SoNA must: Sabah

While in his inaugural address President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had set the waypoints in his sixyear term, he is expected to indicate in today’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) the specifics on how to reach his stated destination.

Much of the expectations of the public, from whom Marcos drew a solid mandate of 31 million votes, will be on BBM’s vow of continuity primarily in completing the programs that his predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte, was deprived of the chance to deliver.

In the SoNA, the President will lay down his legislative priorities to Congress, which then craft the measures.

The success of the President in realizing his programs thus relies on the speed that Congress will be able to deliver the bills.

It will be a test of the alliance he had formed in both chambers of the legislature.

A key measure that suffered from lack of attention from Congress previously was the Federal shift that went as far as the drafting of a charter that would have been presented to the people via a referendum.

The Senate was lukewarm to the government shift since it would mean the dissolution of its power, since a single chamber may emerge or, if not, the senatorial post is scrapped altogether under the new system.

Under a Federal State, most of the problems on autonomy, equal distribution of government resources and the dispersal of development will be resolved.

Most of the issues related to the Sulu Sultanate’s claim on Sabah can be effectively addressed through autonomy under a federal government.

Recently, a French arbitral court awarded $14.9 billion over the Sabah petition to the heirs of the Sultanate whose lawyers had moved to attach overseas properties of Malaysia to settle the huge compensation.

The government is being left out despite a 1962 agreement under President Diosdado Macapagal in which the Sulu heirs assigned the rights of Sabah to the Philippine government.

Some of the Sultanate’s heirs, however, claimed that the deal has been terminated after the government failed to acquire Sabah following the forming of Malaysia as a state in 1963.

Sulu autonomy similar to Bangsamoro’s stature will be achievable through the forming of federal states.

When the Sultanate sent forces to reclaim Sabah, one of the reasons given was their exclusion from the Bangsamoro deal.

For the longest time, Malaysia has been ignoring the Sultanate and the pursuit of its historic claim.

With the arbitral ruling and the actions taken to fulfill the tribunal’s decision, Kuala Lumpur is finally paying attention.

An element of suspense in the SoNA is discovering if BBM would take up the territorial claim in his maiden address to

Congress.

“For the longest time, Malaysia has been ignoring the Sultanate and the pursuit of its historic claim.

“It will be a test of the alliance he had formed in both chambers of the legislature.