Sabah Claim

7/29/2019 Sabah Claim

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University of Perpetual Help System-DALTA

College of Law

FOREWORD

Philippines maintains a dormant claim over the sovereignty of

eastern Sabah based on the claim that in 1658 the Sultan of Brunei

had ceded the northeast portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu; and

that later in 1878, an agreement was signed by the Sultan of Sulu

granting the North Borneo Chartered Company a permanent lease

over the territory. Malaysia considered this dispute as a "non-issue",

as there is no desire from the actual people of Sabah to be part of the

Philippines or of the Sultanate of Sulu. As reported by the Secretary-

General of the United Nations, the independence of North Borneo

was brought about as the result of the expressed wish of the majority

of the people of the territory in a 1963 election.

This research will determine whether or not Philippines have

proprietary rights over Sabah.

Jennylyn B. Albano

UPHSD- College of Law


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INTRODUCTION

This research will focus on the History of Sabah and

determination of whether who really owns it.

As we all know even before our ancestors are already fighting

for our right over this state however, up until now dispute is still on

going.

Sabah is one of the 13 member states of Malaysia, and is its

easternmost state. It is located on the northern portion of the island of

Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak,

which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the

province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. The capital of

Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is often

referred to as "The Land Below The Wind", a phrase used by

seafarers in the past to describe lands south of the typhoon belt.






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over the territory.

Malaysia considered this dispute as a "non-issue", as there is

no desire from the actual people of Sabah to be part of the





FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

The history of Sabah can be traced back to about 20,000

30,000 years ago when evidence suggests the earliest human

settlement in the region existed. The history is interwoven with the

history of Brunei and the history of Malaysia, to which Sabah was

previously part of and is currently part of respectively. The earliest

recorded history of Sabah being part of any organised civilisation

began in the early 16th century during the thriving era of the

Sultanate of Brunei. Prior to this, early inhabitants of the land lived in

predominantly tribal societies, although such tribal societies had


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continued to exist until the 1900s. The eastern part of Sabah was

ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the

former helping a victory over Brunei enemies. By the late 19th

century, both territories previously owned by Sultan of Brunei and

Sultan of Sulu was granted to British syndicate. Sabah became a

protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1888 and subsequently

became a crown colony until 1963, during which time it was known as

North Borneo. On September 16, 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya,

Sarawak and Singapore (left in 1965) to form the Federation of

Malaysia.

Prehistoric Sabah

During the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago,

Sabah and the rest of Borneo island was connected to mainland Asia

in a landmass known as the Sundaland. Subsequent deglaciation,

which caused global sea level to rise, resulted in the Sundaland being

submerged, separating Borneo from the rest of Asia.

Earliest human settlement in the region is believed to have

dated back about 20,00030,000 years ago. These early humans are


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believed to be Australoid or Negrito people. Stone tools and artifacts

have been found in Madai and Baturong caves and in the

archeological site in Lake Tingkayu near the district of Kunak which

were estimated to date back from 28,00017,000 years ago. The

tools found there were considered advanced for its period.[2] There

was evidence of human cave-dwellings around 15,0006,000 years

ago.

An ongoing 2012 study by Universiti Sains Malaysia and Sabah

Museum revealed the discovery of stone tools in Mansuli Valley

nearLahad Datu believed to be 235,000 years old and in another site

in Kampung Lipasu, Bingkor believed to be at least 200,000 years

old.[4] These recent findings suggests that human settlement in

Sabah and Malaysia have existed much earlier than previously

thought, which is about 40,000 years ago in Niah Caves, Sarawak.

The earliest ascertained wave of human migration, believed to

be Austronesian Mongoloids, occurred around 3000 BC. This wave of

migration is believed to represent the time when the indigenous hill

people of present day Sabah had first arrived, namely the Murut and


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the Kadazan-Dusun, while Brunei Malays settlement appeared

somewhat later.It is believed that some Australoid or Negrito people

have interbred with later Mongoloid migrants and remained in

Borneo, while others have migrated to other places such as

Melanesia, the Lesser Sunda Islands or Australia.

