It's not entirely correct to say, as I did recently, that the Manila government simply entered into a peace agreement with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front forgetting about the claims of the Sultanate of Sulu. According to Jamalul Kiram III, a former Sultan of Sulu and brother of the man authorities regard as the current sultan, the royal family had asked to take part in the peace negotiations with the MILF because the old sultanate's territories would be part of a new autonomous Muslim area – but was rebuffed by the Philippine government.

The MILF has declared that it consulted with the heirs of the original Sultan before agreeing to the “framework agreement” proposed by the Aquino administration and signed by the two parties last October in Tokyo, Japan. But the Manila government has not commented on Kiram's claim that their bid to participate in the negotiations was ignored – nor on the entire standoff in Sabah, for that matter.

Now, Kiram and his followers, who include 100 armed men in the sultanate's employ who have occupied a village in Sabah, say they are seeking recognition from Malaysia as the rightful owners of the territory and a renegotiation of the original terms of the centuries-old lease with a British trading company. "My people are already there,” Kiram said. “We will not leave. If we die, then we die." 

Meanwhile, the Philippine government's inaction on the crisis in Sabah remains a mystery to Kiram. "I cannot understand what our government is doing. I cannot understand why, instead of siding with us because we are Filipinos, they are siding with the Malaysians [by not doing anything]," he said.

Only Aquino can answer Kiram, of course. And Aquino, who is normally too talkative for his own good, isn't saying a thing.

* * *

It's really simple: If Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero and Grace Poe never planned on spending some of their time on the campaign trail with the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay, they never should have allowed their inclusion in UNA's Senate slate as guest candidates in the first place. 

But because all three wanted to have their cake and eat it, as well, they never protested their status as guests. In the case of Legarda and Escudero, frontrunners in the surveys of Senate hopefuls for months now, both were probably leery of losing votes to the other, thus losing the top spot at the end of the counting of the votes.

Hey, every vote counts, right? And if both Chiz and Loren also had a foothold in UNA, neither would have an advantage.

As for Poe, it may be true that she wanted to be in UNA even while she was an official candidate of the Liberal Party-led administration coalition because of her ties to former President Joseph Estrada, her dad's bosom buddy. But her reason for not campaigning – that she could not make herself join people who cheated Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 presidential elections – is obviously just a ruse.

The Liberals, who sided with Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2004, were certainly not pro-FPJ, as UNA spokesman Toby Tiangco has explained. In fact, one of the top LP leaders in the Senate, Francis Pangilinan, has never been able to live down his role as “Mr. Noted” during the Congress canvass, for his less-than-stellar performance as the chief enabler of an Arroyo victory despite the various protests by Poe's camp.

What's also obvious is that all three felt bound never to campaign with UNA at all, even if they wanted to enjoy the benefits of being guest bets. They certainly could not go against a supposed directive issued by LP campaign manager Senator Franklin Drilon, who warned them of showing up on a campaign stage with Binay's slate.

Drilon, of course, is no role model for loyalty, even if is now trying to remake himself as the paragon of that virtue. Both Erap and Arroyo (and perhaps, someday, Noynoy Aquino) can testify to the promiscuity of Drilon's affections.

What's also clear is that, even before UNA decided to drop its three guest bets, they had already decided that their loyalty was to the palace coalition. And, regardless of their supposed excellent chances of winning, they just could not gamble on going all the way to the finish line (where Loren and Chiz, at least, wanted to end up first) without the resources, influence and popularity of Aquino.

As for UNA, its fault was in not realizing right away that Legarda, Escudero and Poe would not leave Aquino even for occasional forays with Binay and his gang. And that, now that they've been evicted from the Veep's coalition, they are all probably heaving sighs of relief since they could never summon the courage to leave by themselves.

It's that simple. All the rest (like Drilon's loyalty) is a farce.*