Complex history, deep pain

Sultan Phugdalun Kiram (right, in red) and Raja Muda Alianapia Kiram at the enthronement ceremony in Zamboanga City. — Photos: PHILIP GOLINGAI/The Star

TO the gentle rhythm of a gong, a Tausug man bearing the Sulu Sultanate flag entered a Zamboanga City hotel ballroom on Monday, signalling the start of an enthronement ceremony for a new crown prince of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

The Punjungan family – largely dormant since orchestrating the 2013 Lahad Datu intrusion – is attempting a resurgence. Their vehicle: the elevation of Datu Alianapia Kiram, 73, as Raja Muda (crown prince, or Ladja Murah in Tausug). Alianapia is first in line to his older brother, 83-year-old Sultan Phugdalun Kiram, who claims to be Sultan of Sulu.