The theory that Austronesians in Southeast Asia arrived from

China through Taiwan has been challenged by Stephen

Oppenheimer who suggested that many cultures including the people

of China and India might have actually originated from Sundaland. A

new finding based on DNA research in 2008 supported

Oppenheimer's theory that migration flow might have been radiated

out from Sundaland sometime around 15,000 to 7,000 years ago

following the submergence of Sundaland due to rise in sea level. The

findings of Stephen Oppenheimer was doubted. The poor cultures of

sunderland do not support his theory that the people of China and

India might have actually originated from Sundaland. It was the

Austronesians in Southeast Asia arrived from China through Taiwan.

As for the case of Sabah, the Dusun or the Muruts cultures are less

than 200 years old.


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Pre-16th century

Prior to the expansion of the Sultanate of Brunei most of the

coastal region of Borneo has been either ruled or claimed as part of

various Hindu communities or kingdoms from around Southeast Asia.

However it is uncertain whether the influence of these kingdoms had

ever reached the coasts of present-day Sabah.

During the 7th century CE, a settled community known as

Vijayapura, a tributary to the Srivijaya empire, was thought to have

been the earliest beneficiary to the Bruneian Empire existing around

the northeast coast of Borneo.

Another kingdom which was suspected to have existed

according to Chinese records beginning the 9th century was P'o-ni. It

was believed that Po-ni existed at the mouth of Brunei River and was

the predecessor to the Sultanate of Brunei.

The Brunei Annals in 1410 mentioned about a Chinese

settlement or province centering in the Kinabatangan Valley in the

east coast surrounding Kinabatangan River founded by a man known

as Huang Senping. This is consistent with the recent discovery of


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timbercoffins in the Agop Batu Tulug cave in the Kinabatangan

Valley. The coffins, adorned with carvings believed to resemble

similar cultural practices in China and Vietnam, are believed to date

back from around 700 to 1,000 years ago (11th to 14th century).

From the 14th to the 16th century, the Majapahit empire

expanded its influence towards Brunei and most of the coastal region

of Borneo. Sometime around the late 15th to 18th century, the

seafaring Bajau-Suluk people arrived from the Sulu archipelago and

had settled on the coasts of Sabah. It is believed that they were

fleeing from the oppression of the Spanish colonist in that region.

Sultanate of Brunei

The Sultanate of Brunei began after the ruler of Brunei

embraced Islam. Some sources indicate that this had occurred

around 1365 CE after the ruler, Awang Alak Betatar, converted into

Islam and became known as Muhammad Shah. Other sources

suggests that the conversion occurred much later around 1514 to

1521 CE, albeit, under the same person. During the same period,

trade relations flourished, and intermarriages among the natives and


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Chinese, Japanese, Arab, and Hindu peoples became commonplace.

The intermixing of blood resulted in a distinct breed of Palaweos,

both in physical stature and features.

During the reign of the fifth sultan known as Bolkiah between

14851524, the Sultanate's thalassocracy extended over Sabah,

Sulu Archipelago and Manila in the north, and Sarawak until

Banjarmasin in the south. This was during the period when the

Sultanate was in its 'golden era'.

In 1658, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the northern and eastern

portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu in compensation for the latter's

help in settling the Brunei Civil War in the Brunei Sultanate. The

Sultan of Brunei continued to loosely govern the west coast of Sabah.

Many Brunei Malays migrated to this region during this period,

although the migration has begun as early as the 15th century after

the Brunei conquest of the territory. In 1749, the Sultanate of Borneo

ceded southern Palawan to Spain. Within late 1700s, Sultanate of

Sulu gave up the rest of its territories to Spain.


