1963 MANILA ACCCORD: KEY TO AVOID WAR OVER NORTH BORNEO

"To honour the 1963 Manila Accord, which is United Nations Treaty 8029, is key to the legal resolution of the North Borneo/Sabah impasse. Kuala Lumpur must and should accept that a United Nations treaty is not something that Malaysia should scoff at. Ask yourselves this: "What good are bona-fide/international treaties if after signing them, the signatory countries refuse to recognise them and instead, discard them like toilet paper?" Honouring the 1963 Manila Accord is the key to avoid war over North Borneo."

Picture of the signing of the Manila Accord - UN Treaty 8029 on 31 July 1963 by (from left)  President Soekarno of Indonesia, President Macapagal of the Philippines and Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of Malaya Federation (precursor to Malaysia Federation

By Anne de Bretagne
For the Sabah Claim Society
the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
17 June 2013 

 

ON 31st JULY 2013 IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MANILA ACCORD*

THE ONLY LEGAL SOLUTION TO THE SABAH QUESTION IS TO HONOUR THE MANILA ACCORD. How? By pressuring Kuala Lumpur to negotiate with the Philippines. However, there is no way in hell that it can happen if President Aquino has put it in his head not to face the question head on or even just to raise - even with a gentle whisper - the 1963 Manila Accord with his great friend in Kuala Lumpur, the not-so-smart (but one who has outsmarted our benighted leader Noynoy at every turn), the one and only corrupt, the greedy Bumiputra Affirmative Action-BN leader, ta da da... Najib Razak, the son of the man who initiated the troubles in Mindanao and caused the Philippines to lose many of its sons and daughters in what was then called the Mindanao Secession Wars of the 70s...

In that UN Treaty - 8029 also known as the Manila Accord, signed on 31 July 1963 by President Macapagal of the Philippines, by future Malaysia Federation Prime Minister (then Malaya Federation) Tunku Abdul Rahman and by President Soekarno of Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur recogonises the validity of the Philippine claim to Sabah and accepts for the Philippine claim to be pursued. NO QUESTION ABOUT THIS!

One wonders why and how can Kuala Lumpur outwit us at every turn? Most of the 20 million Malayans (or Peninsular Malaysians as they are now popularly known) are not that smart, in fact, they are rather stupid, are terribly bone idle, but truly, one wonders how on earth they manage to outwit and outsmart 100 million Filipinos, many of whom boast of a certain degree of sophistication be it in education or in general culture!

The other solution is for Sabah to withdraw from the UK-engineered Malaysia Federation. There seems to be a trend towards this today but will all of Sabah agree? Not sure - Sabahans are just like Filipinos, they are easily conned by nice words, by good bribes and fight each other most of the time. They are rather laid back (understatement) so will take a bit of push from somewhere.

The ultimate solution, one might say, is war. But according to our benighted leader, that's out of the question and we agree with him. We not only do not have the material capability to go to war with Kuala Lumpur, it is also almost a certainty that most of our people will be anti such move. We have seen how PH reacted to the 'excursion' headed by SJKIII's brother - many of our politicians and their supporters almost peed in their pants when the Lahad Datu stand off happened... So let's say, that war is not an option.

If only we didn't have Sulu's Kiram 'intramurals' (the Kiram family bickering, the infighting, the 'faking' or the usurping of the title of sultan of Sulu by Kiram cousins, uncles, brothers, etc, etc, etc, with the help of fake or self-appointed "princes" to confuse the issue) which Malaysia is using to its great advantage, perhaps, things would be slightly different. The claim is further buried in the depth of the Sulu Sea day in, day out, by an extraordinarily weak and inept PH president, to say the least. Alas! The saying that "united we stand divided we fall' is, as always, true. 


*Now, here's Section 12 of the 1963 Manila Accord which we can not and should not poo-pooh...

Section 12 of the Manila Accord - UN TREATY 8029, signed by three heads of states before the creation of the Malaysia Federation namely, Soekarno of Indonesia, Rahman of Malaya and Macapagal of the Philippines, stipulates the following (highlight ours):

"12. The Philippines made it clear that its position on the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia is subject to the final outcome of the Philippine claim to North Borneo. The Ministers took note of the Philippine claim and the right of the Philippines to continue to pursue it in accordance with international law and the principle of the pacific settlement of disputes. They agreed that the inclusion of North Borneo in the Federation of Malaysia would not prejudice either the claim or any right thereunder. Moreover, in the context of their close association, the three countries agreed to exert their best endeavours to bring the claim to a just and expeditious solution by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties' own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Bandung Declaration."

