Sulu Sultanate wants to negotiate with Malaysia peacefully over Sabah claim

Sulu Sultanate wants to negotiate with Malaysia peacefully over Sabah claim

January 3, 2014

AFTER its Royal Forces occupied a portion of the disputed Sabah that resulted to a standoff, the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo on Friday expressed willingness to negotiate with the Malaysian government.

Newly installed Sultan Esmail Kiram 2nd has approved the recommendation of the Advisory Council of the Sultanate to push for a peaceful and civilized resolution of the Sabah claim.

“Today, I have approved the recommendation of the Council to resolve the Sabah issue in a civilized and peaceful manner, which recommendation is also sanctioned by the Ulama Council of Mindanao,” Kiram said in a press briefing.

As an initial step, he directed the chairman of the council to form and create a negotiating panel preparatory to the formal negotiation of the territorial dispute between the Sultanate of Sulu and the Federation of Malaysia.

The membership of the panel will be announced by the Sultanate on the next few days.

When asked if a government official will be part of the negotiating panel, the Sultanate said it is no longer necessary since they are claiming a private property and not duly owned by the government.

Kiram also ordered the legal panel of the Sultanate and its international legal experts to prepare the legal groundwork and conduct inventory of legal and historical documents to prove its legal and historical rights over Sabah.

He likewise urged the Philippine government to support the case of the Sultanate to be filed before the International Court of Justice and other international tribunals cognizant of the case.

Kiram said the move is only part of the Sultanate’s “New Year’s resolution to repossess Sabah through peaceful means.”

Sultanate Secretary General Abraham Idjirani said “the entire supporters of the sultanate support the sultan’s desire to reposess Sabah.

He likewise expressed hope that the President Benigno Aquino 3rd will support the sultanate as the “issue involves the interests of the Philippines, the sultanate, and Malaysia.”

More than 200 Royal Security Force (RSF) members headed by Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, younger brother of the reigning sultan, occupied a portion of Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu in Sabah on February 9 last year.

When they were discovered by Sabah authorities, they were asked to withdraw and return to Tawi-Tawi, Mindanao, but they resisted that resulted to a standoff.

A shooting war erupted on March 1, 2013 that led to the launching of an all-out war by the Malaysian Security Forces against the Sultanate’s forces.

The Malaysian government had filed rebellion and terrorism charges against those captured, one of them the son of Sultan, who has denied participation in the standoff.

http://manilatimes.net/sulu-sultanate-wants-to-negotiate-with-malaysia-peacefully-over-sabah-claim/64822/

Jamalul Kiram III dies, daughter says sultan wants Pinoys to continue fight for Sabah

Jamalul Kiram III dies, daughter says sultan wants Pinoys to continue fight for Sabah

By: InterAksyon.com
October 20, 2013 8:20 AM

UPDATE 4 - 9:14 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III passed away Sunday morning at the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) in Quezon City, the sultan's daughter Princess Jacel Kiram, told dzMM radio. 

Kiram, who fought to reclaim Sabah from Malaysia, died at 4:42 a.m. He was 75. 

He was supposed to undergo dialysis but his blood pressure dropped drastically prompting his family to rush the sultan to the PHC where he died due to multiple organ failure, according to Princess Jacel. 

"Iniwanan n'ya tayo [He left us] with something to move on. We have to continue fighting for the Filipino people," his daughter said. 

"Ang gusto n'ya tayo na lang ho ang magpatuloy for the Sabah case [What he wants is for us to pursue the Sabah case]," added Kiram's daughter. 

Princess Jacel said that before he died, her father said that, "You have to be strong dahil meron pa tayong misyon sa buhay. Kailangang maibalik kung ano ang dapat na maibalik sa atin You have to be strong because we still have a mission in life. What needs to be returned should be returned to us] ."  

She said Kiram also always told his family that, "Everything happens because the Almighty allowed it to happen." 

Kiram's remains were brought to his residence at Maharlika Village in Taguig City. 

Princess Jacel said their family would like to bury the sultan in Maimbung, Sulu within 24 hours. 

In February this year,  Kiram sent about 400 of his followers to Tanduao village in Sabah's remote coastal town of Lahad Datu to reclaim the territory. 

Kiram said he was prompted to send his people to Sabah after the Philippine government left them out of the framework agreement signed in October, which only catered to the interest of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

It was Malaysia, which took over Sabah in 1963, that brokered the peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF. 

While the MILF respects the Kiram family's claim to Sabah and won't stand in the way of that claim, it "will not revive the claim," according to Khaled Musa, deputy chairperson of the MILF's committee on information.   

Kiram, who ran but lost in the 2007 senatorial elections, was the acknowledged leader of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. The sultanate based in Southern Philippines once controlled North Borneo, which is now known as Sabah.   

The sultanate acquired Sabah as a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies.