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North Borneo

In 1761, Alexander Dalrymple, an officer of the British East

India Company, concluded an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu to

allow him to set up a trading post in the region. This plan, together

with other attempts to build a settlement and a military station

centering around Pulau Balambangan, proved to be a failure. A map

by Dalrymple of North Borneo is exhibited in the National Museum of

Scotland. There was minimal foreign interest in this region afterward

and control over most parts of north Borneo seems to have remained

loosely under the Sultanate of Brunei.

In 1846, the island of Labuan on the west coast of Sabah was

ceded to Britain by the Sultan of Brunei and in 1848 it became a

British Crown Colony. Labuan became a base for British operations

against piracy in the region.

The first recorded ascent to the highest peak of Mount Kinabalu

was made in 1851 by Hugh Low. In 1964, the region was designated

as Kinabalu National Park and it was declared a World Heritage Site

in 2000.


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The first recorded ascent of Mount Kinabalu, the highest

mountain in Borneo, was made in 1851 by British Malaya colonial

administrator and naturalist Hugh Low. The highest peak and the

deep gully of the mountain was later named after him.

In 1865 the American Consul General of Brunei, Charles Lee

Moses, obtained a 10-year lease over North Borneo from the Sultan

of Brunei Abdul Momin. Ownership was then passed to an American

trading company owned by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley

Harris, and some Chinese merchants. They set up a base and

settlement inKimanis and the Sultan of Brunei appointed Torrey as

"The Rajah of Ambong and Marudu". His fortress "Ellena" was

located in Kimanis with hundreds of Iban trackers led by Lingkanad.

Torrey returned to America in 1877 and died near Boston,

Massachusetts, in March 1884. The rights of the trading company

were then sold to Gustav Baron Von Overbeck, the Austro-Hungarian

Consul in Hong Kong (though he was actually a German national),

and he later obtained another 10-year renewal of the lease. The

lease was subsequently converted into a cession via a treaty which

was signed by the Sultan of Brunei Abdul Momin. In the treaty, the


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Sultan appointed Overbeck as "Maharajah of Sabah and Rajah of

Gaya and Sandakan." The treaty granted Overbeck the right over

whole region of Sabah, including parts purporting to be the dominion

of the Sulu Sultanate including Sandakan and Tawau. The treaty was

signed on December 29, 1877 at the Brunei Palace.

On the east coast of North Borneo near Sandakan, William

Cowie, on behalf of Dent's company, negotiated and obtained a lease

in perpetuity from the Sultan of Sulu over its holdings in this region in

1878. This lease was signed on January 22, 1878 in the palace of the

Sultan of Sulu.[21] The lease would later be the subject of dispute by

the modern republic of Philippines regarding the sovereignty of the

state of Sabah. The rights were subsequently transferred to Alfred

Dent, who in 1881 formed the British North Borneo Provisional

Association Ltd. In 1881, the British government granted the British

North Borneo Company a royal charter. William Hood Treacher was

appointed the first British Governor of North Borneo.

In the following year, the British North Borneo Company was

formed and Kudat was made its capital. Beginning 1882, the


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Company brought in Chinese people mainly Hakkas from Guangdong

province to work as labourers in plantation farms. Most of the

migrants settled in Kudat and Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu).

In 1883 the capital was moved to Sandakan to capitalise on its

potential of vast timber resources. In 1885, United Kingdom, Spain

and Germany signed the Madrid Protocol of 1885. The purpose of the

protocol was to recognise the sovereignty of Spain in the Sulu

Archipelago and also for Spain to relinquish all claims it might have

had over North Borneo.

In 1888 North Borneo became a protectorate of the United

Kingdom. Administration and control over North Borneo remained in

the hands of the Company despite being a protectorate and they

effectively ruled until 1942. Their rule had been generally peaceful

except for some rebellions, including one led by the Bajau-Suluk

leader Mat Salleh from 1894 to 1900, and another led by Antanum of

theMuruts known as the Rundum resistance in 1915.Beginning 1920,

more Chinese migrants arrived from the provinces of

Guangdong,Fujian and even Hebei after the British changed its


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immigration policy to stimulate the stagnant economy during that

period.[26] There was also Javanese migration into Sabah beginning

1891 and subsequent recruitment of laborers by the British from 1907

onwards. Other significant migrants from present-day Indonesia into

Sabah consists of the Bugis people beginning 1890s and the

Florenese people from Flores beginning early 1950s.

