Revival of Sabah claim under review

A battery of top-notch lawyers have been hired by the Philippine government to look into the claim.

MANILA: As the exodus of Filipinos fleeing the violence in Sabah continues, the country’s dormant claim on the territory is now under review by a battery of top-notch lawyers hired by the government.

This was revealed by Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras in an interview with a local daily yesterday.

“Are they kidding when they say we have given up our claim? We’re paying so much for the lawyers to study the claim,” Almendras said.

He stressed that everything would have to be done based on international laws and not by force or violence.

Leading the rites yesterday commemorating the Jabidah massacre in Corregidor, President Aquino reiterated that a roadmap to a peaceful resolution of the Sabah dispute and not just the standoff is being drawn up.

He noted that both the Jabidah massacre and the standoff were linked to the claim over Sabah.

“The resolution of this issue will begin not through speculation, opinion or guesswork, but by pinpointing indisputable truths. My duty is to dig into history to find truths and from there set the direction that the nation should take with regard to the Sabah issue. I’ll make sure that direction will not lead us to violence.”

The president has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Executive Secretary to research and recommend a roadmap towards a peaceful resolution of the Sabah dispute.

For his part, acting Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Mujiv Hataman said they were continuously talking with all parties, including the Kirams, to end the standoff.

Hataman said Sultan Jamalul Kiram III’s younger brother Agbimuddin Kiram, who led the standoff, had asked him to fetch them from Lahad Datu after the firefight broke out on March 1.

“At that time, he wanted to be fetched. But I’m sure those in Taguig would say I wasn’t telling the truth,” Hataman said, referring to the sultan and other family members living in Maharlika Village in Taguig.

More than 300 followers of the sultanate crossed over to Lahad Datu in Sabah on Feb 12 to renew a centuries-old claim on the territory. After failing to convince the group to leave, Malaysian forces launched an assault on March 5, forcing hundreds of Filipinos to sail back to Mindanao.

Hataman said that Agbimuddin is still in Sabah with only 168 fighters.

“They have gone on guerilla warfare. That is the only way to survive,” he said.

- Agencies