MALAYSIA REJECTS PH, SULTANATE CLAIMS ON SABAH

MALAYSIA STOOD firm on its claim on the mineral-rich Sabah or North Borneo, just several hours by boat from the Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi.

The Sultanate of Sulu, founded in 1457, continues to lay claim to Sabah, which it obtained from Brunei as a gift for helping put down a rebellion on Borneo Island. The British leased Sabah and transferred control over the territory to Malaysia after the end of World War 2.

The Sulu Sultanate said it leased North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Co. for an annual payment of 5,000 Malayan dollars, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in 1903.

The Sultanate of Sulu is believed to exist as a sovereign nation for at least 442 years. It stretches from a part of the island of Mindanao in the east, to Sabah in the west and south, and to Palawan in the north.

North Borneo was annexed by Malaysia in 1963 following a referendum organized by the Cobbold Commission in 1962, where the people of Sabah voted overwhelmingly to join Malaysia.

On Wednesday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein again said his country would not recognize any foreign claim on Sabah, saying it belongs to Malaysia.

“We will not recognize, what more, meet any foreign claim for Sabah. At the same time, I want to categorically state here that Sabah is, and will always be, part of Malaysia. I also rebuked Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr and what I said is clear, Malaysia condemns and rejects his Twitter post that claimed Sabah is not part of Malaysia,” he added.

Locsin, in a Twitter post, said: “Sabah is not in Malaysia if you want to have anything to do with the Philippines.”

His tweet was in response to a tweet by the United States Embassy in Manila on their donation of hygiene kits to Filipinos deported from Sabah who arrived in Tawi-Tawi province and Zamboanga City recently.

The US Embassy said: “[The] Usaid (US Agency for International Development) donated 500 hygiene kits to the @dswdserves Region 9 for the 395 returning Filipino repatriates from Sabah, Malaysia who arrived in Zamboanga City and Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.”

Locsin said until now, the US Embassy had not taken down its tweet.

“It started with a US Embassy tweet that hasn’t been taken down. When the country united around [president Ferdinand] Marcos, including his critics, the US discouraged an attempt on our part to concretely assert our claim. The US didn’t want us to add to their growing problem in Vietnam,” he said.

Marcos said the Philippines “acquired sovereignty and dominion over the territory of Sabah in accordance with a series of events, acts, agreements and transactions, including the Deed of Cession from the Sultan of Sulu of 1962 to the Philippines.”

Hussein branded as “irresponsible” Locsin’s statement, saying it could jeopardize bilateral ties between Malaysia and the Philippines.

Sulu Sultans

In Sulu, Paramount Sultan Ibrahim Bahjin-Shakirullah 2nd said North Borneo was an inextricable part and parcel of the Sultanate of Sulu.

In a statement released on August 3 this year, he said the Sultanate of Sulu asserted that North Borneo was never lawfully ceded to the Republic of the Philippines and, therefore, remains a sovereign and independent state; the stipulation in the Deed of 1878 that the lessees of North Borneo shall administer the territory for “as long as they choose or desire to use them” places it in the category of a “perpetual lease,” effective for 100 years under international law.

He added that the contract of lease had expired and possession over North Borneo should now be exercised by the Sultanate of Sulu.

He said in view of the history of the Sultanate and the circumstances surrounding the lease of Sabah, “we desire the recognition of the independent statehood and sovereignty of the Islamic Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.”

Sultan Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram, who claims to be the 35th Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, said his grandfather, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Enang Kiram, who was recognized by the Philippine government in 1957, “transferred the rights of North

Borneo under the government of President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962.”

He said in a statement released by the Royal House of Sulu on August 4 that his father, Sultan Mohammad Mahakuttah Abdulla Kiram and him, being the Crown Prince of Sulu, confirmed the transfer of the rights of North Borneo to the Philippine government and this was made official through Memorandum Order 427 issued by Marcos in 1974.

“We aspire for an amicable solution to the predicament that affects us all in this region,” Kiram said. “The Royal House of Sulu firmly believes that diplomacy will allow us to move forward as governments and other parties involved play a crucial role from alleviating our people from poverty.”

The two are only among the 5 recognized sultans in Sulu. The others are Sultans Mohammad Venizar Julkarnain Jainal Abirin, Muizuddin Jainal Abirin Bahjin and Phugdalun Kiram II with Sulu Governor Dr. Sakur Tan, also called Datu Shabandar, as their Special Envoy.