The First Natives Paramount Leader was Pehin Orang Kaya-

Kaya Koroh bin Santulan of Keningau "The father of former Sabah

State Minister Tan Sri Stephen (Suffian) Koroh, and Sabah's fifth

State Governor Tun Thomas (Ahmad) Koroh (the elder brother of

Suffian)".Santulan which also a Pengeran, the father to Pehin Orang

Kaya-Kaya Koroh was a Murut descendant of Hashim Jalilul Alam

Aqamaddin, the 25th Sultan of Brunei.

WORLD WAR II

As part of the Second World War Japanese forces landed

in Labuan on January 1, 1942, and continued to invade the rest of

North Borneo. From 1942 to 1945, Japanese forces occupied North

Borneo, along with most of the island. Bombings by the allied forces


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devastated most towns including Sandakan, which was razed to the

ground. Resistance against Japanese occupation was concentrated

on the west and north coast of North Borneo. The resistance in

Jesselton was led by Albert Kwok and Jules Stephens of the Kinabalu

Guerillas. Another resistance was led by Panglima Alli from Sulug

Island, off the coast of Jesselton. In Kudat, there was also some

resistance led by Tun Datu Mustapha. On October 10, 1943, the

Kinabalu Guerrillas together with followers of Panglima Alli staged a

surprise attack on the Japanese. The attack however was foiled. The

324 local residents who participated in the attacks, including Albert

Kwok and Panglima Alli, were detained in Petagas and later executed

on January 21, 1944. The site of the execution is today known as the

Petagas War Memorial.

In Keningau during World War II, Korom was a rebel and some

said he was a Sergeant with the North Borneo Armed Constabulary.

It was claimed that he spied for the Allied Forces by pretending to be

working for the Japanese. He provided intelligence on Japanese

positions and some credited him with the escape of 500 Allied POWs.

Fighting alongside with Korom in his platoon was Garukon, Lumanib,


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Kingan, Mikat, Pensyl, Gampak, Abdullah Hashim, Ariff Salleh,

Langkab, Polos, Nuing, Ambutit, Lakai, Badau and many more

including the Chinese.

In Sandakan there was once a brutal POW camp run by the

Japanese for British and Australian POWs from North Borneo. The

prisoners suffered in agony in their first year of captivity under

notoriously inhuman conditions, but much worse was to come

through the forced marches of January, March and June 1945 (refer

to Sandakan Memorial Park WWII POW Museum Records). Allied

bombardments caused the Japanese to relocate the POW camp to

inland Ranau, 260 km away. All the prisoners, who by then were

reduced to 2504 in number, were to be moved, but instead of

transport, were forced to march the infamous Sandakan Death

March. Sickness, disease, exhaustion, thirst, hunger, whipping, and

shooting killed most of the prisoners, except for six Australians who

successfully escaped, were never caught, and survived to tell the

horrific story of the death march. The fallen of this march are

commemorated each year on Anzac Day (Memorial Day) in Australia

and in Sandakan, at the original POW campsite where a POW hut


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style museum and a black marble memorial obelisk monument are

nestled in a peaceful park setting with a lily pond.

The war ended with the official surrender by Lieutenant-General

Baba Masao of the 37th Japanese Army in Labuan on September 10,

1945. After the surrender, North Borneo was administered by the

British Military Administration and in 1946 it became a British Crown

Colony. Jesselton replaced Sandakan as the capital and the Crown

continued to rule North Borneo until 1963.

Independence and formation of Malaysia

On August 31, 1963 North Borneo attained self-government.