According to the sultante, it did not relinquish its sovereignty over Sabah and only leased the territory to the Briitish North Borneo Company starting in 1878.

Pajak, the keyword in the 1878 pact

The keyword in the 1878 agreement between the Kiram family and Gustavo von de Overbeck of the Briitish North Borneo Company was pajak. The Kirams maintain that pajak means lease. But Malaysian authorities define pajak as sale. 

The lease continued until the independence and formation of the Malaysian federation in 1963, which included Sabah.

Because of Sabah's inclusion, the Philippine government during the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal, broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia.

It was during Macapagal's term when then reigning Sultan of Sulu, Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I, ceded to the Philippine government the full sovereignty, title, and dominion of Sabah to the Republic of the Philippines. This gave the Philippine government the full authority to pursue its claim to Sabah in international courts. 

But starting in 1989, succeeding administrations put the Sabah claim on the back burner and instead decided to pursue economic and security relations with Malaysia.

P70,000 for 7 million hectares 

Up to now, the heirs of the sultanate receive rental money for Sabah from the Malaysian government. 

Sabah’s total land area is 7.36 million hectares or almost one-fourth of the Philippines, which is 30 million hectares.

Annually, the Malaysian government pays the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, 5,300 Malaysian ringgit currently equivalent to P70,000. If pajak is defined as rent, it means that Malaysia’s annual rent of Sabah is only .009 centavos per hectare. 

According to Kiram, the rent they receive only proves that the sultante owns Sabah. 

"Why should we leave our own home? In fact, they are paying rent (to us)," Kiram earlier told reporters in Manila. 

"Our followers will stay in Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home," he added. 

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/73106/sulu-sultan-jamalul-kiram-iii-passes-away

US Navy officer's (Ret) memo to leaders in PH Govt: Strengthen 'Institutional Performance' to diminish 'Drivers of Conflict'

Admins' note: There has been no respite this year for the widely-perceived incompetent Aquino Govt: the Tausug siege of Sabah that saw Suluks and Tausugs murdered by Kuala Lumpur troops while Pres Aquino merely delivered ultimatums from PM Najib of Malaysia, the billion-peso 'pork barrel' scam of which the 'accused' Janet Napoles has not been charged formally as of this writing, revelations of corruption scandals one after another, culminating in the armed conflict in Zamboanga which observers fear could ignite a full-scale war in Mindanao. The author issues a memo to remind leaders in Govt that... 
 
Unless the PHL strengthens "Institutional Performance," it will never be able to diminish "Drivers of Conflict."

By Sam Marcelo
25 September 2013

We had wargamed this before and had had proven that in a conflict environment, institutional performance is paramount in diminishing drivers of conflict. Alas, with the corruption brought about by pork barrel, and the Aquino administration miscalculation that caused the Zamboanga MNLF uprising, drivers of conflict will continue to flourish.

Drivers of conflict include but are not limited to: political impact of illicit wealth, economic incentive for conflict, effects of economic decline, injustice, impunity, political violence, threat from ex-combatant, popular support for violent factions, external destabilization, social disintegration, population displacement, social cleavages, and etc.

Institutional Performance include but are not limited to: public confidence in the govt, transparency, accountability, fiscal integrity, infrastructure, access to basic needs, provision of basic social services, public order and safety, equality before the law, administration of justice, respect for human rights, reconciliation processes, and etc.

The "Drivers of Conflict" and "Institutional Performance" have their respective measures and methodology that needed to be implemented and preferred trends that needed to be observed.

~~ o ~~

Sam Marcelo is a United States Navy officer (retired). Sam comes from a long line of naval officers. His father, VAdmiral Virgilio P Marcelo, (AFP) was one of the most respected flag-officers-in-command of the Philippine Navy. This memo is also posted on the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum where Sam is a member.

MNLF mobilizes Tausug fighters in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines - The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has activated some 4,000 foreign trained Tausug fighters embedded in Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, group spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla said yesterday.

Fontanilla said the mobilization of the fighters was aimed to protect Tausugs, who he claimed have been the subject of a crackdown by Malaysian authorities.

He said the MNLF fighters were in addition to the Sulu Sultanate Army led by Agbimuddin Kiram, the brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, leading the armed struggle to reclaim their ancestral land in Sabah.

MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari had declared Sarawak and Sabah as part of the Bangsa Moro Republik (BMR).

Fontanilla however clarified the MNLF fighters in Malaysia will act only in self-defense against any attack from Malaysian forces.

Fontanilla declined to elaborate how the armed group, called the Bangsa Moro Army in Malaysia, was “activated,” but a source revealed at least five countries are supporting it with arms shipments that had arrived in the disputed territory.

 “Just like what happened in the early ‘70s at the height of Mindanao conflict, Sabah and Sarawak will be the main base of the Bangsa Moro Army,” the source said.

The source said the MNLF in the early ‘70s had set up guerrilla and training camps in Sabah with the consent of the Malaysian government at the time.

