POINTERS ON PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGNTY OVER SABAH 1. Sulu Sultanate Sovereignty over Sabah..

Since pre-colonial times, the Sulu sultanate had ruled and owned Sabah. In one account, it was granted the north-eastern part of the territory as a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies and from then on that part of Borneo was recognized as part of the Sultan of Sulu's sovereignty. The Sabah people of Mindanao ancestry, especially the Tausugs and Badjaos, were the main political base of the Sulu sultanate. The Chief Justice C. F. C. Macaskie of North Borneo recognized the proprietary rights of the Sulu sultanate in a ruling in 1939 in a related civil suit about the payment of rent (padyak) to the heirs of the sultan of Sulu. 2. People of Mindanao Ancestry in Sabah. Since time immemorial, the Badjaos, Tausugs, Samals, Iranons and other people from Mindanao have migrated to Sabah. The biggest inflow of people from Mindanao to Sabah occurred during the hostilities between the Manila government and MNLF. This coincided with Tun Mustapha's (a Badjao) relying on people of Mindanao ancestry for political support. People of Mindanao ancestry comprise the biggest bloc, if not the majority of the population in Sabah. Next in size are the people of Chinese origin, comprising 13 per cent of the population. The indigenous people other than those of Mindanao ancestry are divided into so many small tribes. Since pre-colonial times, the Sulu sultanate had ruled and owned Sabah. 2. 1878 Lease Agreement. On 22 January 1878, an agreement was signed between the Sultanate of Sulu and the British commercial syndicate (Alfred Dent and Baron von Overback), which stipulated that the former was leasing (padyak) North Borneo (Sabah) to the latter in return for payment of 5000 Malayan Dollar per year. On 22 April 1903 Sultan Jamalul Kiram signed a document leasing additional islands in the vicinity of the mainland of North Borneo from m Banggi island to Sibuku Bay to British North Borneo Company. The sum 5,000 dollars a year payable every year increased to 5,300 dollars a year payable every year. The British wrongly translate the padyak as cession, instead of lease. Every year, the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines issues a check in the amount of 5,300 ringgit (US$1710 or about 77,000 Philippine pesos) to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu. 3. Madrid Protocol of 1885. The Sultanate of Sulu came under the control of Spain in the 1980s and was forced to sign a document giving all of the Sultan's properties in Palawan and Sulu excluding North Borneo to Spain. But in 1885, Great Britain, Germany and Spain signed the Madrid Protocol to cement Spanish influence over the islands of the Philippines. In the same agreement, Spain renounced all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the Borneo which had belonged to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), and which comprised the neighbouring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which formed part of the territories administered by the British North Borneo Company. Nevertheless, Chavacano-speaking migrants earlier brought by the Spanish to Sabah stayed on. 4. US Reminders and Philippine Constitution of 1935. In 1906 and in 1920, the United State officially reminded Great Britain that North Borneo did not belong to the Crown and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu. Even then, the British turned Sabah into a Crown Colony on July 10, 1946. The Philippine Constitution of 1935 states that the national territory of the Philippines included, among other things, "all other areas which belong to the Philippines on the basis of historical rights or legal claims". Even before Sabah was incorporated into Malaysia in 1963, the Philippines had sent delegations to London reminding the British Crown that Sabah belonged to the Philippines. 5. Cession of Sovereignty to the Republic of the Philippines. On 12 September 1962, during President Diosdado Macapagal's regime, the territory of North Borneo or Sabah and the full sovereignty, title and dominion over the territory were ceded by the then reigning Sultan of Sulu, HM

Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I, to the Republic of the Philippines. The cession effectively gave the Philippine government the full authority to pursue the Sulu sultanate's claim in international courts. The Philippines broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the federation included Sabah in 1963. Republic Act 5446, which took effect on 18 September 1968, regards Sabah as a territory "over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty." On 16 July 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the Philippine claim over Sabah is retained and may be pursued in the future. 6. Incorporation of Sabah in Malaysia by Coercion and Manipulation. The formation of Malaysia in 1963 was rammed through by the British colonialists and the local reactionaries in Malaya under the pretext of combating communism and Indonesian expansionism. The argument of the Kuala Lumpur government that all historical, political and legal issues have been overcome by the people of Sabah exercising the right of self-determination and voting for incorporation in Malaysia does not hold and cannot stand because the voting done in 1963 was under conditions of coercion and manipulation by British colonialism and their Malaysian puppets. 7. Subservience to US imperialism. Despite the validity of Philippine sovereignty over Sabah, Philippine regimes have failed to assert it effectively because of their subservience to the US imperialism. Macapagal submitted to US dictat that the Philippine government must put Indonesia's Sukarno in a corner through the tripartite Maphilindo scheme and the Manila Accord and give way to the formation of Malaysia without demanding the exclusion of Sabah. Marcos organized and trained Moro volunteers to make an expedition to Sabah but these volunteers became the victims of the Jabidah massacre as a result of the exposed corruption of the project officers. Since then, the Philippine has put the Sabah issue on the backburner. President Cory Aquino became very obsequious to Malaysia by sidling up to Malaysia and forgetting about the Sabah issue. 8. Current Issue regarding Sabah. The current Aquino regime is absolutely wrong in violating and in effect casting away Philippine sovereignty over Sabah, in opposing the basically political act of the hundreds of followers of the Sultan of Sulu in upholding the sovereign interests of the Philippines as well as the local authority and proprietary rights of the Sulu sultanate over Sabah and, worst of all, in actively urging the Malaysian authorities and armed forces to massacre those Filipino citizens who expect to be protected by the Philippine government, especially on territory belonging to the Philippines. It is a criminal act for the Aquino regime to cheer on the Malaysian langrabbers to massacre Filipinos.###