The idea for the formation of a union of the former British colonies,

namely, Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo was mooted

as early as in late 19th century, but it was Tunku Abdul Rahman who

officially announced the proposal of wider federation in May 1961. It

also seemed that this idea was supported by the British.[31] There

was a call for complete independence on that date by it was denied

by the British Governor who remained in power until Malaysia

Day.[32] In 1962, the Cobbold Commission was set up to determine


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whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak favoured the proposed

union. The Commission had found that the union was generally

favoured by the people but wanted certain terms and conditions

incorporated to safeguard the interest of the people. The Commission

had also noted some opposition from the people but decided that

such opposition was minor. The Commission published its report on

August 1, 1962 and had made several recommendations. Unlike in

Singapore, however, no referendum was ever conducted in Sabah.

Most ethnic community leaders of Sabah, namely, Tun

Mustapha representing the Muslims, Tun Fuad Stephens

representing the non-Muslim natives, and Khoo Siak Chew

representing the Chinese, would eventually support the formation. An

agreement was signed by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Harold MacMillan,

the British Prime Minister, and William Goode, the last Governor of

North Borneo, signed on behalf of the territory on August 1, 1962

putting to paper the agreement to form the union.

The intention had been to form Malaysia on 31 August 1963 but

due to objections from the Philippines and Indonesia, the formation


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had to be postponed to 16 September 1963. At that point North

Borneo, as Sabah, was united with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore,

to form the independent the Federation of Malaysia. To safeguard the

interest of North Borneo in the new federation, a 20-point agreement

was entered into between the federal and the state government.

Konfrontasi and the Brunei Revolt

Leading up to the formation of Malaysia until 1966, Indonesia

adopted a hostile policy towards Malaya and subsequently Malaysia,

which was backed by British forces. This undeclared war stems from

what Indonesian President Sukarno perceive as an expansion of

British influence in the region and his intention to wrest control over

the whole of Borneo under the Indonesian republic.

Around the same time, there were proposals from certain

parties, particularly by the Brunei People's Party, for the formation of

a North Borneo Federation consisting of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.

The proposal culminated in rebel attacks in Brunei and some parts of

Sabah and Sarawak. The rebellion was foiled by the Bruneian Army

with the help of the British colonials in December 1962.


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Philippine claim






over the territory.

Malaysia considered this dispute as a "non-issue", as there is

no desire from the actual people of Sabah to be part of the





Post-independence

Tun Fuad Stephens became the first chief minister of Sabah.

The first Governor (Yang di-Pertuan Negeri) was Tun Mustapha.

Sabah held its first state election in 1967. Until 2008, a total of 11


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state elections has been held. Sabah has had 13 different chief

ministersand 9 different Yang di-Pertua Negeri as of 2009.

Tun Mustapha became the 3rd chief minister following the first

state election. Beginning 1970, Filipino refugees from the

Mindanaobegan arriving in Sabah as a result of the Moro insurgency

taking place in that region.

On June 6, 1976, after only 44 days being elected for the

second time as chief minister, Tun Fuad Stephens together with other

state cabinet ministers died in a fatal plane crash known as the

Double Six Tragedy. He was replaced by Harris Salleh. On June 14,

1976, the government of Sabah signed an agreement with Petronas,

the federal government-owned oil and gas company, granting it the

right to extract and earn revenue from petroleum found in the

territorial waters of Sabah in exchange for 5% in annual revenue as

royalties.

Under the leadership of Harris Salleh, the state government of

Sabah ceded the island of Labuan and its 6 smaller islands to the

Malaysian federal government and it was declared a federal territory


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on April 16, 1984. Kota Kinabalu in 2008. It became the first city in

the state in 2000 and has become not only the administrative capital

but also the economic and transportation hub of the region.

