Judged:
2
2
LEGAL CLAIM BASIS
The claim was based on several historical facts and court judgement.
The lease agreement is definitely a proof otherwise there will be no basis for any
agreement if such ownership was not established at all. The contract was between Sri
Paduka Maulana Al Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam - representing the sultanate as owner
and sovereign of Sabah on one hand, and that of Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred
Dent, representing the British East India Co.(then became the North Borneo Co.), on
the other as lessee of Sabah, was executed on June 22, 1878. Though the British turned
over the possession and government of Sabah to the federation, the Malaysians have not
remissed in paying the annual rental.
The 1939 court judgement on the claim had handed ownership of North Borneo to the heirs
of the Sultanate prior to the formation of Malaysian federation in 1963. The judgment
of Chief Justice C.F.C. Makaskie of the High Court of North Borneo in the civil suit
filed by the late Dayang Dayang Hadji Piandao and eight other heirs of the Sultan of
Sulu, including the famous Putlih (Princess) Tarhata Kiram, upheld the validity of the
claim of the heirs.
Being a British colony did they favored the Malaysians than returning the leased
territory to its rightful owners as per 1939 court judgement? Did the British influenced
the outcome of their sponsored 1962 plebiscite to which won by those who wanted to
join the Malaysian federation than be an independent state. One also has to speculate
as to why did the British respected a similar treaty with China by returning Hong Kong
instead of conducting a plebiscite just like the one conducted in Sabah in 1962, is
the Philippines a weak nation that can be ignored? These are some questions that need
to be addressed by those who have the mandate to pursue the Philippine claim.
The Malaysian argument before the International Court (The Hague) is in the link below.
This is based on the islands disputed between Indonesia and Malaysia wherein the
Philippines is trying to intervene.
SO WHY THE REVIVAL OF THE CLAIM NOW?
In the last few months the Malaysian authorities have been deporting, we are not sure
if this is the right term for this action knowing the existence of legal claim to North
Borneo, thousands of Filipinos from Sabah for being illegals and for lack of necessary
documents. There are allegations of inhuman treatments and rapes by Malaysian authorities
which are currently being investigated by both governments. It is also good to point out
that illegal Indonesians are likewise being sent home through Kalimantan (Borneo part
of Indonesia). Both the Philippine and the Indonesian governments have protested the
mass deportation and have indignation rallies against the Malaysian action.
Since the time memorial the numerous ethnic tribes in the southern Philippines notably
the Tausugs and Badjaos have been traversing the Celebes Sea from Sulu to Borneo and
other parts of Indonesia. These tribes are sea faring people and settled from anywhere
around the region. To curtail these movements, the Malaysians have decided to demand
document from the Filipinos in Sabah. Undocumented Filipinos were deported and could
only be admitted back when there are necessary papers presented. This situation is
extremely hard specially to those who have fled the secessionist war during the seventies
and eighties as they are refugees and do not have any travel documents. These Muslim
Filipinos have considered Sabah as part of their domain as their ancestors have been
doing centuries ago. That part of southeast asia is bound by common religion, history
and people.
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