To honour the 1963 Manila Accord, which is United Nations Treaty 8029, is key to the legal  resolution of the North Borneo/Sabah impasse. Kuala Lumpur must and should accept that a United Nations treaty is not something that Malaysia should scoff at.  Ask yourselves this: What good are  bona-fide UN international treaties if, after signing them, the signatory countries refuse to recognise them and instead, discard them like toilet paper? Honouring the 1963 Manila Accord is the key  to avoid war over North Borneo. Kuala Lumpur must abide by the treaty.


~~~~O~~~~


Related blog post: Signing of the Manila Accord of 1963

Other links: 

• Post colonial history: British North Borneo/Sabah and the 1963 Manila Accord
• UN Treaties 

"PAJAK" -- THE BONE OF CONTENTION; ANOTHER DOCUMENT WHICH IS A LETTER FROM THE BRITISH COLONIAL OFFICE IN LONDON DATED 1ST NOV 1962

"PAJAK" -- THE BONE OF CONTENTION; ANOTHER DOCUMENT WHICH IS A LETTER FROM THE BRITISH COLONIAL OFFICE IN LONDON DATED 1ST NOV 1962

NOTE: This document is about the thorny word "Pajak" that was used in the translation of the Sabah lease agreement between the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo and the private foreign businessmen; note that even Tunku Abdul Rahman himself, "father of the Malaysia Federation," referred to "pajak" in the Sabah lease agreement of 1878 as "rent" but the officials of Kuala Lumpur tried to turn around the damage created by Tunku Abdul Rahman's announcement by insisting that the lease was a definitive cession. We are re-posting it to accompany the document unearthed (shown alongside pink-coloured document) in the British Foreign Office that we posted earlier on.

NB: Transcription of letter (for easier reading) is mine hence any and all errors of transcription are mine. ~~ Blog Administrator

 ~~~~~O~~~~~

CONFIDENTIAL

COLONIAL OFFICE
GREAT SMITH STREET, LONDON S.W.1
Telephone: [...] 1266 Ext.
1st November 1962

Dear [......]

                        In connection with the alleged Philippine "claim" to North Borneo there is one point on which we should be grateful for Kuala Lumpur's confidential advice.

                        In paragraph 1, of Kuala Lumpur telegram to Commonwealth Relations Office No. 625 of the 3rd September in connections with conversations with Ghangli and Ngah about the Tunku's unfortunate reference to a "lease" Ghangli is reported as saying that the Malay word used by the Tunku was "srwa" i.e. "lease" or "rent" and Ngah is reported as saying that he thought "pajak" and "pajakan" nowadays meant the same thing though originally they meant more as the Tunku with his knowledge of Kedah and Penang would realise ..........

                       As pajak" is the word in the Deed of Cession of 1878 from which all our present troubles appear to stem because of its alternative translations as "grant and cede" and "lease" we were most interested in Ngeh's remark and we should be grateful if Kuala Lumpur's advice could be sought on the original meaning of the malay words "pajak" and pajakan". This original meaning may perhaps be very helpful to us.

                      I am sending a copy of this letter to Cable.

Yours,

(signed) 

W.S. Carter

[Letter addressed to] D.C.R. RODCLIFF [???], ESQ.,
             Commonwealth Relations Office
                          Downing Street,
                               London, S.W.1.

  ~~~~~O~~~~~

 
NOTA BENE: The Philippine Sabah Claim Forum is grateful to HM Sultan Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram for allowing us to avail of documents in his possession pertaining to PH Sabah claim.

 ~~~~~O~~~~~

Related post:
GOOD NEWS RE NORTH BORNEO/SABAH QUESTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF 2016

GOOD NEWS RE NORTH BORNEO/SABAH QUESTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF 2016

GOOD NEWS RE NORTH BORNEO/SABAH QUESTION ON THE FIRST DAY OF 2016: 

We have just received the file (shown) from the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo which was unearthed in the British Foreign Office by the London-based Chancellor of HM Sultan Muedzul Lail T Kiram of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Sabah)... we will communicate the contents as soon as we receive all the copies of the file. It contains a full record of the 'concessions' pertaining to 'pajak' (lease) agreement in North Borneo made by the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo in the 19th century.

