Sultanate of Sulu demand the return of Sabah from Malaysia?

[Reashot Xigwin]

I bet most of of you don't know what is the Sultanate of Sulu? well here's the wiki page for it: Sultanate of Sulu

"the map of the proclaimed Sultanate of Sulu"

Timeline: The centuries-old tug-of-war over Sabah
February 18, 2013 2:20pm

Malaysian cops, troops surround Filipino armed group in Sabah . Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib (center) leaves after a meeting at a police base near Lahad Datu on Borneo island on Sunday. About 100 armed men holed up in a village in Sabah, Malaysia refuse to leave, saying they have links with the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines which has a historic claim over the northern tip of Borneo island. Malaysia police and army troops have surrounded the village, with navy boats patrolling nearby islands. Reuters/Bazuki Muhammad

Last week, over 200 allegedly armed men holed up in a village in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah. Identifying themselves as the "royal army" of the Sultanate of Sulu in Mindanao, the group engaged Malaysian authorities in a standoff as authorities from both Philippines and Malaysia discuss ways to address the problem that traces its roots back to the 15th century.

15th century - The Islamic sultanate of Brunei is nominally in control of Borneo, including Sabah and Sarawak states of Malaysia, and some parts of the Sulu islands in the Philippines.

1658 - The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu in compensation for his help in settling a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate

In June 1658, Brunei Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin awarded the northeast coast of Borneo (Sabah), including Palawan, to Sulu Sultan Salah ud-Din Karamat Bakhtiar for helping settle a civil war dispute against Pengiran Bongsu Muhyuddin.

The Sultan of Sulu sent more than 250 elite Tausug warriors led by Panglima Ilijji (forefather of Nur P. Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front/ MNLF) to assist the Sultan of Brunei.

1673 - Brunei Sultan Bongsu Muhyuddin, upon ascending to the throne, confirms the Sultan of Sulu as sovereign landowner of the territories of North Borneo/Sabah and the island of Palawan.

1761 - Alexander Dalrymple, Madras representative of the British East India Company, entered into a lease agreement with self-proclaimed Sultan Muiz ud-Din for the rental of Sabah. The agreement permitted Dalrymple to set up a trading post on Balembangan island in Kudat North Borneo (Sabah).

Source: "Historical Timeline of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu Including Related Events of Neighboring Peoples" by Josiah C. Ang, PM

1878 - Sulu Sultan Jamal ul-Alam leases North Borneo to the Hong Kong-based British trading company of Baron Gustavos von Overbeck and Alfred Dent and confers upon Overbeck the title Datu Bendahara, Raja of Sandakan

Source: "Historical Timeline of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu Including Related Events of Neighboring Peoples" by Josiah C. Ang, PM

1888 - The United Kingdom establishes protectorate over North Borneo

1939 - A group of heirs of the Sultan filed suit against the Government of North Borneo and the British North Borneo Company for the recovery of the stipulated annual payments. The High Court of the State of North Borneo, through Chief Justice Macaskie, rendered judgment in favor of the heirs on December 18, 1939.

Source: "The North Borneo Question" by Jovito R. Salonga

1941-1945 - North Borneo comes under Imperial Japanese forces during the Pacific War. Following the end of Japanese occupation, the British North Borneo Chartered Company relinquished its duties.

1946 - North Borneo becomes a British crown colony.

Source: ‘Colonial administrators and post-independence leaders in Malaysia (1826–2000)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press

1957 - The heirs of the Sultan of Sulu issue a proclamation declaring the termination of the lease contract over the territory in question effective January 22, 1958.

Source: "The North Borneo Question" by Jovito R. Salonga

1962 - President Diosdado Macapagal files the Philippines' claim over Sabah with the United Kingdom.

1963 - North Borneo or Sabah united with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore, forming the independent Federation of Malaysia.

United Nations conducted a referendum at the behest of the Philippines and Indonesia. The people of Sabah overwhelmingly voted to become part of Malaysia.

Source: "Where in the World Is the Philippines?: Debating Its National Territory" by Rodolfo Severino

1965-1986 - Relations improved between the Philippines and Malaysia during Ferdinand Marcos' presidency, but the dispute over Sabah was not formally settled.

