ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) is in deep mourning after the death of Sultan Esmail Kiram 2nd who succumbed to kidney failure at the Zamboanga Peninsula Hospital on Saturday afternoon here in this city.

The 75-year-old sultan used to be the former ‘bantilan’ or acting sultan after his elder brother Sultan Jamalul Kiram 3rd left Jolo, Sulu and opted to stay in Taguig City, Metro Manila. Sultan Kiram 3rd succumbed to multiple organ failure at the Philippine Heart Center along East Avenue, Quezon City in October 2013.