.

NB: JUST SO ALL MAY KNOW -- This is about gathering evidence to reinforce the claim of the Republic. It is about the arduous task of assembling documents that will help the Republic reinforce its claim. People are working hard free of charge to do this, spending their own money, time, effort to help gather evidence that will help reinforce the claim of the Republic. The people behind these arduous and painstaking tasks seek no glory nor recompense, financial or otherwise and will refuse any if offered... and we personally make a pledge that we refuse and will refuse any reward, award of WHATEVER NATURE if ever offered to us ... This is all being done for the glory of the Republic! ~~ Sabah Claim Society administrators

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~~~~

Sultan of Sulu: No to PH consular office in Sabah

Sultan of Sulu: No to PH consular office in Sabah

THE Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo reiterated its rejection of proposals made by Malaysians for the Philippine government to open a consular office in Sabah.

Apparently agitated by the reports that the Aquino administration has decided to open a consular office in Sabah, Sultan Esmail Kiram 2nd, the reigning Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, expressed serious concern.

The Sultan’s wazir, not quite his prime minister but his policy adviser, former Gov. Almarin Centi Tillah of Tawi-Tawi, relayed these concerns to The Manila Times’ Publisher-Editor Rene Bas.

“We have every reason to believe that the plan while being denied publicly by Aquino officials, was agreed upon in secret between President Aquino and Prime Minister Najib Razak,” Al Tillah said.

“This is a betrayal not only of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo but also of the Republic of the Philippines. It is against Philippine national interest to virtually abandon the claim to Sabah by opening a consular office there and thereby show the world that the Philippine government accepts Malaysian sovereignty over Sabah,” he added.

In a separate event also on Monday, the Sultanate’s spokesman, Abhraham Idjurani, told Manila Times reporter Ritchie Horario of the Sultanate’s rejection of the plans “of the government to establish a Philippine consular office in Sabah.

Idjurani said saying that this is tantamount to surrendering Philippine sovereignty over Sabah to Malaysia.

“The Sultanate of Sulu is vehemently opposing any move by Malacañang to put up a Consular Office in the disputed territory,” Idjirani said.

The establishment of a consular office in the disputed territory was raised during the recent visit of President Benigno Aquino 3rd in Malaysia.

In case the plan pushes through, Idjirani said, Aquino would be the first Philippine President to start with “a wrong policy to waste a national legacy and as part of the Muslim contribution to nation building.”

“He has forgotten that any effort to diminish this legacy is a betrayal to the Filipino Great Cause,” he added.

He added that Aquino must remind Malaysia that it should adhere to the rule of law embodied in the 1963 Manila Accord.

North Borneo is that part of Sabah that is the sovereign territory of the reigning Sultans of Sulu and North Borneo.

The present Sultan, Esmail Kiram II, as his predecessors did, gladly accepts the fact of his being a Filipino citizen. Therefore, any lands and seas in his realm is part of the Republic of the Philippines.

That Sabah is Philippine territory is affirmed by the transfer by the then reigning Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, Muhammad Esmail Kiram I, “of full sovereignty, title and dominion” over Sabah to the Philippines on September 12, 1962. The President of the Philippines then was Diosdado Macapagal.

Legal documents show that Sabah was leased by the Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo to agents of the British North Borneo Company. The UK then handed over the lease to the leaders of Malaya when they, with British support, were forming the Federation of Malaysia.

The Malaysian government maintains that Sabah belongs to it and Sabah is a state of the federation. The Philippines disputes that claim.

During President Aquino’s visit to Malaysia last week, Malaysian media once again played up proposals that the Philippines open a consular office in Sabah.

Problems of Filipino “migrants” in Sabah—Filipino Muslims carrying Philippine passports—have been cited by Malaysians as the reason there should be a consulate.

The way the news reached the Philippines, it seemed as if President Aquino and his administration have agreed to these proposals.

That is not true. President Aquino himself has stated that he did not want the Sabah dispute to be discussed but that Prime Minister Najib Razak did.