Source: Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Volume 1 by Ooi Keat Gin

1967 - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is established. The Sabah crisis persists, but open military confrontation is avoided.

Source: Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Volume 1 by Ooi Keat Gin

1967 - A destabilization plan called Operation Merdeka is set into action. Nearly 200 Tausug and Sama Muslims aged 18 to 30 from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi were recruited and trained in the island-town of Simunul in Tawi-Tawi. The name of the commando unit was Jabidah.

On December 30, the recruits boarded a Philippine Navy vessel for the island of Corregidor in Luzon for "specialized training."

"This second phase of the training turned mutinous when the recruits discovered their true mission. It struck the recruits that the plan would mean not only fighting their brother Muslims in Sabah, but also possibly killing their own Tausug and Sama relatives living there," Paul F. Whitman wrote in "The Corregidor Massacre - 1968."

On March 18, 1968, the Jabidah planners led the trainees out of their Corregidor barracks on the night of March 18, 1968 in batches of twelve, according to the sole survivor, Jibin Arula. At a nearby airstrip, the planners mowed the trainees down with gunfire, Whitman wrote.

As a result, diplomatic relations were suspended between Malaysia and the Philippines.

1969 - Diplomatic relations between Malaysia and the Philippines are formally resumed

1977 - President Ferdinand Marcos declares at the second ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur that the Philippines is "taking definite steps to eliminate one of the burdens of ASEAN - the claim of the Philippines republic.

Source: "Where in the World Is the Philippines?: Debating Its National Territory" by Rodolfo Severino

Former President Corazon Aquino (1986-1992) and Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998) continue to seek to improve relations between the two countries.

1993 - Ramos visits Malaysia

1994 - Malaysia Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad (1981 - 2003) visits the Philippines

2001 - Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2000 - 2004, 2004 - 2009) visits Malaysia

Source: Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Volume 1 by Ooi Keat Gin

2013 - A group claiming to be the Royal Sulu Sultanate Army lands in Lahad Datu village in Sabah on February 12. A standoff ensued between the group and Malaysian authorities. The group turned out to be followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram, who said his men will never leave Sabah.

Timeline: The centuries-old tug-of-war over Sabah | News | GMA News Online


A Filipino Standoff in Malaysia
By Luke Hunt
February 15, 2013

No sooner had fighting erupted in the southern Philippines than a group of about 100 armed men, dressed in fatigues, fled and crossed the maritime border into Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah on the northeast coast of Borneo island. They have since been surrounded by authorities.

Malaysians are negotiating with the men in the hope that they will leave and avoid a potentially nasty confrontation, but details remain sketchy. The Philippines said the men left from Sulu, adding that the Philippine navy and military have since beefed up security around the country’s maritime borders.

Many suspect that the men are members of the much-loathed Abu Sayyaf, though this has not been confirmed.

Islamic militants and pirates have often used Sabah as a transit lounge en route from the southern Philippines to eastern Indonesia, receiving food and shelter from the state’s burgeoning illegal Muslim population.

This illegal population numbers in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps much more, and largely hails from Mindanao and the surrounding islands where Manila has battled insurgents for decades, forcing many to flee.

As mentioned in this column earlier this week, a serious push for peace has emerged with Philippine President Begnino “Noynoy” Aquino making an unprecedented visit to the troubled south where a framework agreement has been reached with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

At the same time, reports have emerged that the like-minded Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has picked up arms against the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, regarded by many as bandits for its history of kidnappings, murder, extortion and home-spun terrorist attacks.

Lahad Datu has long been a favorite spot in Malaysia for Abu Sayyaf militants on the move, who use the outpost to re-stock their supplies and rest before heading off to the next destination.

With their local knowledge and their taste for violence, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped 21 tourists from a nearby diving resort in 2000. In 1985, the group killed 11 people in a Lahad Datu bank robbery during a raid staged from the southern Philippines.

Their presence is a constant in the state. However, Sabah Tourism, which is more in-tune with tourist numbers than political realities, and the Malaysian government, which is going to the polls shortly, loath any hint of negative publicity and prefer to pretend such problems don’t exist.

The Abu Sayyaf are still holding hostages, many of them foreign, and have continued to carry out their antics on Malaysian soil – a hotbed for their activities since they rose to prominence 12 years ago under Galib Andang (a.k.a. “Commander Robot&#8221.

