The time is ripe for President Rodrigo Duterte to revive the government’s claim on the disputed territory of Sabah after the Malaysian government affirmed that it has stopped paying the yearly lease on the land under an agreement between the British colonial government and the Sultanate of Sulu in 1878.

Abraham Idjirani, Sultanate secretary general and spokesman told the Daily Tribune that Malaysia is attempting to suppress the legal and historical rights of the heirs of the Sultanate by ignoring the contract of the British North Borneo Company and the Sultanate in 1878 allowing the British Company to occupy Sabah.

He said long before the creation of Malaysia, the Sultanate has been receiving a yearly lease equivalent to 5,000 Malaysian ringgit (P57,900) which was also a recognition of Philippine ownership.

When the Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963, the new government has continued the payment until 200 armed members of the Sultanate army in February 2013 laid siege on Lahad Datu that triggered a fierce gun battle between Malaysian Security forces and Tausug warriors.

“Blood was spilled by the heir in their ancestral land to dramatize the Sultanate’s historical and legal claim, the decision of Malaysia to cut off the payment is anti-Islam,” Idjirani said.

He said that no less than the British Session Court of North Borneo upheld the proprietary rights of the heirs of the Sultanate and appointed Datu Punjaman Kiram as the administrator of the estate of North Borneo since 1939.

Datu Punjaman was crowned as the 32nd Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo.

“The Macaskie judgement proved that no less than the British colonial ruler has recognized the right of the Sultanate over Sabah long before Malaysia became a nation,” he said.

In an 11 October 1939 judgement, British session chief Justice C. F. Macaskie recognized the proprietary rights of the rightful heirs of Sultan Kiram and appointed then Datu Punjaman Kiram as the administrator of the estate of North Borneo (Sabah) in 1939.

Recognition accords

The Manila declaration was signed on 3 August, while the Manila joint statement and Manila accord on 31 July 1963 both recognized Sabah as part of Philippine territory.

“The Philippines made it clear that its position on the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia, the Ministers took note of the claim and right of the Philippines to pursue it in accordance with international law and the principle of the Pacific Settlement of disputes,” the Manila accord indicated.

The ministers also agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim of right of the country thereafter.

Among the signatories of the 1963 agreements were then Malaysia deputy minister Tun Abdul Rakak, Vice President and foreign affairs secretary Emmanuel Pelaez and Dr. Subardo, who is deputy foreign minister of Indonesia.

Idjirani said with the agreement there is no reason for Malaysia to abandon its legal obligation to the heir of Sultanate.

He also stressed that the Sultanate has executed a special power of attorney to the Philippine government to pursue the claim before the International Court of Justice.

“President Duterte can direct the Department of Foreign Affairs to initiate the move before the United Nation”’,Idjirani said.

Unilateral halt

“Malaysia has stopped paying the cession money of RM5,300 a year through lawyers representing the nine heirs of the Sulu Sultanate since 2013,” Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.

He said the payments were made based on a treaty signed on 22 January 1878, between the then Sultan of Sulu, Jamal Al Alam and Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent of the British North Borneo Company.

“Apart from the payments to the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate, Malaysia has never made any payment to the Philippine government,” he said.

A Malaysian citizen Chang Foon Hin wanted to know if the government planned to stop paying the cession money of 5,300 Malaysian ringgit per year to the Sulu Sultanate through the government as a measure to end foreign interference in Malaysia’s sovereignty and instead utilize the money to solve the issue of illegal immigrants entering Sabah from the Philippines.

Hishammuddin said Malaysia also did not recognize and entertain any claim by any party over Sabah, as the state had been taken as part of Malaysia by the United Nations as well as the international community.

According to him, Malaysia and the Philippines have an understanding that the claim over Sabah will not be raised at any regional or international platform.

“Until now, the claim on Sabah has only been raised by those who claim to be descendants of the Sulu Sultanate,” he said. (Daily Tribune)