The Malaysian PM suggested the establishment of a hotline over the Sabah dispute. The hotline would be between the Philippine and Malaysian security authorities. The Malaysian PM himself told journalists this detail.

http://manilatimes.net/sultan-of-sulu-no-to-ph-consular-office-in-sabah/81648/

PH’s Sabah claim not on Aquino agenda

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13 provinces at the altar of so-called peace: Is it worth dismembering the Republic to placate Kuala Lumpur?

"So we may all be clear: this so-called peace agreement or shared sovereignty rights over 13 provinces in Southern Mindanao with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is what it is - it is not a peace offering to the people of Southern Mindanao but a peace offering to the Barisan Nasional politicos and businessmen of Kuala Lumpur."
By Anne de Bretagne
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
08 January 2014

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process is very upbeat today: "Malacañan is hopeful the normalization annex of the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement will be signed this month."

According to the Solar News report, Presidential Communication Secretary Sonny Coloma has announced that 'peace panels from both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are now working on drafts and are also carrying out informal consultations on the annex prior to formal talks next week.'

My thoughts off the cuff:

I still don't understand why the Aquino Govt has deemed it wise to allow Malaysia with whom the Philippines has an outstanding territorial and sovereignty disputes to engineer a peace agreement in Southern Mindanao with a Kuala Lumpur-backed Muslim rebel faction that will entitle the same rebel group to lord it over 13 provinces in Southern Mindanao under the direct influence of Malaysia Federation. Can these people in Malacañan NOT SEE that they are authoring the potential dismemberment of the Republic in favour of Kuala Lumpur?

If they are truly for peace and are pro-Southern Mindanao, PH and its leaders should raise the Sabah claim flag today before another bloodbath occurs over this extremely lopsided deal that they are offering to the Southern Mindanao 'nation' through the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel group. If at all, Mr Aquino and his peace subalterns should instead find an economic and political entente with Putrajaya by proposing an equitable deal involving Sulu rights to Sabah to directly benefit the people of Sulu and the other provinces in their proposed MILF-controlled Bangsamoro region. Mr Aquino and his lieutenants are forgetting that the Southern Mindanao "nation" does not comprise merely of 10,000 MILF rebels but of more than 5 million souls from various cultural, political and religious factions.

It is not just ironic, it is also immensely tragic that PH and leaders have decided that instead of facing Kuala Lumpur over the Sabah issue which, as we all know, has been the cause of all the violence and misery among our people in Southern Mindanao, they choose to placate Kuala Lumpur (which we all know has been at the forefront of all the troubles in Mindanao since 1972) by offering the 13 provinces of Southern Mindanao at the altar of "peace" with Malaysia.

So we may all be clear: this so-called peace agreement or shared sovereignty rights over 13 provinces in Southern Mindanao with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is what it is - it is not a peace offering to the people of Southern Mindanao but a peace offering to the Barisan Nasional politicos and businessmen of Kuala Lumpur.