The source added huge arms shipments were also sent to MNLF in Mindanao weeks before Misuari declared independence in Talipao, Sulu last Aug. 12.

“MNLF troops are now bearing modern assault weapons coming from foreign supporters,” the source said.

Fontanilla however denied the arms shipment, saying the reports were part of government propaganda.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/09/09/1188941/mnlf-mobilizes-tausug-fighters-malaysia

Inaction over Sabah crisis, Malaysia "incursion" in Mindanao and the 1963 Manila Accord: The President may be guilty of working against the interests of the Republic in the service of a foreign government

Tomorrow (or today depending on which side of the globe you are seated), 31 July is the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Manila Accord... 

In an article by Vidal Yudin Weil for the Free Malaysia Today dated March 9, 2013, the writer called Najib to task after Najib's following pronouncement in Lahad Datu:

“The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”. 

Writer Vidal insisted that Najib was wrong: "Najib is wrong in making unilateral claims that Sabah belongs to Malaysia when historical legal documents and agreements may indicate otherwise."

To prove his point, he enumerated the salient points in that Manila Accord: 

(i) the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim; 
(ii) and the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.

With implaccable logic, he said: "Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah."

Fifty years hence and PH is still in no man's land about where its loyalty and interests lay... Fifty years hence and PH still has not fulfilled its contractual obligations part of which is to prosecute the Sabah claim which by PH law, by virtue of Republic Act 5446, is Philippine territory. 

We were hoping that following the Tanduo siege and the in the aftermath of the Lahad Datu massacre of Filipinos who went to Sabah to finally stake their claim in February this year (because of the Republic's failure to honour its legal and moral obligations vis-à-vis the Republic and the Sultanate of Sulu), President Aquino now understands that he cannot give away Sabah without violating the law. 

But the sad part is that while President Aquino just may have realised that his hands are constitutionally tied and that he cannot do as he pleases overtly or publicly, i.e., give up the claim or give Sabah to Malaysia officially, it seems he has resorted to subterfuge when he both implicitly and explicitly sided with Malaysia on virtually everything during the critical Tanduo-Lahad Datu events that saw many of our countrymen arrested, abused, killed, and deported! It's as if he had sworn his personal loyalty to Malaysia for some personal debt which to us is not this nation's debt! 


By choosing to side with Najib and Malaysia rather than with the Sultanate of Sulu, the president is definitely guilty of violating the Republic's contractual obligation vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Sulu which was to prosecute the Sabah claim. 

The President must realise that his refusal or inaction to push for the recognition of the 1963 Manila Accord during this critical period after Malaysia killed many Tausugs, jailed and deported Suluks and when KL judiciary is about to sentence to the death penalty many of our countrymen, is tantamount to giving Najib and the Kuala Lumpur government the right 'to rape' Filipinos and to go ahead and plunder the Philippines by way of Sabah. 

I am sorry to say but no matter how we turn this Sabah issue around today, we see it no other way: The President may be guilty of working against the interests of the Republic in the service of a foreign government. 


~~ AdB
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and for the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
30 July 2013


Related blog posts: 

• Najib bombastic, Aquino frightened but both are guilty of not honouring 1963 Manila Accord
• Sabah dispute, the Philippine claim and the International Court of Justice
• On Malaysia-engineered GPH-MILF "peace talks": NoyNoy Aquino's personal debt of gratitude to Malaysia is not the nation's debt
• Sabah's sovereignty 1946-1963: Although compromised by British colonisation, Sabah legally belonged to the Sultanate of Sulu
• ONLY LEGAL SOLUTION TO SABAH QUESTION IS TO HONOUR UN TREATY - 1963 MANILA ACCORD
• Beyond comprehension: PH Government's un-involved observer stance on Filipino actions to revive Sabah claim
• On Manila Accord of 1963: Malaysia prefers to lose 'national honour' than to lose Sabah
• Malaysian writer's Sabah conflict solution: Revisit the Manila Accord
• Lahad Datu Massacre, Sulu Sultanate Rights and the Manila Accord 1963
• United Nations Treaties No. 8029: Manila Accord 1963

Sulu ‘volunteers’ plan Sabah incursions

Sulu ‘volunteers’ plan Sabah incursions

The Sulu Sultanate on Sunday  said  it is sending more “volunteer” fighters to Sabah from Mindanao to reassert its territorial claim over it and to protect the Filipinos there who are being rounded up by Malaysian police.

Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, said groups of Bangsa Suluk volunteers were preparing to sail to Sabah and join the 1,600-strong Royal Security Forces of the sultanate led by Kiram’s brother, Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram.

“They will be going to Sabah because of the un-Islamic rounding up of innocent civilians by the Malaysian security forces,” Idjirani said from Kiram’s residence in Taguig City.

“They feel it is their patriotic duty to protect their countrymen there and to show the world that Sabah is their homeland.”

