KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Manila is reportedly getting advice from its top Muslim scholars to study the country’s dormant claim to Sabah despite the north Borneo state being under Malaysian governance for the past 50 years.
Citing an unnamed source, The Philippine Starreported today President Benigno Aquino III (picture)has consulted professors from the republic’s top schools, including the University of the Philippines, to get an insight and to provide historical context to the sensitive territorial issue following a renewed bid by a Filipino Muslim clan to reclaim its 17th-century stake over Sabah.
“We have been consulting with Muslim scholars, some of them are even elderly,” an insider from the president’s office was quoted as saying.
Sabah has been a part of Malaysia since 1963 following the Cobbold Commission’s 1962 referendum in the state and neighbouring Sarawak, where about two-thirds of the people voted to be part of Malaysia.
The Philippine claim on Sabah had been dormant since then, until it was revived two months ago by a southern Filipino faction under the leadership of self-style Sulu Sultan Jamallul Kiram III, whose forces landed in a village near Lahad Datu on February 9 and have been waging a guerilla battle against Malaysian security forces.
Putrajaya has been paying an annual stipend of RM5,300 to Manila on the basis of the Sulu sultanate ceding the north Borneo state.
On March 19, it was reported that Manila had engaged a team of lawyers to study the country’s claim on Sabah amid clashes between Filipino gunmen and Malaysian security forces there.
“Are they kidding when they say we have given up our claim? We’re paying so much for the lawyers to study the claim,” Philippine Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras was quoted as saying then.
Aquino has reportedly assured the Kiram clan his government will study carefully the country’s claim to Sabah, saying the process may take a long time since all the stakeholders concerned would have to be consulted on the matter.
“So that has to go through the process. The concerned agencies, offices, etc, will have to provide comments,” Aquino was quoted as saying in The Philippine Starreport today.
The Philippine president has reportedly ordered its 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.
Aquino has said any action by the country will be carried out according to international laws, and not through force.
Malaysia’s Bar Council said last month the Sulu sultanate no longer holds any legal claim over Sabah, pointing out that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had recognised Malaysia’s rights and sovereignty over Sabah and the islands surrounding it during a territorial dispute in 2002.
The ICJ recognised Malaysia’s claim in its decision on the dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia over the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan, off the coast of Sabah, in December 2002.
The Philippines had at the time applied to intervene in the case, but its application was rejected.
Both Malaysia and the Philippines are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the former was instrumental in brokering a peace deal in the southern Philippines.
The volatile situation in Sabah appears to be election fodder with both the Philippines and Malaysia readying for national polls this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.