BUT THE BIG QUESTION IS, is it worth dismembering the Republic to placate Kuala Lumpur over God knows what?

~~~~Õ~~~~

*Map shown was posted in 2012 by Malacañan Palace and can be viewed on PH Govt website with the following title: "Proposed Territory." This is a map highlighting the areas included in the proposed Bangsamoro Autonomous Political Entity." Click on this link to access map. 

Related blog posts:  

• GPH-MILF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT: Is there a foreign conflict of interest? 
• Understanding the Sabah claim issue: It's all very simple actually: As Law Professor Isagani Cruz says, "President Noynoy faces an insoluble dilemma. If he believes that Sabah is part of the Philippines, he has to defend Sabah because Malaysia is attacking it. If he does not believe that Sabah is part of the Philippines, he opens himself up to impeachment, because Philippine law says that Sabah is part of the Philippines and he is sworn to uphold Philippine law. Talking of a conspiracy does not solve the problem; in fact, it is irrelevant if there is or there is no conspiracy. The dilemma has to do simply with his stand on Sabah itself."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

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/

Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has passed away

We have learned with profound sadness that HM Sultan Jamalul Kiram III passed away today 20 October 2013.

The Philippine Sabah Claim Forum, its founders, administrators, members, friends and supporters would like to express their heartfelt condolences to the family of Princess Jacel H. Kiram-Hasan for their loss and that of the Tausug people.

Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, the leader of the group of Sultanate royal forces who sailed to Sabah in February this year to stake their claim, was the visible face and voice of the nation's claim to Sabah. It was Sultan Jamalul who brought back the Republic's claim to Sabah to the fore when his loyal forces chose to do battle with Kuala Lumpur troops despite the hostility of the Philippine government early this year and despite overwhelming odds.

The nation has lost an admirable man, a formidable leader and a great proponent of the Philippine claim to Sabah who had said time and time again that Sabah belonged to the Philippine Republic and to the Filipino people.

May His Majesty rest in peace.

Who will benefit from an independent "Islamic state of Mindanao"? Why, Malaysia, of course!

In a July 2012 blog of mine, immediately after the Malaysia-inspired GPH-MILF panels came up with their "talking points" for the Framework Agreement which was engineered by Malaysia, I more or less predicted that if you aren't happy with your PH passport, pretty soon you could opt for a MILF passport: "FILIPINO PASSPORT, NOT GOOD ENOUGH? PRETTY SOON, YOU CAN OPT TO HAVE MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front Republic) PASSPORT"

Well, looks like a group is now preparing the ground for just that! In picture is one of their banners: picture of a so-called 'Islamic state of Mindanao' and it's very own 'passport.'

Very soon, President Aquino and his MILF counterpart (egged on by Malaysia deal "engineers") might just present us with an independent Bangsamoro which could even federate with Malaysia in the future. Naknampucha! The beginning of the dismantling of the Republic! Some guys in Malacanang should hang their heads in shame!

When that happens, DON'T CRY FILIPINAS!

We at Philippine Sabah Claim Forum have been telling everybody over and over again, ad nauseum, that this so-called peace deal being engineered by Malaysia is NOT for our good but for the good of Malaysia. Why? Because those bleeding Malaysians will do anything, even make Filipinos kill Filipinos (thanks to our great commander-in-chief) so they could keep Sabah. It's up to Filipinos to stop the future dismantling of the Republic.

~ AdB
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
01 October 2013

TODAY, 12 September 2013 is the 51st anniversary of Sabah's formation as Philippine sovereign territory

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Armed conflicts in Mindanao: Influenced by Malaysia to keep Sabah

All the events involving armed conflicts in Mindanao from 1968, 1969 and specifically in the early 70s until today between the Govt forces and Muslim rebel groups were triggered by the one standing unresolved issue between the Republic of the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia: Sovereignty rights over Sabah or the Manila Accord. These 'events' have been "influenced" by Malaysia. 

- Malaysia commenced "influencing events" in Southern Mindanao immediately after the discovery of a plan by the Republic to take control of Sabah in 1968

- Malaysia's Tunku Abdul Razak (father of current Malaysia Prime Minister Najib) was the first PM to pour money into Muslim secessionist rebels who at the time were led by Nur Misuari (first chair of MNLF) and seconded by Hashim Salamat (founder of MILF)

- Malaysia's PM Mahathir as soon as he took over continued the exercise and improved Tunku Abdul Razak's modus operandi by modernising the Malaysian armed forces. He then poured resources after resources into and "enlarged" Muslim secessionist training camps in Sabah. Mahathir devoted a great deal of effort in the Islamisation of Sabah by allowing the influx of Muslims from all over the region and granting them Malaysia citizenship in exchange for their votes so that Barisan Nasional (his party) would remain in power. He was responsible for the nationalisation of the oil resources of Sabah and created PETRONAS that would control the industry.