Achieving a lasting peace in the southern Philippines has proved elusive and many doubt the current plan will succeed. But if peace does take hold there could also be ramifications for Malaysia. And the 100 armed men currently holed up in Sabah might not be the last to make the voyage across the Sula Sea.

Image credit: Flickr (thienzieyung)

A Filipino Standoff in Malaysia

 

[Fsjal]

Sabah belongs to Malaysia. Also, I don't see anything important about Sabah. Any oil there?

 

[nufix]

Sabah belongs to Malaysia. Also, I don't see anything important about Sabah. Any oil there?

Northern Borneo areas have abundant oil and gas reserves, Brunei is the finest example.

 

[Fsjal]

Northern Borneo areas have abundant oil and gas reserves, Brunei is the finest example.

Aquino is not crazy enough to attack Sabah just because of oil and gas. Also that Sultan is crazy.

 

[nufix]

Aquino is not crazy enough to attack Sabah just because of oil and gas. Also that Sultan is crazy.

Well the main concern of this news is actually not about Philippines about to gain some areas in Sabah from Malaysia because of oil.

Speaking of which, the Sultan is pursuing the oil though. Seeing how little Sultanates like Brunei and UAE became very rich and prosperous must be one of his main factors beside cultural and historical claim.

Ambalat Block, S.C.S, and Tarakan East Coast, all are filled with abundant oil and gas reserves.

 

[Malaya]

Sultan of Sulu revives claim over Sabah, 'patrimony of the Filipino people'

MANILA, Philippines - Nearly half a century since a Philippine president first made a formal claim on North Borneo, the 34th sultan of Sulu and his closest advisers declared they are ready to revive a campaign to reclaim Sabah, as the territory has been known since Malaysia made it part of its federation.

Preparing for a rare public forum today (October 15) on the Sabah claim and its international ramifications, Sultan Esmail Dalus Kiram II described Sabah repeatedly as the “patrimony of the Filipino people,” and decried the failure of five administrations to push the claim even though the Sultanate had waived that prerogative in 1962 in favor of the republic, then represented by President Diosdado Macapagal.

The Sultanate of Sulu has various claimants put forward by factions within the sultanate and by the conflicting claims and interests of the Philippines and Malaysia. Esmail Dalus Kiram II is recognized by Manila.

In an exclusive interview with InterAksyon.com, Kiram said they joined the forum this Saturday afternoon, organized by the Pimentel Center for Local Governance at the University of Makati (UMAK), so that “we can let the Filipino people know, especially the majority of our brothers and sisters who are Christians,” about a legitimate, reasonable claim that has been “neglected.”

They hope, he said, the forum will help forge a consensus among Filipino stakeholders on how to proceed, given the over 50 years that Malaysia has possessed and benefited tremendously from the resource-rich territory that Britain “illegally” gave the federation.

The sultanate has always lamented that, even though only a private British company was leasing the territory from the sultanate, Britain “gave” the same to the nascent Malaysian federation. The best proof that neither Britain nor Malaysian ever owned North Borneo, say the sultan and his advisers, is the fact that until now, Malaysia pays annual rental to the sultanate, in checks in the amount of roughly $1,500 a year.

Since Macapagal filed the claim on behalf of the republic and the sultanate in 1962, and his successor Ferdinand Marcos pushed it to the point of planning an invasion that was botched by the Jabidah fiasco, the two presidents’ successors have all taken a benign attitude to the claim, even though “the weight of evidence, of history, lies with us,” said Kiram’s top political adviser, former Tawi-tawi governor Almarim Tillah.

Given this, much has to be done to, first, reconcile the positions of the Philippine government and the Sultanate “which it should have been actively representing,” and subsequent to that, pushing the claim in the proper international venues, notably in the International Court of Justice alongside a vigorous diplomatic campaign, according to the chairman of the Sultanate’s royal advisory council or Ruma Bechara, Fiscal Leasin Omar Basa.

Former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who heads the Pimentel Center for Local Governance at UMAK that is hosting the Saturday symposium, is among those the Ruma Bechara had been informally consulting.

“We invited the Sultanate and other experts and stakeholders who can help refresh the national memory on a legitimate claim that has been sadly set aside; and going forward, outline possible courses of action and the scenarios that may confront us,” Pimentel told InterAksyon.com.