Asked how many fighters were sailing to Sabah, Idjirani said they had no idea yet but the fighters would be going there quietly in waves or groups to elude the Malaysian and Philippine naval cordons.

Once in Sabah, they would be consolidating forces and communicating with Agbimuddin, who remains in Sabah since sailing there with 200 men in February.

“They are now driven by their belief that Malaysia does not own Sabah,” Idjirani said.

He said the volunteers would come from Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Zamboanga.

“Our leaders told us that these Bangsa Suluks have been itching to go to Sabah because they are angry over the Malaysians’ treatment of the Filipino residents of Sabah,” Idjirani said.

He said  some of the Sabah-bound volunteers would be armed, with many of them experienced in battle, although they would not be going to Sabah to wage war.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/07/29/sulu-volunteers-plan-sabah-incursions/

Sabah: Kuala Lumpur formulates Medieval Age tactics in the name of Sultan of Terangganu against Sulu Sultanate

The capture of Datu Amirbahar, a royal Kiram (in picture) and the spectre of death penalty against him is Malaysia king's -- and his Kuala Govt's, Medieval Ages  tactic meant as a message to the Sultanate of Sulu: "We will decimate you and we will have your land!"

Malaya Federation king, his Govt and troops waged war and terror on Sabah, not the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo
 
The Courts of Malaya Federation's Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of the Sultanate of Terannganu, have no right to accuse, arrest, detain and tell a royal member of the Sultanate of Sulu, a Suluk (Tausug resident of Sabah) no less, that he is facing the death penalty allegedly "because he is the Sultanate of Sulu's defence minister, for being a member of a terrorist group, and for waging war against the king of Malaysia".

It is the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) who should be pressing charges against the king of the Malaya Federation, his Kuala Lumpur Govt and their armies for bringing chaos, death and destruction to Sabah, to the Tausugs, to the Suluks, for waging terror and war against the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) and absolutely not the other way around.

It was Malaysia's armies - in the name of the Terangganu Sultanate's Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin who is currently the Malaya Federation's king, that launched an overkill against 230 men and women in Tanduo and not the other way around. It is Peninsular Malaysia that is illegally occupying Sabah and not the other way around.

A Medieval Age (from 5th to 15th centuries) method of obtaining land, of extending a domain and of exercising political vendetta against a rival monarch

This accusation and death penalty arrangement formulated in the name of a foreign sultanate against Datu Amir, son of Sultan Bentalin Esmail Kiram II and nephew of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, is effectively a message from Kuala Lumpur to the Sultanate of Sulu: "We will decimate you and we will have your land."

With Datu Amir's arrest, detention of and death penalty being danggled against him,' Malaysia is attempting to hold the Sultanate hostage as they perpetuate the medieval form of political action to vanquish the enemy, obtain more land, in order to extend their political, military and economic power beyond their current realm.

And by threatening to kill no less than an immediate member of the current leaders of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah), Kuala Lumpur wants the Sultanate of Sulu, its members, heirs and supporters to accept the most abject form of insult from an enemy, i.e., in order to reduce them to begging.
 
Objective: Sap the morale of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)
 
Understand that Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysa Federation and their so-called 'king of Malaysia' will do everything and anything to sap the morale of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. They are forcing them to surrender rich, very rich Sabah unconditionally and with that happening, they are hoping that the Sultanate of Sulu and its heirs will be gone forever. Truly, the exercise is strangely similar to those practised in the Medieval Ages!

People must hoist it in - must understand - that this latest action by Malaysia is actually a message to all and it is meant to inflict the most savage form of Medieval Age political power vendetta play against the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah), against the Tausug people, against the Suluks, and by extension, to show their contempt for the Filipino people.

Kuala Lumpur is already aware that the Filipinos of Luzon and Visayas and even some in Mindanao will not do anything because President Aquino has played his role to perfection; his fearmonger strategy has worked, i.e., the Filipinos have effectively 'capitulated.' But Kuala Lumpur wants the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, the Tausugs, the people of the Sulu archipelago, the Suluks and their supporters in Sabah to do the same: to surrender Sabah unconditionally!
  

Beware! Malaysia will corrupt Filipinos to capture an even bigger royal catch:  Rajah Muda/Crown Prince Agbimuddin Kiram (in picture) 

Malaysia will try to corrupt every known Filipino in the Philippines, might even bribe members of the MILF to help in the hunt, to lay their hands on an even bigger royal catch: Raja Muda/Crown Prince Datu Agbimuddin Kiram, younger brother of  Jamalul III and Esmail II.... also known as Datu Puing, commander of the Sultanate Army in Sabah.

There is no doubt that  Malaysia king, through his government in Kuala Lumpur, is hoping that the capture of a crown prince will finally legitinise Peninusular Malaysia's illegal 50-year war for the control of Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah) lands.

