SABAH CLAIM REFRAIN: "BLAME SOMEONE ELSE BUT ME"

"When Malaya's Tunku Abdul Rahman went to Sabah before the Sabah referendum in 1962 to talk to the elders of North Borneo (Sabah), why did not the Philippines and its Government do the same to organise a campaign in situ to get the Sabahans on side? Why didn't they do it?


 
By Anne de Bretagne
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
for the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
and for Sabah Claim Society
23 August 2015


Now, is "blame someone else but me" a distinct Filipino character trait? I'm beginning to think it is! 

For the last few years, the usual refrain when people discuss the Sabah claim issue is to blame the British for the situation the Philippines finds itself in with regard to its stale claim on Sabah. Well, well...

Alright, let's deal with it and throw the Framework Agreement, the BBL, the entire immobile Sabah claim, the Sultanate of Sulu bickering (nearly fratricidal crap, etc, etc) and include with them the kitchen sink at the British. 

I agree the British 'created the problem' as many people who have just recently discovered the North Borneo (Sabah) conundrum have been spewing all over the place.  But here's what: these Filipinos must understand and admit once and for all that the Philippines contributed largely to that decision that created the problem (and continues to contribute unequivocally to the problem TODAY).

But let's be fair and be a bit more clever about things. It's nice to have a punching bag or to have a butt of "sisi" (much like Noynoy aka as Boy Sisi), in this case, the British, but we must ascertain that the Philippines, its leaders and its people aren't at  fault either before we cast blame or "sisi" all around. Anyway, if we want to cast "sisi" all around, here are some real reasons for you to go and do all the "sisi" you want:

(1) At the time, i.e., early 60s, Senator Jovi Salonga was working so hard negotiating with the Brits, your/our own countryman, Senator Lorenzo Sumulong, a flamboyant ex-diplomat to the UN (who happens to be the grand uncle of current PH president, Noynoy Aquino), was going all over the place, attacking and casting vitriolic heaps of acid via the PH Senate pulpit to whip PH Govt and its Sabah claim to extinction. 

He sold the PH claim to Tunku Adul Rahman, then Malaysia's Prime Minister by acting as the soon-to-be-created Malaysia Federation's attack dog against the Government of the Philippines and its claim to Sabah. It wouldn't surprise me therefore, that like the big powers at the time, the Brits took this all-Philippine treasonous approach to the Sabah claim, happening in one of the highest echelons of power, as an excuse to say, "Bloody hell! You people don't know what you want? Well, I'll decide for you!" (Let's not beat around the bush, it was an all-Filipino treason game which must have greatly amused the Brits and the Malayans!) 

(2) Furthermore, if blame has to be cast all around, let's not look far away.... Our own masters and commanders at the time, the great United States of America, did not lift a finger, did not do anything at all to help us convince the British to allow the Sultanate of Sulu to have it back in 1962. On the contrary, the Americans not only did not pay even scant attention to this issue but also discouraged us from tackling the Sabah issue (check out records from as far back as 1957). And one would have thought that as our greatest allies, they would see our way. But heck, no...just didn't happen, but you don't see me around blaming the Americans, now, do you? (Fast forward... In 1967 or 68, it was America that alerted Britain that Marcos was on a "war path" and so what happened? Britain tried to show force by landing fighter aircraft on our own soil. Did America say anything? Nope! Not a word! They were in cahoots with the UK!)

(3) One important element: When Malaya's Tunku Abdul Rahman went to Sabah before the Sabah referendum in 1962 to talk to the elders of North Borneo (Sabah), why did not the Philippines do the same to organise a campaign in situ to get the Sabahans on side? Why?

The Philippine Government was well aware of what was going to happen but did not lift a finger, did not do anything and instead, LEFT EVERYTHING TO FATE as in "Bahala na!" The Government at the time just sat on its big fat ass while the other party, the Malayans led by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, were going at things hammer and tong right in the heart of Sabah to convince the Sabahans to join the soon-to-be created Malaysia Federation. TOTAL PHILIPPINE INERTIA! PH Govt just didn't go the extra mile even if it meant saving Sabah claim's own skin for God and country. Parbleu! And you think we are not to blame?

And I can recite a long series of other "blames" but I won't. I'll stop at those because they should be enough to enlighten you.

So, lets be a bit more clever about this, shall we? Because we can't just be making "sisi" all around like Noynoy does today when things go wrong and believe that it's everybody else's fault but ours! If you really want to know, we were as much to blame for being generally do-lally about the claim. 

This "sisi" doctrine seems to be deeply embedded in our psyche but let's get over it and move on!

Let's not allow classic INERTIA (Bahala na!) to overcome us just because it makes us feel better to  whine consistently and to look back to the past to blame the British for all that has gone badly with Sabah (of which, I must remind Filipinos, are also largely, hugely responsible for, anyway) and let this politics of blame stop at the water's edge! Instead, FIND SOLUTIONS TO HOW TO GET THE BLASTED SABAH BACK or at the very least, find solutions not to allow this country to be partitioned by radicals, zealots, fanatics, secessionists, Malaysian warriors by proxy in the southern Philippines with the treasonous complicity -- again of Govt officials, elected and appointed!

Blaming the Brits for the Sabah debacle ad vitam eternam is not going to help achieve what many Filipinos want, i.e., get Sabah back. 

~~~~O~~~~