, but only to discuss ways to strengthen the archipelago’s maritime borders and disaster response.
“Local chief executives (are) in charge of recruitment of fishermen or seafarer volunteers (to) conduct maritime patrols in collaboration with the military in Sulu to help improve border control against terrorists and any other lawless elements,” she said.
While Malaysia controls Sabah, the Philippines has laid claims over the state on the basis that the region, which was once ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu, was only leased — not ceded — to British colonial rulers before Malaysia’s independence.
In 2013, around 200 armed men from the Philippines who claimed to have been sent by members of the Sulu royal clan arrived by boat at Lahad Datu port in Sabah, triggering a deadly weeks-long battle with Malaysian security forces in which 71 people died, most of them Philippine militiamen.
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Philippines denies reports of secret plot to invade Malaysian territory
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Philippines denies reports of secret plot to invade Malaysian territory
In South Africa’s affluent Western Cape, farmers lose cattle to drought
- Drought in country’s south follows flooding in north
- Farmers try to adapt but lose livestock
KNYSNA: In South Africa’s most visited and affluent province, Western Cape, one of the worst droughts in living memory is drying up dams, scorching grass and killing livestock, prompting the government to declare a national emergency this month.
Scientists say climate change is causing worsening droughts in the province, which draws tourists to its vineyards, beaches and the lush slopes of Table Mountain above Cape Town, but lies on the edge of the advancing semi-desert Karoo. In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.
Over the weekend, mixed-race couple Christian and Ilze Pienaar were distributing feed to keep their hungry cattle alive. One cow had recently starved to death, its bones visible through its skin.
“The drought before wasn’t this bad because there was still ... grazing,” Ilze, 40, told Reuters. “Now there’s nothing, the dams are dry ... (and) we’re spending all our money on feed.”
She said she’d lost 16 cattle and 13 sheep since January alone.
The drought, which has also ravaged parts of Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, comes weeks after floods blamed on climate change and cyclical La Niña weather washed out the northeastern part of South Africa and killed 200 people across the region.
“The intensity and duration of both droughts and floods in this corner of the world is increasing,” Anton Cartwright, an economist with the African Center for Cities, said.
“Farmers (here) are very good at adapting to weather (but) ... the weather is just becoming much less predictable,” he said. “Seasons aren’t occurring, starting, ending at the same time of the year. It’s probably going to get worse.”
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Scientists say climate change is causing worsening droughts in the province, which draws tourists to its vineyards, beaches and the lush slopes of Table Mountain above Cape Town, but lies on the edge of the advancing semi-desert Karoo. In 2015, a drought almost dried up the taps in the city; farmers say this one has been even more brutal than a decade ago.
Over the weekend, mixed-race couple Christian and Ilze Pienaar were distributing feed to keep their hungry cattle alive. One cow had recently starved to death, its bones visible through its skin.
“The drought before wasn’t this bad because there was still ... grazing,” Ilze, 40, told Reuters. “Now there’s nothing, the dams are dry ... (and) we’re spending all our money on feed.”
She said she’d lost 16 cattle and 13 sheep since January alone.
The drought, which has also ravaged parts of Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, comes weeks after floods blamed on climate change and cyclical La Niña weather washed out the northeastern part of South Africa and killed 200 people across the region.
“The intensity and duration of both droughts and floods in this corner of the world is increasing,” Anton Cartwright, an economist with the African Center for Cities, said.
“Farmers (here) are very good at adapting to weather (but) ... the weather is just becoming much less predictable,” he said. “Seasons aren’t occurring, starting, ending at the same time of the year. It’s probably going to get worse.”
(Writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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