NB: A Malaysian writer's implaccable logic about Sabah ownership:

In an article by Vidal Yudin Weil for the Free Malaysia Today dated March 9, 2013, the writer called Najib to task after Najib's pronouncement in Lahad Datu “The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”.  

The Malaysian writer insisted that Najib was wrong: "Najib is wrong in making unilateral claims that Sabah belongs to Malaysia when historical legal documents and agreements may indicate otherwise."

The writer also enumerated the salient points in that Manila Accord:

•    the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim; and
•    the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.

With implaccable logic, he said: "Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah."

~ By AdB
For the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims
and for the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
21 March 2013
 


RECOMMENDED POSTS:

• Kuala Lumpur's continuing annexation of Sabah is illegal even by Malaysia Federation standards
• Manila Accord of 1963 is United Nations Treaty 8029
• Beyond comprehension: President Aquino's 'un-involved observer stance' in the ongoing Sabah conflict
• Malaysia funded war and terror in Mindanao, US documents reveal
• Manila Govt has forsaken the Filipinos in Sabah
• Sabah sovereignty rights issue: Commentary by retired Ambassadors Baja and Lavinia
• Even Malaysia accepts that Sabah was leased land and not abandoned land
• Kuala Lumpur fields their Malaysia King in burlesque show

Aquino Government's un-involved observer stance on Sabah claim by Filipinos - beyond comprehension

In her article "Reclaiming Sabah", Manila Standard Today columnist Linda V. Jimeno, rightly points out: 

"Why the government is taking the stance of an un-involved observer is beyond comprehension. When the sovereignty and dominion over the territory was transferred to the Philippine government by the Sultanate in 1962–which the government accepted as shown in its many overt acts–the government took on the responsibility of reclaiming Sabah and protecting Filipinos who initiate non-violent actions to revive the Philippine claim." 

Full article: 

Reclaiming Sabah Posted on Apr. 15, 2013 Manila Standard Today

In my column last week entitled “Legal basis for the Sabah claim,” I discussed how the Sulu Sultanate came to acquire North Borneo (Sabah) and exercise dominion and sovereignty over it, and how Malaysia  came to possess the territory. 

In this article, questions on what the Philippines has done to make an official claim over Sabah and how Malaysia responded will be discussed, culling from the booklet written by Prof. Emmanuel Q. Yap, founder of the People’s Patriotic Movement. 

When the Sulu Sultanate transferred by a legal instrument its dominion and sovereignty over Sabah to the Philippine government in 1962, did the government do anything to assert its ownership over Sabah? Yes. Even before the Federation of Malaysia came into being, the Philippine government, in 1950, advised the British government that it had a claim over Sabah. Too, the Federation of Malaya (not yet Malaysia) recognized that there was an Aide Memoire dated August 2, 1962 from the Foreign Affairs Department of the Philippines which reminded the Federation of Malaya that “Britain occupies the territory by the terms of the lease which, in no way, entitles the British government to claim ownership or sovereignty over the territory or to transfer it to any entity whatsoever.” 

The Federation of Malaya acknowledged this Aide Memoire by also handing an Aide Memoire to the Philippine Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur on October 3, 1962 stating that the government of the Federation of Malaya and the British government agreed that they would work towards a formal agreement for the transfer of the North Borneo territory (and Singapore) to the Federation of Malaysia. No such formal agreement was ever reached. Yet, Britain proceeded to include Sabah among the territories it transferred to Malaysia. 

On December 29, 1962, the Philippines and the United Kingdom announced an agreement to hold talks on the Philippine claim. Thus, from January 28 to February 1, 1963 the first Ministerial Conference on the Claims was held in London with then Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez heading the RP panel. 

Did not the Philippines object to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 which included Sabah? Yes, it did, together with Indonesia which, in turn, was claiming Sarawak. Thus, then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, Indonesian President Soekarno and Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal met in Manila in August 1963.  The Manila Accord of 1963 was signed where Malaysia agreed that the inclusion of Sabah in its Federation would not prejudice the Philippine claim. Malaysia acknowledged the right of the Philippines to pursue its claim in accordance with international laws and the United Nations principles of pacific settlement of disputes. 

From February 5 to 10, 1964, the first round of talks between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia (known as the Maphilindo talks) was held in Bangkok. Around the same time, President Macapagal and the Malaysian Prime Minister met in Phnom Penh. The Tunku agreed to elevate the claim to the International Court of Justice and encouraged the Philippines to submit a memorandum detailing the basis of its claims. The foreign affairs ministers of the Maphilindo states held a second round of talks from March 5 to 6, 1964. Then in June 1964 the Philippines gave to Malaysia its memorandum, “Philippine Claim to North Borneo Vol. 1” as suggested by the Malaysian Prime Minister. 

