Friday, March 1, 2013

Territorial Dispute: Sabah, Malaysia or Philippines?

THE HISTORY OF SABAH, PHILIPPINES


In 1658, the Sultan of Brunei gave Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu for his help in sending Tausug Warriors to stop a rebelion and civil war. Since then, Sabah became a property of Sultan of Sulu and the Sultanate of Sulu. 



In 1878, HM Sultan Hamalul Aklam Kiram (The Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah), leased Sabah to a British Company of Gustavus Baron de Overdeck and "The North Borneo Company.", for their used and their heirs. The leased prohibits the transfer of Sabah to any nation, company or individual without the consent of the Government of the Sultan of Sulu.



In 1946-47, the leased was illegally transfered to the British Government by Overdeck and Dent when their company North Borneo ceased to exist.

On September 12,1962, the still on leased territory of North Borneo (SABAH) and the full sovereignty, the title and dominion over the territory was ceded by the then reigning Sultan of Sulu, HM Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I to the Republic of the Philippines. The cession effectively gave the Philippine Government the full authority to pursue their claim in international courts. 

In 1963, the British illegally transferred Sabah to newly formed Federation of Malaysia. Upon the illegal inclusion of Sabah into Malaysian Federation, President Diosdado Macapagal broke diplomatic relation with Malaysia.



PHILIPPINE' SULTANATE OF SULU ROYAL FORCES STANDOFF WITH ILLEGAL MALAYSIA GOVERNMENT IN NORTH BORNEO!




MAP OF THE SULTANATE OF SULU. The Sulu Sultanate was once a powerful kingdom, stretching from Borneo, Southern Philippines to parts of the Visayas, Part of Mindanao, Palawan to the Spratly Islands. During the height of its power during the 1700s, the Sultanate exercise control over most of what is now known as Mindanao and North Borneo.

The area was once controlled by the old Sultanate of Sulu but Britain illegally ceded the North Borneo to Malaysia without informing the Sultan and without even paying a single dime to the Sultan who ruled the territory.

'Till todate, Malaysia still recognized Sabah State or North Borneo State as part of the Sultanate of Sulu by paying a rental of M$5,000 Malaysian Ringgit per year to the Royal Sultanate of the Southern Philippines.

Britain, the responsible of the trouble in the Southern Philippines for the illegal transfer of the territory to Malaysia remained silent for few decades and ignored the call of the Philippines to respect the Sultanate of Sulu as the original Territorial owner of Sabah (North Borneo) and the territory must be return to the Sultanate of Sulu. Philippines and the Sultanate of Sulu State are too weak also to against the illegal order and the bully of the abusing powerful Britain. 

Ismail, quoted on the website of The Star newspaper, said the group demanded to be recognized as the "Royal Sulu Sultanate Army" and insisted that as subjects of the sultanate, they should be allowed to remain in Sabah.

The Standoff begun after Malaysian Government deported the Sulu Nationals who settled in North Borneo for several decades. The Sulu Nationals (Philippine Citizen of the Southern Philippines under the old Sultanate of Sulu) still believe that Sabah or North Borneo is still part of the Sultanate of Sulu and they must be allowed to stay in Sabah as long as they want as it is part of the Sultanate of Sulu but Malaysian Government deported several hundreds of their compatriots and would probably affect the estimated 30% of the total residents of Sabah who are originally from the old Sultanate of Sulu Capital in the Southern Philippines.

In 1963, Sabah, which was leased by the Sulu Sultanate to the British since the 19th century, became part of the Federation of Malaysia when Britain illegally ceded the territory to Malaysia . The Filipinos protested, claiming that Sabah was never sold to foreign interests.

In 1967, an attempt to land Filipino commandos, trained in Corregidor, on Sabah and invade Sabah under the "Operation Merdeka" was aborted after the supposed commandos were all but one killed. The lone survivor of the carnage, Jibin Arula, revealed what was eventually known as the Jabidah massacre.

Lahad Datu is a town in Tawau Division, in the east of Sabah, on the island of Borneo. The town, which occupies the peninsula on the north side of Darvel Bay, has population of 156,059 based on the 2000 census where 80% of the populations are originally from the Sultanate of Sulu (Basilan, Tawi-tawi, Zamboanga).

Lahad Datu is home to Sabah's population of Orang Bajau and other ethnic tribes or BADJAO who scattered around the Philippines as boat people, such as the Cocos Island Malays, who settled in the area in the 1950s when the Cocos Islands became part of Australia. Lahad Datu is known for its palm oil refineries.

The Philippine government signed a landmark peace deal with Muslim rebels late last year to end the 40-year conflict in the south, but some factions have voiced opposition as the deal could affect their claim that Sabah must be returned first to the Philippines and the Sultanate of Sulu must be re-empowered.

"Since Malaysia brokered the deal, followers from the Misuari Breakaway Group have decided to stir up some trouble and create fireworks in Sabah." the report quoted the Malaysian official as saying.

The Sulu Sultanate was once a powerful kingdom, stretching from Borneo, Southern Philippines to parts of the Visayas, Part of Mindanao, Palawan to the Spratly Islands. During the height of its power during the 1700s, the Sultanate exercise control over most of what is now known as Mindanao and North Borneo.

Raja Muda Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram was proclaimed as the 35th Sultan of Sulu during ceremonies held in Maimbung, Jolo last September.

Security on Malaysia's sea border with the Philippines has been problematic for Sabah, where tens of thousands of Filipinos have immigrated in the past few decades.

With report sources from Manila Standard Today, Inquirer, Reuters and Bangkok Post.



http://betterphils.blogspot.com/2013/02/philippine-sultanate-of-sulu-royal.html


source: https://www.facebook.com/ControversialFiles


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