News peg: “Saying there was no turning back, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has declared that his followers who crossed into the town of Lahad Datu xxx Sabah this month were staying put to reclaim their ancestral homeland.”
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“The armed group styling itself as the “Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo” is holed up in the seaside village of Tanduao in Lahad Datu town, where they landed in speedboats on Feb. 12 after crossing the sea from Simunul Island in the Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi.
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“Lahad Datu, Malaysia – A peace deal between the Philippines and Moro rebels has alienated traditional rulers and their followers about 100 of whom have occupied a village in nearby Malaysia, a member of the old ruling family said on Monday. xxx
“Jamalul Kiram III, 74, a former sultan of Sulu in Mindanao and brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities regard as sultan, said the peace deal had handed control of much of Sulu to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, ignoring the sultanate.
“He said the group of sultan loyalists had gone to Malaysia as a protest action in response to what they saw as the unfair peace deal, and they would not back down. xxx
“ ‘Those people are willing to die for our cause,’ Jamalul told Reuters in the Philippines.
“The group of 100 armed men has refused to move from the village they have occupied for nearly a week, despite pleas from both the Malaysian and Philippine governments to return to the Sulu archipelago on the Philippine side of the sea border.”
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I hate to say this but: Whether you like it or not, in the more immediate, where lives are at stake, Malacaňang has to talk to the Sultanate of Sulu (and not just with Malaysia) albeit discreetly, maybe unofficially, maybe through the backdoor, maybe through emissaries; but talk you have to do. (Take the high road to defuse the situation: Hindi pwedeng “ah hinde… Hindi namin sila kakausapin”).
In the meantime, just for everybody’s information: The Philippines has never abandoned its territorial claim over Sabah as shown by the pronouncement of Malacaňang yesterday of a “dormant claim” , and as shown by pleadings filed by the Philippines in international courts, such as: The application to intervene filed by the Philippines in the International Court of Justice in the dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over Ligitan and Sipadan islands – while that application was denied for lack of interest, it nevertheless documents the continuing territorial claim of the Philippines over Sabah. (Wikipedia, which apparently is being used by some broadcast reporters and news anchors judging from their unfounded generalizations over the Philippine Sabah claim, is not accurate when it says that the ICJ in 2003 ruled against our claim over Sabah in that dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia – stop relying on Wikipedia.)
The ICJ documented the Philippine claim over Sabah as follows (pages 1123-1130, International Court of Justice, Digest of Judgments and Advisory Opinions, Canon and Case Law, 1946-2012) :
“(38) In relation to the existence of an “interest of a legal nature” justifying the intervention, the Philippines contends that: “Under Article 2 of the Special Agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia, the Court has been requested to determine the issue of sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan ‘on the basis of treaties, agreements, and other evidence’ to be furnished by the Parties. The interest of the Philippines is solely and exclusively addressed to the treaties, agreements, and other evidence furnished by the Parties and appreciated by the Court which have a direct or indirect bearing on the matter of the legal status of North Borneo. The legal status of North Borneo is a matter that the Government of the Philippines considers as its legitimate concern.” The Philippines adds that: “(a) decision of the Court, or that incidental part of the decision of the Court, which lays down an appreciation of the treaties, agreements, and other evidence bearing on the legal status of North Borneo will inevitably and most assuredly affect the outstanding territorial claim of the Philippines over North Borneo, as well as the direct and legal right and interest of the Philippines to settle that claim by peaceful means. “ In outlining its claim, the Philippines has referred inter alia to Section 3 of Republic Act 5446 (which makes an implicit allusion to a claim to title to North Borneo) and to the Manila Accord of 31 July 1963, between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, in which specific reference is made to the claim of the Philippines to North Borneo and “cognizance of the position regarding the Philippine claim to Sabah (North Borneo)” is taken by the Heads of government of these three States.
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“ The Philippines has informed the Court that it has a claim of sovereignty in North Borneo.
“The Court recalls that on 5 April 2001, the Philippines sought, in a Diplomatic Note to Indonesia, “to reassure the Government of Indonesia that it does not have territorial interest in the Sipadan and Ligitan islands.” This position was confirmed by the Philippines before this Court. However, the Philippines has informed this Court that its claim of sovereignty in North Borneo might be affected by the reasoning of the Court.
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“The Court finds that the Philippines has not discharged its obligation to convince the Court that that specified legal interests may be affected in the particular circumstances of this case.
“The Court finds that the application of the Philippines for permission to intervene under Article 62 of the Statute of the Court, cannot be granted. “
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So i hope those “broadcast hosts” would not generalize that the ICJ ruled against the Philippine claim over Sabah in 2003 — that claim remains outstanding and unresolved.
Now however… someone’s mettle at negotiations would have to be tested with the need to de-escalate the situation in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
