Ruben Along the South China Sea

Sulu - The Sultan of Sulu (1x3)

Air date: Jan 25, 2026

In the southern Philippines, Ruben Terlou meets the Sultan of Sulu, heir to a once-powerful kingdom that stretched to Malaysia and the Spratly Islands. His power has vanished, but his historic claims to maritime areas rich in oil and gas keep tensions alive in the region. In the predominantly Muslim Sulu archipelago, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fought for decades for an independent state. The arrival of ISIS fighters brought the resistance to a standstill years ago, but the call for autonomy seems never to have faded. On Tawi-Tawi, Ruben discovers how Sulu history influences daily life.