Failure of Parens Patriae?

Basa said they have confidence in Pimentel because “he knows the dynamics” of the case, is a “true Mindanaoan, and is an international law expert.” He is one of the few people the sultan trusts to help them navigate waters that for the most part are uncharted, and which pose tremendous implications for the region, Basa added.

Basa lamented, as Tillah did, the failure of Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo -- and now, it seems, President Benigno Aquino III, too -- to bring out the Sabah claim from the back burner. Apparently, he said, they put a premium instead on keeping the peace within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where the Philippines and Malaysia are among the five founding members.
[/COLOR]
“Under parens patriae the government is the father of the people. The Philippine government was given the trust of the sultanate, which hoped it would fight for its rights, for a territory that is rich in natural resources from which all Filipinos can benefit.” But, Basa added, “the Philippine government failed to prosecute the claim, so we’re studying other legal remedies.” He said some international law experts had told them there is nothing that stops the Sultanate of Sulu from now filing the claim on its own if it ultimately deems the government as too uncertain in its intentions.

Still, stressed Tillah, who is now president of the Philippine Islamic Society, “the sultanate has not closed the doors” completely on the Philippine government, despite the decades of official “indifference.”

“Being citizens of this country, we are willing to transfer to the Philippine government the sovereign rights while retaining proprietary rights,” Tillah said, stressing that North Borneo, once reclaimed, can “do so much to help improve the socioeconomic status of all Filipinos.”

First things first

But first, according to the Sultanate’s secretary general Abraham Idjirani, the matter of the special authority that the Sultanate granted the Philippine government during the Diosdado Macapagal presidency, and which it revoked in 1989, must be settled.

“The Philippine government cannot prosecute without first seeking a special power of attorney from the Sultanate of Sulu,” said Idjirani.

He pointed to the provisions of the 1962 document embodying the terms between the Macapagal government and the sultanate. “That provision said that should the Republic fail to recover North Borneo, then this transfer document shall ipso facto become null and void.” This is what was invoked when the sultanate revoked the authority in 1989, he explained.

China, Malaysia

While the administrations after Macapagal and Marcos were for the most part “indifferent” to the Sabah issue, China and Malaysia had reached out to the sultan on occasion.

In the mid-nineties Kiram travelled to a province in China where a Sulu ruler died during an official visit in 1417, leaving behind a couple hundreds of his entourage, who were later, according to some accounts, considered part of a Chinese minority.

Kiram saw the invitation to him as an effort by the Chinese to reach out to the sultanate -- and, according to some other accounts, possibly bolster its own claims on disputed areas in Southeast Asia by forging a “shared history” with the sultanate.

In 2003, Kiram was invited by then Prime Minister Mahathir to Kuala Lumpur, and he witnessed the turnover of power to Mahathir’s successor, Malaysia’s fifth prime minister Abdullah Badawi.

Asked if the invitation by KL signaled a tacit admission that the sultanate of Sulu was still the owner of North Borneo, Kiram merely smiled.

Still, asserted Kiram, today nothing is more important to him than being able to reclaim a prized territory that “is part of the patrimony of the Filipino people.” He prays this “historical injustice” can be redressed, so that all Filipinos can unite in the hope of a better future.

“In God’s own time,” as Tillah puts it, “we will get back Sabah.”


Sultan of Sulu revives claim over Sabah, 'patrimony of the Filipino people' - InterAksyon.com




Sultan of Sulu: Leave Sabah? It's our home, the Malaysians merely pay rent
By: Agence France-Presse
February 18, 2013

MANILA - Followers of a Philippine sultan who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday amid a tense standoff.
Sultan Jamalul Kiram said his followers - some 400 people including 20 gunmen - were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with the Kuala Lumpur government insisting the group return to the Philippines.

"Why should we leave our own home? In fact they (the Malaysians) are paying rent (to us)," he told reporters in Manila.

"Our followers will stay in (the Sabah town of) Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home," he said.

The sultan did not directly threaten violence but said "there will be no turning back for us".

Malaysian officials have said that many of the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the trip unarmed.

"If they have arms, they were already in Sabah," the sultan said.

The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off, and its heirs have been receiving a nominal yearly compensation package from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement for possession of Sabah.