- When FVR's Govt, finally concluded a peace deal with the MNLF in 1996 with the backing of the OIC, Malaysia realised that their attempts to sow trouble in Southern Mindanao through the MNLF of which they were patrons might be endangered. The MILF shunned the 1996 Peace Agreement. Mahathir trained his efforts on the break-away faction headed by Hashim Salamat aka MILF and funded and supported the rebel group.

- In 1998, President Estrada who had just been elected to the presidency, who was despised by Mahathir, decided to launch an offensive against the MILF after intel revealed that the MILF, fully armed with weapons from Malaysia (including missile systems that Mahathir had ordered earlier on) was gearing up for a full scale offensive against government military bases in the South. The AFP won.

- In 1999, the Sipadan hostage crisis took place. Sipadan is a Malaysian resort island. The hostage crisis began the long descent to hell of Estrada.

- In 2004, Gloria Macapagal accepted MILF's demand that Malaysia be the head of the monitoring team to supervise a Framework Agreement. Malaysian troops began to arrive in Southern Mindanao.

- Shortly thereafter, Senator Nene Pimentel questioned the wisdom of calling on Malaysia to oversee the proposed "peace talks" with the MILF invoking the fact that PH has a standing unresolved issue over Sabah

- In 2012, President Aquino handed over to Najib the signed "Talking points" for shared sovereignty between GPH and MILF

- In 2013, Sultanate of Sulu launched siege in Tanduo, Sabah in a bid to re-take Sabah; many Tausugs died; in September, MNLF decided to rally against the planned signing of the Malaysia-inspired wealth sharing agreement between GPH and MILF which is scheduled on 16 September, on the 50th anniversary of the illegal annexation of Sabah to the created Malaysia Federation.

The bottom line is that Malaysia has always put one over GPH in their bid to ensure that PH will never be able to turn around to re-claim Sabah.

Sabah: Mourning a lost opportunity; PH should have gone with 'guns blazing'

In less than two weeks, PH will be mourning the 50th anniversary of the loss of Sabah to Malaya Federation... 

We had a lot going for us back then. We had in our possession the ultimate deed of transfer of sovereignty from the proprietary right holders of Sabah, we had a great defence force with highly trained and battle tested professionals and we had leaders with first class brains arguing for the Republic's right to receive full ownership of the domain. Indeed, there were many elements in our favour then even if we lacked the backing of a major ally and even as the Malaya Federation was being backed by its British masters... 

Could we have taken possession of Sabah 'legally' and diplomatically, i.e., through the UN, even without US backing? I don't think so. President Macapagal in all likelihood, the diplomat hors pair that he was known for, would not have approved of "going it alone." At the time, we would not have been bold enough to tackle the British in the UN without official US backing, our major trading partner, our masters so to speak whose policies we breathed and lived. True, President Macapagal could be stubborn as when he tweaked the US when he decided to change the date of PH independence but he knew that he could only go so far...

Now, as if the 'absence' of backing by a major ally was not bad enough, we also had in our midst then, a charismatic member of the Senate, an internationally famous ex-diplomat known for having flexed verbal muscles with Khruschev, who was fighting tooth and nail against the Republic's claim on behalf of the Malayans (and by extension, on behalf of the British) at a time when our own leaders were trying to hard to convince the British that they were wrong not to return Sabah to its rightful owners. He was the Philippines''Brutus' in the overall scheme of things. (His descendant is doing the same thing today.) I am convinced that 'Brutus' vitriolic assault on the Republic's claim gave Britain and Malaya the great excuse to say that because PH did not know what it wanted, they would be deciding the fate of Sabah. 

In hindsight, diplomacy and beautifully crafted words proved futile. We should have gone with guns blazing and physically battled to get Sabah back. It would or could have forced the great nations to stop and listen to us instead of allowing ourselves to keel over without a fight. If we had to lose, we would have had, at the very least, the satisfaction of having fought a battle that was worth fighting.

Today, we mourn the lost opportunity. Malaya, on the other hand, is jubilant. They not only have managed to steal Sabah from us and became extra-ordinarily rich, thanks to Sabah's resources, they have also kept us divided, and at war among ourselves in the South. However one may want to look at it, the Malayans have humiliated us into abject surrender. I am sure that their coup de grace will not be long in coming as they prepare to dismantle the Republic... 

But all is not lost! As ever, for as long as there is life, one must not give up! We may have lost a battle but not the war...

~~ Anne de Bretagne
for the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and for the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims
31 August 2013

President Macapagal’s State of the Nation Address, on the Filing of the Claim of Sovereignty over North Borneo 

28 January 1963  

Source: Extract from President Macapagal’s State of the Nation Address, delivered before a Joint Session of the Philippines Congress. Philippines Republic, Congressional Record, 5th Congress, 2nd Session, 28 January 1963, p.42  

The most important action taken in the field of foreign relations in the past year was the official filing on June 22, 1962, with the United Kingdom of the Philippine claim of sovereignty, jurisdiction and proprietary ownership over North Borneo as successor-in-interest of the Sultan of Sulu. 