What happened in the Maphilindo talks in Bangkok? The talks failed because Malaysia unilaterally rejected the Philippine claim to Sabah and then terminated the talks. In so doing, it arrogated unto itself the power of a judge while being a contending party in the dispute. The talks were held supposedly to agree on what modes of settlement, as provided in the Manila Accord of 1963, were acceptable to both governments. 

How significant are the meetings in London and in Bangkok to the Philippine claim? The London foreign ministers’ meeting was significant in that it gave the Philippine claim the status of a legitimate international dispute. On the other hand, the Maphilindo agreement to meet in Bangkok pursuant to the Manila Accord was significant in that it contained a reservation agreed upon by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia that the formation of Malaysia would not prejudice the unresolved Philippine claim over North Borneo (Sabah). All three countries also agreed to settle the dispute by peaceful means such as arbitration. In effect, therefore, Malaysia accepted the existence of the legitimacy of the Philippine claim to Sabah. 

What is the effect of Malaysia’s unilateral termination of the Maphilindo talks in Bangkok? Malaysia violated several solemn agreements. One of them is the Manila Accord. Another is the agreement between the Philippine President and the Malaysian Prime Minister in Phnom Penh that the two countries would discuss the “best way of settling the claim, not precluding reference to the International Court of Justice.” Still another was the exchange of Communique between the two countries where both essentially agreed to discuss the best way to settle the claim. 

Should the Sultanate of Sulu be blamed for taking proactive action in reclaiming Sabah? The manner the Sultanate asserted its claim may not have been the proper and legal way but this writer will not go as far as blaming the Sultanate. The historical records speak for themselves. Why the government is taking the stance of an un-involved observer is beyond comprehension. When the sovereignty and dominion over the territory was transferred to the Philippine government by the Sultanate in 1962–which the government accepted as shown in its many overt acts–the government took on the responsibility of reclaiming Sabah and protecting Filipinos who initiate non-violent actions to revive the Philippine claim. 

E-mail: ritalindaj@gmail.com   Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

Related blog posts:

The Most Beautiful Defence of the Philippine Sabah Claim

Signing of the Manila Accord

Government must not confuse itself on who is who in the Sulu Sultanate

Commentary by retired Ambassadors Baja and Lavinia

Senator Salonga warns Senator Sumulong

Should the Aquino Government now kill the Sabah claim to appease Malaysia?

Kuala Lumpur's Bernama counters news about Sultanate Army base in Sabah

Malaysia's not so independent press is highly sceptical of Sultanate's guerilla army base in Sabah which the Philippine Star reported about recently, a report that was carried by virtually every single Malaysia press outfit. 

However, it is important to note that on anything related to Sabah conflict, Malaysia print and broadcast media are fed largely by the powerful Bernama, Kuala Lumpur's state-run press agency, which will say anything and everything to prop up UMNO Party and Prime Minister Najib's own National Front Party (Barisan Nasional.)

In effect, Bernama can be rightly branded as Kuala Lumpur's 'mind conditionning arm' as it helps UMNO and Najib perpetuate gross historical inaccuracies, etc.

Readers therefore must be sceptical of opinion-based pieces bordering on psy-war tactics that are passed up as news items in Malaysia press. 

Here is an example of today's Borneo Insider banner which is not exactly what one expects from a so-called full-pledged news reporting outfit. We can only surmise that someone in Borneo Insider must have been ordered by Bernama to copy-paste Kuala Lumpur's press release. 

April, 15, 2013 - 9:25 amFact or Fiction
Sultan Kiram’s men set up guerrilla base in Sabah jungle claim – report

KOTA KINABALU: Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and his erstwhile spokesman, Abraham Idjirani are at it again in what many believe is a psychological war being waged against Malaysian security sources.

With their raiding force almost decimated and their so-called Radja Mudah, Agbimuddin Kiram either hiding in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi or even dead, the Kirams have hatched yet another interesting tale.

If last week they said that the MNLF had sent 400 of its fighters to Sabah to shore up Abgimuddin and his remaining ‘army’, this time around they are claiming that the followers of the sultanate of Sulu have set up a guerrilla base in the hinterlands of Sabah.

For more: The Borneo Insider: Fact or Fiction

And as if that was not enough, The Borneo Insider posted a picture boasting a Malaysia Army armoured car; press photo caption smacks of deadly Malaysian challenge as it reads, "The Adnan VPC, an all-terrain armoured carrier and tank is waiting for Kiram’s men, wherever they are." 

Now, that to us sounds very much like a Bernama-sponsored psy-war gimmick ;-)

~~ Admins, Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims
15 April 2013

Former UMNO Assemblyman views Najib with contempt and asks questions about the Sulu Sultanate 'excursion' in Lahad Datu

Former UMNO Assemblyman Mohd Ariff Sabri Azziz (in picture) wrote "Why’s Najib on a witch-hunt?" for Free Malaysia Today in which he treats Malaysia PM Najib in the most contemptible manner possible (and rightly so if I may say.)

