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One of the greatest adventures undertaken circumnavigate the world nor did he
by humanity was, without doubt, the voyage actually do it.
conceived by Ferdinand Magellan, which
accidentally ended up being the first
circumnavigation of the planet, achieved by
Portuguese factor
Juan Sebastian Elano. Much has been
written about it - though not always with Another common error is the belief that
historical rigors - yet much remains to be Magellan proposed to the king of Portugal,
discovered and written. In recent years, Manuel I, an expedition to the Moluccas
Spanish researchers such as Tomás Mazón, traversing the Atlantic Ocean, a proposal
Braulio Vásquez or Sergio Afonso have been which, after having been rejected by the
bringing to light issues of wide interest. Portuguese king, he presented to the king of
There are not a few misinterpretations Spain, Charles I. So, a parallelism is traced to
regarding historical facts of which not very Christopher Columbus who actually
much is known, and often wrongly known. proposed to the king of Portugal as well an
expedition to reach India and Zipangu
To start with, and against what many believe
[Japan] by navigating westward. From a
in, Magellan never intended to
politically strategic point of view it would be
circumnavigate the world, nor has he done
logical for Manuel I to reject Magellan’s
it. His objective was to arrive at the
proposal if the latter had indeed presented
Moluccas Islands where extreme valuable
it to the monarch. The Portuguese have
spices were grown, such as cloves and
already reached as far as Malacca which was
nutmeg. He did not make the world tour.
a stone's throw away from the Moluccas.
From the Iberian Peninsula, he traveled
Why would Portugal undertake an uncertain
eastward with Portuguease fleets and
venture at a time when nobody knew that
arrived at Malacca. Traveling westward with
the Pacific and the Atlantic were connected?
the Spanish fleet he arrived at Cebu. The
Moreover, they would be violating the
distance between Cebu and Malacca is 2,555
Treaty of Tordesillas, defying papal
kilometer, which represents the missing
authority.
distance needed to claim a real
circumnavigation of the world. But even if
he had reached his destination, the
Moluccas, his objective was to return the Treaty of Tordesillas
same way he had come by; from the
To understand key points in this historical
Moluccas to Malacca the distance is some
event, it is important to know what the
3,000 kilometers, which would represent
Treaty of Tordesillas was all about. At the
the distance lacking to complete the
end of the 15th century, Portugal and Castille
circumnavigation of the world had he not
were the greatest European powers who
died in Cebu and had he returned to Spain.
have begun their transcontinental
This means that Magellan neither wished to
expansion. To avoid conflicts on sovereign
ambitions on territories that were
discovered or yet to be discovered, the
Iberian monarchs turned to the arbitration
Pope Alexander VI who issued a papal bull
dividing the world into two halves, drawing
up an imaginary meridian lines 370 leagues
west of the Azores Islands [west of Portugal
in the Atlantic Ocean]. The evangelization of
the lands situated on the west of this line
was to be tasked to the Spanish town, while
those in the east was to be assumed by the
Portuguese kingdom. The position of the
dividing line to the other side of the world
had to be determined; an issue which
became very important when the kingdoms
of Spain and Portugal disputed the control
of Moluccas.
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SABAH: A TIMELINE
1640 - Spain, under a treaty entered into with when its rights to Sabah is transferred to the
the sultans of Sulu and Maguindanao, newly established Federation of Malaysia. The
recognizes the independence of the two new government assumes the payment but in
sultanates. ringgit.
1704 - Sabah [formerly North Borneo], which 1968 - President Ferdinand Marcos recruits
used to be ruled by the sultan of Brunei, is Filipino Muslims for a covert force to seize
Sabah from Malaysia. But when the recruits
ceded to the sultan of Sulu in gratitude to the
complain, at least 23 of them are killed in what
latter’s role in suppressing a revolt against the
would be referred to since as the Jabidah
sultan of Brunei, according to the
massacre. The incident helps radicalize Filipio
descendants of Sultan Jamulul Ahlam of Sulu.
Muslims.
1878 - Ahlam leases Sabah to the British 1999 - Princess Denchurain Kiram, daughter of
North Borneo Co., represented by Englishman Princess Tarhata, writes Malaysian Prime
Alfred Dent and German Gustavus Baron de Minister Mahathir Mohamad through former
Overbeck in a deed of pajak [“lease”] in which President Joseph Estarada to request for an
the company would pay 5,300 Mexican gold increase in the annual rental. She dies in
pieces a year to the Kingdom of Sulu. September the next year without receiving the
reply.
1936 - They payment stops when Sultan
Jamalul Kiram II died. Sultan Punjungan 2003 - The heirs send President Gloria
Kiram, crown prince of the sultanate at the Macapagal-Arroyo another letter asking for help
time of Jamalul II’s death, goes to the British in requesting the Malaysia government to
consulate in Manila to demand the resumption increase the rent.
of payments. After Jamalul II’s death, the
2008 - Reports say that Jamalul II’s heirs had
British consul in Manila recommends the
“dropped” their Sabah claim, which the heirs
suspension of payments because President
dismiss as untrue. In the reports, Malaysian Datu
Manuel L. Quezon did not recognize Jamalul Omar Ali Datu Backtiyal told a local newspaper
II’s successor. in Malaysia that he had obtained the signatures
of the nine heirs for the relinquishment of their
1939 - The high court of North Borneo issues
claim to Sabah. The heirs dismiss the reports as
a decision naming the nine principal heirs of “lies.”
the last sultan of Sulu, whose descendants
had been pressing their claim to Sabah. After 2013 - Followers of Sulu Sultan JaMalul Kiram III
the court decision the British North Borneo go to Sabah from Tawi-tawi and occupy a village
Co., complies for several years. in Lahad Datu town to assert the clan’s ancestral
claim on Sabah. This leads to a standoff with
1962 - The Philippines stakes its claim on Malaysian security forces, ending in the deaths
Sabah after the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and of 56 militants and 10 Malaysian security forces.
North Borneo gave the government, then - ANA ROA, INQUIRER RESEARCH
headed by President Diosdado Macapagal,
legal authority to negotiate on their behalf,
Macapagal files with the United Kingdom the Sources: Inquirer Archives
Philippine claim of sovereignty, jurisdiction
and ownership of North Borneo.
1963 - Sabah is annexed to Malaysia when it
declares independence from the United
Kingdom. British North Borneo Co. stops paying
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