In the southern Philippine archipelago of Sulu, a long-contested frontier between peace and conflict, veteran leader Abdusakur Tan reflects on what it means for a province to finally exhale. Speaking to journalist Philip Golingai in Jolo, Tan describes a transformation earned through community trust and deliberate reintegration — and gestures toward Sabah, across the water, not as a disputed territory but as a brother. The story of Sulu is, in this telling, less about the wars that defined it and more about the quieter work of becoming stable enough to imagine a shared future.
Sulu leader Sakur Tan sees Sabah as 'brothers,' signals new era of stability
Philip Golingai reflects on his latest visit to Jolo in the Sulu Islands, and h…
Mark
What happened here?
Mimi
‘Sabah and Sulu are brothers’.
Mark
Give me the shape of it.
Mimi
Philip Golingai reflects on his latest visit to Jolo in the Sulu Islands, and his interview with Sulu leader Abdusakur “Sakur” Tan, who has held sway in the southern Philippine province near Malaysia…
Mark
What should we watch for?
Mimi
Follow this story as developments unfold across multiple outlets.
O Pulso
- After decades of insurgency and lawlessness, Sulu has reached what officials call 'Stable Internal Peace and Security' — a designation that once seemed unthinkable for the island province.
- Groups like Abu Sayyaf, long synonymous with kidnapping and violence, have surrendered rather than fought on, a shift Tan attributes to communities withdrawing the social oxygen that militant networks depend on.
- At 76, Tan remains the dominant political force in Sulu, a fact that raises questions about institutional depth even as it reflects the personal authority required to hold fragile peace together.
- The relationship between Sulu and Malaysian Sabah — bound by migration, intermarriage, and trade across generations — is being reframed as a foundation for regional development rather than a source of territorial grievance.
- The full picture is still forming, with other outlets expected to add reporting that may complicate or deepen the narrative of progress Tan is presenting.
In the southern Philippine archipelago of Sulu, a long-contested frontier between peace and conflict, veteran leader Abdusakur Tan reflects on what it means for a province to finally exhale. Speaking to journalist Philip Golingai in Jolo, Tan describes a transformation earned through community trust and deliberate reintegration — and gestures toward Sabah, across the water, not as a disputed territory but as a brother. The story of Sulu is, in this telling, less about the wars that defined it and more about the quieter work of becoming stable enough to imagine a shared future.
Philip Golingai's return to Jolo in the Sulu Islands brought him face to face with Abdusakur "Sakur" Tan, the 76-year-old political patriarch who has shaped the southern Philippine province for decades. Their conversation offered a rare window into a place more often defined by its troubles than its turning points.
Tan speaks of Sulu's current moment with quiet pride. The province has achieved what Philippine authorities classify as 'Stable Internal Peace and Security' — a formal recognition that law and order have taken hold where insurgency once did. He credits not military force alone, but the withdrawal of community support from armed groups, combined with government reintegration programs that gave fighters a path out. Abu Sayyaf, once a byword for kidnapping and extremism, surrendered rather than endured.
Beyond internal affairs, Tan turns his attention across the Sulu Sea toward Sabah. The ties between the two territories run deep — families split by borders, traders who have crossed these waters for generations, a shared cultural fabric that predates the modern states that now govern each side. In Tan's framing, Sabah and Sulu are not rivals over contested claims but brothers with unfinished business of a more constructive kind: development, connection, and mutual prosperity.
The account remains open. Local observers like Ameera Tammang offer their own readings of Tan's long dominance, and as more outlets engage with the story, a fuller and perhaps more complicated portrait of Sulu's transformation is likely to emerge.
A story is developing around ‘Sabah and Sulu are brothers’. Philip Golingai reflects on his latest visit to Jolo in the Sulu Islands, and his interview with Sulu leader Abdusakur “Sakur” Tan, who has held sway in the southern Philippine province near Malaysia's Sabah for decades.
September 28, 2026 KUALA LUMPUR – THE most powerful politician in Sulu is Abdusakur “Sakur” Tan, who has held sway in the southern Philippine province near Sabah for decades. However, as local observers like Ameera Tammang note, the 76-yea…
This account is still unfolding. More context will surface as other outlets pick up the thread and add their own reporting.
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