16 sultans of royal houses of Lanao ink decree declaring Iranun Tribe as rightful owner of Spratlys, Scarborough shoal

Transcript

00:00 16 sultans of the royal houses of Lanao have signed a decree to show support to a historical

00:05 claim of the Iranun tribe over the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal.

00:09 Mark Fatalko has the full report.

00:12 The Iranun tribe of Muslim Mindanao declared ownership over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough

00:20 Shoals in the West Philippine Sea, according to historian Nasir Sharif.

00:24 Since the 3rd century, the Iranuns from the Tibuk in Mindanao have been using the Tibuk

00:30 route in southwest Mindanao, Palawan, Sulawan or the Spratlys, Pulo, Condor and Pandurungan

00:36 to reach the mainland Southeast Asia.

00:39 Over the centuries, the Iranun have exclusively applied this route for trade and to transport

00:44 refugees.

00:45 "I think with China today, what they have only is a folklore of their fishermen.

00:51 But fishing does not count for ownership.

00:54 It is activity, political activity.

00:56 The Iranun were able to transport refugees from Champa to different points in Borneo

01:02 and the Philippines and the rest of the Southeast Asia."

01:06 Sharif also noted that the exclusion of the Pulo-Condor from the outline of China's

01:10 Nine-Dash Line denies more than a millennium history of relationship and cultural exchanges

01:16 between the Namong Island inhabitants of Southeast Asia and those from mainland Southeast Asia.

01:21 "But they did not include it.

01:23 That means by not including it, they make a disconnect.

01:27 The Nine-Dash Line make a disconnect of the network of the Iranun.

01:31 You have to include this if you want to claim the overall place.

01:36 Because without this, you won't have a network.

01:39 Otherwise, who are the people who go back and forth in this route?

01:47 Only the Iranun."

01:48 With this, the 16 Sultans of Lanao together with Datus, historians and those from the

01:53 Akadim gathered in Marawi City to uphold the historical dimensions of the Splatly Islands

01:58 and Scarborough Shoals as belonging to the Iranun.

02:01 According to Sultan Thomas Reyes Cabile Jr., the movement was formed amid the aggressive

02:06 actions of China in the West Philippine Sea.

02:09 He said, "They want to reach us to reach the office of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr."

02:14 "Because last year, his speech in the sauna, he won't give an inch to any property that

02:22 belongs to the Republic of the Philippines.

02:25 So we are contributing this information to him, for him to fight for our countries over

02:33 Splatly and Scarborough Shoals."

02:37 I'm Jack Fetalko, for The Nation.

02:39 (upbeat music)