In 1985, following the state elections, Pairin Kitingan of Parti

Bersatu Sabah(PBS) became the seventh chief minister and this

marked the second time in Malaysia where a party not affiliated with

the nation ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) or its predecessor,

the Alliance Party, formed government in any state (preceded by

Gerakan in Penang in 1969 and followed by PAS in Kelantan in

1990). In 1986, opponents of the newly elected PBS government

started riots around the state, mainly in the cities of Kota Kinabalu,

Tawauand Sandakan, resulting in bombings and five fatalities. Peace

was gradually restored following a snap election in 1986 which

consolidated PBS' position as the ruling state government.

From 1990 to 1991, several PBS politicians were arrested

under the Internal Security Act for allegedly being involved in plans to

secede Sabah from the Malaysian Federation and detained for two

years. Among those arrested wereJeffrey Kitingan and Maximus


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Ongkili. Other politicians, including Pairin, were hit with corruption

charges. The arrests and charges were suspected to be politically

motivated.

Following the 1994 state election, Barisan Nasional regained

control of the state via the creation of the Sabah chapter of the United

Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party and other parties. The

rotation system was introduced by the then prime minister Mahathir

Mohamad in which the chief ministerial post would be rotated every

two years among the three main communities in Sabah, namely, the

Muslim Bumiputeras, non-Muslim Bumiputeras and the Chinese.

Sakaran Dandai became the first chief minister under this system in

1994. The rotation system was finally abolished in 2005 with current

chief minister Musa Aman at the helm.

On December 26, 1996, Sabah was hit by one of the worst

tropical storm known as Tropical Storm Greg. The storm hit the

western coast of the state resulting in over 200 deaths and thousands

of home destroyed.


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In 2000, the state capital Kota Kinabalu was granted city status,

making it the 6th city in Malaysia and the first city in the state. Also

this year, Kinabalu National Park was officially designated by

UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, making it the first site in the

country to be given such designation.

On May 3, 2000, the Abu Sayyaf militant group from southern

Philippines arrived on the resort island of Sipadan and kidnapped 21

people consisting of tourists and resort workers for ransom. Most

hostages were rescued on September 16, 2000 following an

offensive by the Philippine army.

In 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled that the islands

of Sipadan and Ligitan, claimed by Indonesia, are part of Sabah and

Malaysia.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to determine who have the most right over Sabah, the

researcher looked for the history of Sabah and some articles

pertaining to the claim of Philippines in Malaysia in the said territory

since the time in memorial. Since the aim of this research is to prove


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whether who the rightful owner is, it also includes the contention of

each country involved in the dispute.

CONCLUSION

Sabah has seen several territorial disputes with Malaysia's

neighbours Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2002 both Malaysia and

Indonesia submitted to arbitration by the International Court of Justice

on a territorial dispute over the Sipadan and Ligitan islands. There

are also several overlapping claims over the Ambalat continental

shelf in the Celebes (Sulawesi) Sea. Malaysia's claim over a portion

of the Spratly Islands is also based on sharing a continental shelf with

Sabah & Sarawak.

The Philippines has a territorial claim over much of the eastern

part of Sabah, the former North Borneo. It claims that the territory, via

the heritage of the Sultanate of Sulu, was onlyleased to the North

Borneo Chartered Company in 1878 with the Sultanate's sovereignty

never being relinquished. Malaysia however, considers this dispute

as a "non-issue," as it believes that the 1878 document was a

cession agreement, and that it deems that the residents of Sabah had


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exercised their right of self-determination when they voted to join the

Malaysian federation in 1963.

THE LEASE STARTED IT ALL

The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the territory as a prize for

helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies and from then on

that part of Borneo is recognized as part of the Sultan of Sulu's

sovereignty. In 1878, Baron Von Overbeck, an Austrian partner

representing The British North Borneo Co. and his partner British

Alfred Dent, leased the territory known as "Sabah" - roughly

translated as "the land beneath the winds". In return the company will

provide arms to the Sultan to resist the spaniards and 5,000

Malaysian ringgits annual rental based on the Mexican dollars value

at that time or its equivalent in gold. This lease have been continued

until the independence and formation of the Malaysian federation in

1963 together with Singapore, Sarawak and Malaysia. Up to these

days, the Malaysians have been continuing the rental payment of

5,300 Malaysian ringgits - a 300 ringgits increased from original rent.