Kiram said he was prompted to send the group to Sabah after the sultanate was left out of a framework agreement sealed in October between Manila and Filipino Muslim rebels, which paves the way for an autonomous area in the southern Philippines that is home to the Muslim minority of the largely-Christian nation.

The sultanate's spokesman, Abraham Idjirani, later said the sultan's brother Raja Muda Abimuddin Kiram, who led the group to Sabah, had told him via telephone that the party was preparing to stay.

"The objective is to reside now in that place permanently, considering the sultanate owns Sabah by rights of sovereignty," he told AFP.

Idjirani said there were about 400 followers of the sultanate in the area, including about 20 who were armed.

On Thursday Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein put the number at between 80 to 100 gunmen.

Idjirani said the group would not instigate violence but would resist if provoked.

"We recognise the capability of Malaysia. We don't have the arms and capacity but we have the historical truth," he said, adding that the group's "fate is to see the recognition they are entitled to... or they die defending their ancestral rights".

Idjirani said President Benigno Aquino's senior aides had been in contact with the sultan and were willing to deliver a letter to the Malaysian government on his behalf for negotiations.

Sultan of Sulu: Leave Sabah? It's our home, the Malaysians merely pay rent - InterAksyon.com




In the Know: PH claim to Sabah ‘dormant’ but KL pays annual rent
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

In October last year, President Aquino described the territorial dispute with Malaysia over Sabah as “dormant at this point in time.”

While the Philippines’ pending claim to Sabah is dormant, the country has never relinquished its claim to Sabah and Kuala Lumpur continues to pay a yearly rent to the heirs of the sultan of Sulu.

The Philippines’ claim to Sabah (formerly North Borneo) is based on the historic ownership of the territory by the hereditary sultans of Sulu.

North Borneo, which used to be under the sultan of Brunei, was ceded to the sultan of Sulu in 1704 after the sultan of Sulu helped quell a rebellion instigated against the sultan of Brunei, according to descendants of Sultan Jamalul Ahlam of the kingdom of Sulu.

Sabah was leased to the British colonizers of what is now Malaysia in the late 19th century. In 1878, Ahlam leased Sabah to the British North Borneo Co. for 5,300 Mexican gold pieces a year. The company religiously remitted payments until 1936, when Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, the 32nd
sultan of Sulu, died.

The British consul in Manila recommended the suspension of payments because President Manuel L. Quezon did not recognize Kiram II’s successor. In 1950, Sultan Punjungan Kiram, crown prince of the sultanate at the time of Kiram II’s death, went to the British consulate in Manila to demand the resumption of payments.

Kiram II’s heirs also filed a case in the Sessions Court of North Borneo, which directed the British company to resume payments. The company complied for several years, but it stopped paying when its rights to Sabah were transferred to the newly established Federation of Malaysia in 1963. The new government assumed the payment but in ringgit.

Every year, the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines issues a check in the amount of 5,300 ringgit (about P77,000) to the legal counsel of Ahlam’s descendants. Malaysia considers the amount an annual “cession” payment for the disputed state, while the sultan’s descendants consider it “rent.”—Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research

In the Know: PH claim to Sabah

 

[Malaya]

This is a delicate issue.

First, the Philippines need to maintain a friendly relation with Malaysia since both countries are members and founders of ASEAN. Malaysia is also the one facilitating the peace agreement between Philippine Government and Muslim rebel group [MILF]. Second, the Philippines need not to open another area of conflict since we are right now in contesting claims with China over Spratly islands, Scarborough shoal etc. The Philippines don’t have enough resources fighting two fronts.

Although in my opinion, the Philippine Government should support the Sultanate of Sulu's claim on Sabah. Paying rent obviously means ownership and not claiming ownership is a bigger risk with unthinkable consequences. The worse thing that could happen is if a disappointed Sultanate of Sulu decides to sell Sabah to Malaysia or worst to China. After seeing Japan buy Senkaku Islands from their Japanese owner to make the latter's claim more binding. But I believe this dispute can be settled peacefully, not necessarily by armed conflict, which is after all renounced by members of ASEAN in dealing with neighbors.

 

[Silverblaze]

What next Sultanate of Malacca?

Why destablize Malaysia?

