( CNN ) -- Philippine President Benigno Aquino III ordered a group of Muslim rebels to surrender Saturday after an ongoing standoff led to bloodshed . `` From the very start , our objective has been to avoid the loss of lives and the shedding of blood , '' Aquino said in a statement Saturday . `` If you have grievances , the path you chose was wrong . The just , and indeed , the only correct thing for you to do is to surrender . '' The peculiar standoff , which started in February on Borneo between Malaysian security forces and a group of men from the southern Philippines , has its roots in a recent landmark peace deal between Manila and Muslim rebels , according to experts on the region . More than 100 men from the mainly Muslim southern Philippines came ashore in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo , demanding to be recognized as representatives of a sultanate that has historical claims on the area . Their claims touch on an unresolved territorial question between the Philippines and Malaysia , as well as Manila 's efforts to improve relations with Islamic insurgents in the country 's south after decades of violence . Malaysian police and armed forces soon surrounded the village in the eastern Sabah district of Lahad Datu , where the men had gathered . Police officials said they were negotiating with the group in an effort to persuade its members to return to their homes in the Philippines peacefully . Ten to 12 of the gunmen , and two Malaysian commandos were killed in clashes in the area , the official Philippines News Agency reported . CNN 's Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report .
More than 200 Filipinos arrived by boat on the Malaysian coast in February . They say they are a nation that once ruled the Philippines . ` ` The only correct thing for you to do is to surrender , '' he says .