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In 1962 during the Pres. Diosdado Macapagal's administration

(the father of the present president, Glorio Arroyo), the Philippines

formally claimed Sabah based on the Sultanate of Sulu heirs' claim

on the territory. The Philippines broke diplomatic relations with

Malaysia after the federation have included "Sabah". The sultan's

heirs have given the Philippine government the authority to pursue

the claim legally in international courts. However, the succeeding

administrations have either have ignored or set aside the claim for

peaceful co-existent and trade relation with the Malaysians.

One significant incident involving then President Marcos have

briefly brought into limelight the Sabah claim once more. In 1972, the

Marcos government have been training secretly a group of Muslim

Filipinos in Corregidor, an island off Manila Bay, for possible intrusion

in Sabah to pave the way to an armed secession of Sabah from

Malaysia. But upon knowing of the plans, the recruits have mutinied

and were eliminated except for one that swam the bay and was

rescued. The newspapers have called this incident, the "Jabidah

Massacre" named after the operation that was given by the military.

The survivor divulged the plan and the claim was put in back burner


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once more. It was believe that because of the incident, the

Malaysians have been aiding the Muslim separatists against the

Philippine government. Some people says this distracted the

attention to the claim on Sabah as the government was embroiled in

containing the conflict.

LEGAL CLAIM BASIS

The claim was based on several historical facts and court

judgement. The lease agreement is definitely a proof otherwise there

will be no basis for any agreement if such ownership was not

established at all. The contract was between Sri Paduka Maulana Al

Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam - representing the sultanate as

owner and sovereign of Sabah on one hand, and that of Gustavus

Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representing the British East

India Co. (then became the North Borneo Co.), on the other as lessee

of Sabah, was executed on June 22, 1878. Though the British turned

over the possession and government of Sabah to the federation, the

Malaysians have not remissed in paying the annual rental. The 1939

court judgement on the claim had handed ownership of North Borneo


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to the heirs of the Sultanate prior to the formation of Malaysian

federation in 1963. The judgment of Chief Justice C.F.C. Makaskie of

the High Court of North Borneo in the civil suit filed by the late

Dayang Dayang Hadji Piandao and eight other heirs of the Sultan of

Sulu, including the famous Putlih (Princess) Tarhata Kiram, upheld

the validity of the claim of the heirs.

Proprietary rights

Reacting to Dorados presentation, Princess Jacel Kiram

daughter of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III maintained that Filipinos

have proprietary rights in Sabah.

We have so much wealth in Sabah na dapat tayo ang

nakikinabang (we should be the ones benefitting), Jacel said.

She said the lease agreement over North Borneo expired in

1978.

She accused the Aquino administration of protecting the

interests of the Malaysian prime minister rather than the interest of

the Filipino people.


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30 | P a g e

I would prefer to be another (nationality) rather than a Filipino

citizen under our current set of leaders, she said.

During the forum, Jacel confirmed the meeting between her

uncle Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II and Interior Secretary Manuel

Roxas II.

This is the first official talk from our side and from the side of

the government, she said, declining to provide additional information

as she was not privy to what was discussed in the meeting.

Jacel said the development was a good gesture on the part of

the government, and that its intention was for the benefit of the

Filipino people.

Citing latest information from Sabah, Jacel said Agbimuddin

Kiram and his people are safe but a lot of Filipinos have become

victims of excessive force by Malaysian security forces.With Paolo

Romero, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy


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SOURCES:

1. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. researched and exclusive article by the people of the

www.epilipinas.com

3. By Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 13,

2013 - 12:00am

4. Articles of Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy

5. www.Inquirer Philippines.com
http://www.epilipinas.com/http://www.epilipinas.com/http://www.epilipinas.com/

Documents

Sabah Claim