By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Malaysia's foreign minister has acted with surprise to reports that the Philippines has offered to downgrade its territorial claim for Malaysia's easternmost state of Sabah in exchange for support in a United Nations case against China.
Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Monday that his government has never recognized any claim for Sabah made by the Philippines.
"What claim? We never recognize any claim, [so] the note is irrelevant," Aman was quoted as saying by The Rakyat Post.
Earlier Monday, Manila media reported that the quid pro quo was contained in a note verbale (An informal diplomatic communication) that the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) handed to a representative of the Malaysian Embassy last week, shortly after Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s visit.
The Philippines has claimed ownership of the territory - which at present it considers occupied by Malaysia - based on the title of the Sultan of Sulu who it says ceded proprietary rights over the 76,115 km-sq. area to the Philippines in 1962.
According to the reports, the note verbale referred to a May 6, 2009, joint submission by Malaysia and Vietnam to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in which Malaysia claimed an extended continental shelf - 350 nautical miles from baseline - that projects from Sabah.
A copy of the note claims to have been obtained by Vera Files - an online journal published by veteran Filipino journalists.
The Philippines wrote to the U.N. Secretary General on Aug 4, 2009, protesting the joint submission because it declared Sabah to be a Malaysian territory.
The report stated that in last week’s note verbale, the DFA informed the Malaysian government that it was reviewing its 2009 protest and its action would depend on Malaysia’s response to Manila’s two requests related to conflicting territorial claims of the West Philippine Sea - also known as the South China Sea.
The Philippines claims that Sabah - North Borneo - originally belonged to the Sultan of Brunei, who gave it to the Sultan of Sulu Salah ud-Din Karamat Bakhtiar in 1658 as a reward for helping quell a rebellion.
In 1878, Sulu Sultan Jamalul Alam Kiram leased North Borneo to the Hong Kong-based British North Borneo Co of Baron Gustavos von Overbeck and Alfred Dent for “5,000 Malaysian dollars” a year.
Sabah subsequently became Philippines territory on the Sultan's donation, Manila claims.
In mid February 2013, a group of armed men, claiming to be the royal soldiers of the Sulu Sultanate encroached into Sabah via Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, causing a standoff for months.
A total of 10 Malaysian security enforcers were killed before the operation to rid the “royal soldiers,” codenamed Op Daulat, finally ended June 29 the same year.