We are gratified at the goodwill shown by the United Kingdom in holding the talks in London in pursuance of our note on June 22, 1962, in which talk an opportunity has been opened for a friendly scrutiny of the Philippine claim, taken with the security problems of South-east Asia.  

2. Contrary to allegation in some political quarters, this was not a precipitate action. We have personally studied this claim over a period of years. While serving in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1946, upon a study of this claim in connection with our successful negotiation for the reacquisition of the Turtle Islands, we advocated the filing of this claim.  

3. In 1948, while serving in the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC, we went over the claim with an American expert in Anglo-Saxon law in George Washington University who sustained the view that this is a valid claim. When we served in the Congress of the Philippines, we successfully authored and sponsored in 1950, a resolution for the filing of this claim. Upon becoming President of the Philippines, acting on the conviction that this was not only a valid claim but that its presentation was demanded by the national interest, it became our inescapable duty to act on the bipartisan resolution of the House of Representatives on April 24, 1962, that the claim be filed now or never.  

4. The situation is that the Philippines not only has valid and historic claim to North Borneo. In addition, the pursuit of the claim is itself vital to our national security. We could not merely view the placing of North Borneo under Malaya, without presentation and consideration of our legitimate claim to North Borneo. Our claim to North Borneo cannot be less than the claim of Malaya to the territory not only on the basis of superior juridical and historical rights but in the vital interest of our national security.  

5. Malaya has no valid claim or right to take over North Borneo. Furthermore, if through arbitrary arrangement, the Borneo territory is placed under Malaya, the latter cannot likely insure for long the security of North Borneo for the free world. A profound and farsighted contemplation of the present and potential security posture in the whole region will conclusively support the judgment that the restoration of North Borneo as part of the territory of the Philippines would be the durable measure that could best insure against territorial disequilibrium and restlessness in the area and could constitute the firm and stabilizing factor to maintain and safeguard the security of the region.  

6. The project to place North Borneo, together with Brunei and Sarawak, under Malaya has already provoked a revolt in Brunei. It can be expected that Indonesia will not settle down accepting the authority of Malaya over Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo. Moreover, the proposed Federation of Malaysia is not in accordance with the principle of self-determination, which is the accepted way out of colonialism, but appears to be a continuation of colonialism based only on an expedient of false security.  

7. It was imperative that the Philippine claim be, as it was made because if North Borneo was not to be by itself independent but was to be placed under another state there is no valid reason why, the legal and historic basis of the Philippine claim, and considering that North Borneo is contiguous to Philippine territory and vital to our security, the new State to be given jurisdiction over North Borneo should not be the Philippines.  

8. It is vital to the security of the Philippines that North Borneo be not placed under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of another State, particularly a state on the Asian mainland like Malaya. In the event, God forbid, that Malaya succumbs to the potent communist threat on the Asian mainland, with North Borneo under Malaya, there would be created a situation in which a communist territory would be immediately at the southern frontier of the Philippines, which would pose a grave and intolerable threat to our country. Against such threat, we know that our people will fight to the death, for they will rather die fighting for freedom than live in slavery.  

PRINCIPLE OF SELF-DETERMINATION  

9. In laying claim to North Borneo in pursuance of the legal and historic rights and the security interest of the Philippines, we recognize the cardinal principle of self-determination of which the Philippines has been a steadfast adherent. In the prosecution of our valid claim, it is agreeable to us that at an appropriate time the people of North Borneo should be given an opportunity to determine whether they would wish to be independent or whether they would wish to be part of the Philippines or be placed under another state. Such referendum, however, should be authentic and bona fide by holding it under conditions, preferably supervised by the United Nations, that would insure effective freedom to the people of North Borneo to express their true and enlightened will.  

 Admin's NOTE: Thanks go to Filipina Maharlika for the President Diosdado Macapagal State of the Nation Speech document. Filipina Maharlika is one of the founding members of the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum.

• Link to extract from President D Macapagal's State of the Nation Address on the Republic's filing of sovereignty claim to Sabah (Philippine Sabah Claim Forum) 
• Photos: 
• President Macapagal with Indonesia's Soekarno and Malaya Federation's Tunku Abdul Rahman on the signing of the Manila Accord.
• President Macapagal with then Senate President Marcos. Both played pivotal roles in the Republic's sovereignty claim to Sabah.