Never have a I read an article published in the usually not-so-democratic Malaysia press albeit in Sabah as contemptible of an UMNO man in power as the one written by Ariff Sabri Aziz. Could it be that this former UMNO Assemblyman is expecting UMNO's defeat in the forthcoming Sabah elections and has no more qualms about attacking Malaysia's current strongman who, I should add, is also the man who ordered the wholescale murder of people from the Sulu Sultanate group in Sabah last month?

In his article, Ariff Sabri Aziz writes of Najib as "value less", "Fuhrer-minded", one "cavorting with questionable organisations, the underworld and other gangster-like groupings" no doubt alluding to Najib's connection with the murder of a Mongolian woman during his tenure as Malaysia defence minister for which his henchman, a Razak Baguinda, was jailed for a while and then freed when Najib became PM; that Najib's "tenure as Pahang menteri besar was lacklustre", and so forth and so on. (And to think that President Aquino looks up to the Malaysia prime minister so highly that he parroted every word Najib said during the initial days of the Sabah stand-off.)

In keeping with the saying that the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend,' I would have been contented with Ariff Sabri Aziz' piece as he thrashed Najib with one ad hominem after another had he not injected the following remark which, to my mind, served to rebuke the real owners of Sabah, i.e., the Sulu Sultanate and by extension, the Tausugs of Sulu:  "There is a breakdown in law and order. The Umno government has failed to protect its citizens from being set upon by other citizens, because the perpetrators are the brownshirts from Umno."

Other citizens? What 'other citizens'? The Sulu Sultanate are the proprietary right holders of Sabah while the Philippine Republic holds the sovereignty rights which is carved in Philippine law under Republic Act 5446. 

Perhaps, there is a need to remind Mr Aziz that following the transfer of sovereignty rights over Sabah to the Republic of the Philippines by Sultan Esmail Kiram on 12 September 1962, Suluks, Tausugs, citizens of Sulu, displaced Moros and even Filipinos of different ethnic origins became the natural citizens of Sabah. Fortunately, Arriff Sabri Aziz redeemed himself after he asks some questions which neutralised his otherwise slanted remark.

For example, he asks, "What exactly did Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak offer Jamalul Kiram III?"

Ariff Sabri Aziz, to his credit, also makes an eyebrow raising remark over which I think Jamallul Kiram III may be able to shed light: "I will not be surprised to learn eventually that Najib made some offers to the Sulu Sultan in exchange for political support." Does Aziz, a former UMNO man know something we don't?

And his other two questions if answered by any of the protagonists, i.e., Najib, Jamallul Kiram III or even his brother Esmail Kiram II, should help greatly in understanding where we are all at with regard to the Sabah claim: "Were these people promised land and the promises reneged? Did Najib turn down a request from the Sulu Sultan to meet up with him when Najib was in Manila recently?"

On the whole, it is rather 'refreshing' to read a straightforward anti-Najib and anti-UMNO piece from a Malaysian UMNO politician (because that's who Mr Aziz is in reality.)  It tells me that perhaps, not all Malaysians are devoid of sense of discernment after all.

~~ By Anne de Bretagne For the Defenders of Philippine Sovereignty 10 April 2013

ARTICLE:
Why’s Najib on a witch-hunt?  
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | April 9, 2013
Did Najib Tun Razak renege on a deal with Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and is now worried that the truth will see light?
 

Trust must be earned, Mr Prime Minister, and right now we don’t see a leader. What we see is a slumlord with wads of cash in hand, doling out moneyed kindness.

What exactly did Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak offer Jamalul Kiram III?

I will not be surprised to learn eventually that Najib made some offers to the Sulu Sultan in exchange for political support.

The government has not been forthcoming in its explanations to reveal what is the true story behind the Lahad Datu tragedy.

Were these people promised land and the promises reneged? Did Najib turn down a request from the Sulu Sultan to meet up with him when Najib was in Manila recently?

So Najib and his government go on a McCarthy-like witch-hunt victimising people like Tian Chua who was charged with politically motivated legal action.

And the spiritual adviser of Umno is up to his usual despicable, dirty and utterly unethical tactics of imputing the Sulu invasion was financed by some party.

Suddenly you hear the spiritual adviser of Umno – the man who made the edict “better to be friends with the devil you know than the angel you don’t” – dishing up homilies and simplistic advice meant, unfortunately, for Umno simpletons.

Are we surprised? No!

We are not surprised to see Umno cavorting with questionable organisations, the underworld and other gangster-like groupings. Why? Because befriending bad people is second-nature to Umno and its leaders.

Value-less Najib
Values and mind-set, people say, are formed before one is 40 years old.

From then on, one draws down from the reservoir of accumulated knowledge and value system that one has. 

What has Najib accumulated before his was 40?

Did he spend his young years burning the midnight oil to get through his MCE and HSC?

Did he go through years of deprivation that shaped the character of most of us?

