Remains of Sultan Esmail Kiram II taken to Jolo for burial

“Datu Rajah Mudah Phugdal Kiram will be announced as the rightful successor of late Sultan Esmael Kiram II after the burial”, Idjirani said. The briefing was held in Makati in March 2013.

Sulu Sultan Esmail Kiram II, 75, reportedly died of kidney malfunction in Zamboanga.

His remains will be brought to Sulu on September 20.

Kiram’s daughter, Princess Jacel Kiram, who married an Army major, has been reported as being eyed for a senate slate in the presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Esmail, who died of kidney failure on Saturday, succeeded his elder brother Jamalul Kiram III on October 20, 2013. Under USA colonization, the Sultanate of Sulu was virtually abolished and the Sultan reduced to a mere religious figurehead.

The 75-year old Kiram was one of the most influential members of the Royal Sultanate, which is still claiming up to now the island of Borneo, now called Sabah and part of Malaysia. The standoff between the sultan’s followers and Malaysian forces led to the death of 60 people, 52 Filipinos and 8 Malaysian policemen.

In the event, their younger brother Agbimuddin had led over 200 gunmen into the coastal village.

Agbimuddin died on January 14 of cardiac arrests in his hometown in Simunul.

Esmail’s son Datu Amir Bahar Husin Kiram is being detained in Kota Kinabalu under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act and is facing trial for various offences, including treason during the Tanduo attack. The state fell under British control after the second world war, and joined Malaysia in 1963.