Finger-pointing over Philippines claim on Sabah

A bill by the Philippines' House of Representatives has now become a campaign topic for the Sabah elections.

The bill aims to amend the Philippines Passport Act 1996 to include Sabah on the map of the country which is featured on the cover of Filipino passports.

Since last month, Warisan president and caretaker chief minister Mohd Shafie Apdal had urged Putrajaya to resolve the matter once and for all by engaging with the Philippines government.

Shafie had argued that the Cobbold Commission in 1963 had already determined that Sabahans had chosen Malaysia and the matter should no longer be in dispute.

This led to condemnations from PCS president Anifah Aman, a former Malaysian foreign minister, who attacked Shafie for suggesting that that the matter was up for negotiation and accused the latter of legitimising the Philippines claim.

Earlier today, current Foreign Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein got into the fray by accusing Shafie of the same, citing a Berita Harian article dated Aug 28.

"As a leader in Sabah, Shafie should be more assertive and not try to 'give face' to outsiders who are questioning Sabah's sovereignty.

"Malaysia's position is the same, we will not negotiate or acknowledge any claims on Sabah," wrote Hishammuddin on his Facebook page.

Warisan permanent chairperson Liew Vui Keong (above), a former law minister, was the latest to join the fray, accusing Hishammuddin of trying to score political points because of the elections.

Describing Hishammuddin's comments as "shocking", Liew said had the Foreign Affairs Ministry done their job, then the Philippines would not have proposed their bill.

According to Liew, Hishammuddin was shifting the blame to Shafie for the failures of the Foreign Ministry.

"(If the foreign ministry had done its job), I as a Sabahan MP, would not have had to raise and debate the emergency motion in the Dewan Rakyat (last month)," said Liew, who is the Batu Sapi MP.

At the time, deputy foreign minister Kamarudin Jaffar told the Dewan Rakyat that the bill was a private bill and not the official stand of the Philippines government.

"It is a polemic deliberately repeated by Filipino politicians solely to garner support in their local politics," he said, according to the Malay Mail. - Mkini