Could it be that the Philippines is pressuring malaysia to not to allow China to get too close?

Or it could be the US pulling the strings to counter China so that a new crisis builds up where it can intervene?

 

[Developereo]

I hope we can find cheap alternative source of energy (solar, nuclear), so all these stupid wars over oil/gas can end.

 

[nufix]

What next Sultanate of Malacca?

Why destablize Malaysia?

Could it be that the Philippines is pressuring malaysia to not to allow China to get too close?

Or it could be the US pulling the strings to counter China so that a new crisis builds up where it can intervene?

Nah, you are imagining it too far.

It is no more than a lost Sultan trying to reclaim his lost land caused by an agreement proposed by Lord Cobbold that signed without his royal family's involvement, or that is what he said. Meanwhile, Malaysia is still paying cession money to Sulu sultanate in order to "rent" Sabah as British did.

It is not about U.S pulling the strings, neither Phil wants to press Malay to not to get too close to China. Why does phil even use Sulu problem to press Malaysia when that Sultan of Sulu is also claiming some parts in southern Philippines? The succession of Sulu in regaining its lands could be a great loss for both Phil and Malay.

 

[Silverblaze]

Nah, you are imagining it too far.

It is no more than a lost Sultan trying to reclaim his lost land caused by an agreement proposed by Lord Cobbold that signed without his royal family's involvement, or that is what he said. Meanwhile, Malaysia is still paying cession money to Sulu sultanate in order to "rent" Sabah as British did.

It is not about U.S pulling the strings, neither Phil wants to press Malay to not to get too close to China. Why does phil even use Sulu problem to press Malaysia when that Sultan of Sulu is also claiming some parts in southern Philippines? The succession of Sulu in regaining its lands could be a great loss for both Phil and Malay.

Good points, but u missed my point. Why would a sultan not want rent now? Sultans love to be paid and love status - quo. Why would he suddenly rise up? Some thing is afoot in the great south east.

 

[nufix]

Good points, but u missed my point. Why would a sultan not want rent now? Sultans love to be paid and love status - quo. Why would he suddenly rise up? Some thing is afoot in the great south east.

Because the royal family of Sulu claimed to be not being paid well enough and the agreement, which the Sultan said that his family wasn't fully involved, has ripped off his lands.


Actually this thing has been happening long time ago, the dispute practically triggered by the formation of Malaysia federation, that's when the federation put Sabah into its territory, Philippines in the other hand, via Sulu heritage, claimed Sabah too. The claim is based on historical clam as Sulu sovereignty never been relinquished, the Sultan only leased its land to the British.

Sulu royal family has been using Philippines claim of Sabah to claim back their lands, now that the Philippines has no power both in economy and military against Malaysia like some 20-30 years ago, the Sultan is trying to get Sabah back using his own hands.

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

Good points, but u missed my point. Why would a sultan not want rent now? Sultans love to be paid and love status - quo. Why would he suddenly rise up? Some thing is afoot in the great south east.

I can't really give you the facts cause most of it that circulate are still rumor, but many Pinoys on the net believe that because their government broker a peace deal with the Bangsa Moro. The Sultan decided to assert their claim on Sabah.

 

[Dubious]

Because the royal family of Sulu claimed to be not being paid well enough and the agreement, which the Sultan said that his family wasn't fully involved, has ripped off his lands.


Actually this thing has been happening long time ago, the dispute practically triggered by the formation of Malaysia federation, that's when the federation put Sabah into its territory, Philippines in the other hand, via Sulu heritage, claimed Sabah too. The claim is based on historical clam as Sulu sovereignty never been relinquished, the Sultan only leased its land to the British.

Sulu royal family has been using Philippines claim of Sabah to claim back their lands, now that the Philippines has no power both in economy and military against Malaysia like some 20-30 years ago, the Sultan is trying to get Sabah back using his own hands.

Sigh! Whereever the British went they left some form of fights among the locals so that their EX terroritories will NEVER be stable and they can always come in and out by offering "help and solutions" for the problems for CERTAIN AGREEMENTS...

They left common prob with Malaysia and Brunei for Lambuan or was it Limbang?!
They left similar prob with Pakistan and India for Kashmir
They left similar probs in some other countries as well!

 

[Anonymous user]

I thought they sent they just deported that joker back?