The interest of the nation is paramount

Ihave a letter in response to my Sabah article. “Hi Mr. Bobit, this is my feedback regarding your column in the Philippine STAR titled “We have a claim over Sabah.” In my opinion, this is impossible and should already been a closed case. I have to cite a copy of The Deed of 1878 (page 266, History of the Filipino People, 8th Edition by Teodoro A. Agoncillo) which was signed by Sultan of Sulu Mohammed Jamalul Alam complete with the Official Seal ]. It has a part there which says “to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck of Hong Kong, and to Alfred Dent, Esquire of London, who act as representatives of a British Company, together with their heirs, associates, successors, and assigned Forever until the end of time, all rights and powers which we possess over all territories and lands tributary to us on the mainland of the Island of Borneo.” From this, it is clear that the Sultan of Sulu had made a big mistake of dealing with the British and signing the document in which the damages are now irreversible.

Add to that the Sabahans prefer to remain a part of Malaysia through a referendum.Btw, why would they choose the Philippines especially Imperial Manila who failed to improve the conditions in Mindanao (with ARMM now BARMM, the poorest region in the Philippines)? Mind you many places in Mindanao still didn’t have proper electricity, roads, water services, etc. Would the Sabahans exchange their better standard of life under Malaysia? The Pinoy politicians with the backing of some establishments still pushing for Philippine claim over Sabah should be ashamed of themselves, I know their intention is just to profit from the lucrative oil industry in Sabah not for the welfare of the people there. BTW, my mother is a Tausug and shares the same sentiment. Sabah is BETTER off with Malaysia. Regards” I will not go on a debate with this letter writer but ask the question, why is Malaysia still renting to the Sultan of Sulu until now? Allow me to speak out on the issue of the still non-approval of the 2019 national budget, which, to put it bluntly a quarrel between House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson who insisted that the GAA version approved by the House and Senate bicameral conference committee had been amended by the House and P95 billion in “pork barrel” funds realigned to favor allies of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We are definitely seeing the present reality that Sen. Lacson never liked House Speaker Arroyo even when she was still President?

Surely people know that Sen. Lacson had always been against GMA, even branding her getting elected as House Speaker as a maneuver to get herself elected as Prime Minister under a new parliamentary system of government as the Duterte Administration sought to push amendments to the 1987 Constitution to implement a shift to a federal system of government. Speaker GMA blandly crushed the argument by declaring she was already on a retirement mode and was on her last elective post which she never sought as it was pushed by political factions that were dissatisfied with the leadership of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said there is a rationale explanation to the Senate claim that amendments were made to the bicam-approved version of the 2019 GAAby the House. There is no conspiracy, no changes made in the bicam-approved 2019 national budget, except the House contingent wanted an itemized allocation of the budgets approved for departments to make them more transparent and easy to scrutinize, and he added that it is within the Constitution, the same amounts are allotted to the departments and the districts, and if the senators feel they should be removed then they should just specify which portion of the 2019 GAA should be vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte when he signs it into law. So why is Sen. Lacson gunning for the House Speaker