With Malaysia's rejection of the call for a unilateral ceasefire, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the only option left for Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and his followers is to "lay down their arms" in order to save lives and prevent further bloodshed in Sabah.
"It could be.. this would be the last option for the Kirams in order to save nationals in that area and to prevent more bloodshed," DFA Spokesperson Raul Hernandez said in a press briefing on Friday.
Sultan Kiram earlier called for a ceasefire after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged an end to the violence in Sabah.
But Malaysia promptly rejected the proposal and said its security forces had killed more than 30 of the Filipino fighters on Thursday.
Hernandez pointed out that this was the repeated call of the Philippine government for about two weeks. However, they did not receive any cooperation from the group of Kiram.
"When people get killed, that is difficult not only for Malaysia but for other parties," he stated. "What we want is to prevent further loss of lives. We asked them to withdraw and go back to their families."
As far as the Philippine government is concerned, Hernandez said the only way to further prevent the loss of lives at this point in time is for the Kirams and their followers to lay down their arms.
"We think this could the last option for the Kirams," he said.
As opposed to surrender, Hernandez explained that "the word being used that is culturally acceptable is to lay down their arms."
He reiterated that the Philippine government has been negotiating with Malaysian authorities and talking with the Kirams.
"However, there is still no consensus," he said. "We have not received any cooperation."
"Still, we are continuing to explore all avenues to avoid further loss of lives," Hernandez added. "At this point, after Malaysia rejected the call of Jamalul Kiram for a unilateral ceasefire, it appears that the only option left for the Kirams to save lives is to lay down their arms."
Meanwhile, Hernandez reported that the DFA has sent a note verbale to the Malaysian Embassy in Manila to strongly request that the team deployed by the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to Lahad Datu be given full access to ten followers of the Sultanate of Sulu who were earlier apprehended in Sabah.
He said this is consistent to the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations.
Article 36 of the Vienna Convention states that foreign nationals who are arrested or detained be given notice "without delay" of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest.
According to Hernandez the request was made to ensure the "humane treatment of Filipinos."
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario already delivered a note verbale earlier this week to his Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Sri' Anifah Aman requesting Malaysian authorities to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with the remaining followers of the Sultan of Sulu in Sabah.
Another was for clearance from Malaysia to allow the Philippine Navy ship AT-296 Tagbanua to proceed to Lahad Datu to provide humanitarian and medical assistance to the Filipinos there.
It was further requested that the humanitarian ship be allowed to ferry the wounded and other members of the group back to their respective homes and families.
However, Hernandez said so far these requests have not been granted by Malaysia.
"Maybe they are still considering these requests," he told reporters.