His years as Pahang menteri besar were embroiled in the wholesale plunder of Pahang’s forest.

I can remember in the early 1980s, he appointed his cousin to head a state-owned timber company. At that time the fellow earned RM40,000 per month and was driving a Porsche or a Ferrari.

The regional manager of Shell, based in Kuantan at that time, an employee of the second biggest company in the world, was earning a salary of RM11,000 a month.

Najib’s tenure as Pahang menteri besar was lacklustre. His mediocrity was only exceeded by his pursuits of other nocturnal distractions.

Najib didn’t come into office with stellar academic achievements.

His first job was as personal assistant to then chairman of Petronas, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. He was more of a bag carrier for Tengku Razaleigh then.

‘Fuhrer’ Najib
Between then and now there’s been nothing exciting except plunder and pillage.

The main players in the economy remain a chosen few friends and cronies, making Najib’s boastful pledge of implementing a New Economic Model entirely hollow.

There is a breakdown in law and order. The Umno government has failed to protect its citizens from being set upon by other citizens, because the perpetrators are the brownshirts from Umno.

Umno is behaving almost Nazi-like and Najib, well, he’s the Fuhrer. Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Furhrer: One People, One Nation and One Leader! The Fuhrer looks the other way as his brownshirts intimidated and assaulted fellow citizens.

Nothing personal, it’s just business and I am asking what many more people are asking: What has Najib got in common with us, common people?

In terms of accumulated experience and formed values system, Najib is sorely wanting.

He has the least qualities that we can identify with and yet, people, unschooled and brainwashed want him to lead this nation?

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz is a former Umno assemblyman and is now a DAP member. He is a FMT columnist.

Link to article: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/04/09/whys-najib-on-a-witch-hunt/

Filipino Tausugs from Jolo, Sulu to the rescue of beleaguered Tausug and Suluk fighters in Sabah

A screen capture of TV news coverage lifted from Philippine Sabah Claim Forum

The Filipino Tausugs have always been known for their courage since time immemorial. Kuala Lumpur politicians do not begin to understand that they are in trouble and they are in it for the long haul.

Despite the strange collaborative arrangement between Malacanang and Putrajaya to the effect that a naval blockade was organised to stop Filipino Tausugs from Mindanao going to the rescue of their belleaguered fellow fighters in Sabah, re-enforcement was able to slip through. 

'Cavalry' is on the way with re-enforcement for the Filipino Tausug group fighting in Sabah against foreign occupation that's embodied by greedy Peninsular Malaysia politicians and their Malaysia troops who are about to be tested in a protracted warfare. 

Another good news: Battle is also being waged for Supreme Court attention

"...taxpayer Louis Biraogo filed with the Supreme Court of the Philippines a 17-page petition for writ of mandamus, urging the high court to order Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Del Rosario to elevate the claim to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.  

"Biraogo also hit Malacanang: “Instead of helping the Filipinos who went to Sabah, the Philippine government threatened them with legal action in Philippine courts. Worse, President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) concurred in the decision of the Malaysian government to brand as terrorists the Filipino supporters of the Sultan of Sulu who went to Sabah.”

ON SABAH: CAVALRY IS ON THE WAY!

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT SABAH: Cavalry is on the way!

MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla confirmed that armed men have arrived in small batches in Sabah.

As Kemal Attaturk said, "Sovereignty is not given, it is taken!" 

Kuala Lumpur will curse the day they killed the Filipino Tausugs in Tanduo...

Handout file photo of Malaysian soldiers
patrolling Sungai Nyamuk, a village adjacent to
Kampung Tanduo where troops stormed the camp
of the armed Filipino group, in Lahad Datu,
Sabah on March 12, 2013. — Reuters pic

REPORT: 1,000 fighters slip into SabahBy Perseus Echeminada (The Philippine Star) | Updated April 8, 2013 - 12:00am 

MANILA, Philippines - An additional 1,000 armed men from Tawi-Tawi and Sulu have slipped into Sabah and joined the followers of Agbimuddin Kiram to fight Malaysian security forces, a source from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said yesterday. 

The source said the armed men arrived in small groups to evade the Philippine and Malaysian naval blockade. 

MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla confirmed thousands of Tausugs has began preparing since the outbreak of hostilities between the royal sultanate army of Kiram and Malaysian forces. 

“As per information, the armed men arrived in small batches,” he said. 

It was not known, however, if the armed men joined the fighting in Lahad Datu but last week the sultanate of Sulu said at least 100 heavily armed men have rejoined the group of Kiram on the outskirts of town. 

It was learned that the 100 men were now part of the 1,000 armed followers that joined Kiram, also known as raja muda or crown prince, in various parts of Sabah.

Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani last week revealed Kiram had called him up to report that new arrivals joined his group in the ongoing battle with Malaysian forces in Lahad Datu. 

Link: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/04/08/928171/1000-fighters-slip-sabah