MANILA, Philippines - 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.
The Philippine Star reported a senior member of the Philippine government as
saying that the country had not 
given up its claim on the territory that has
been part of Malaysia for decades.
given up its claim on the territory that has
been part of Malaysia for decades.
“Are they kidding when they say we have given up our claim? We’re paying so
much for the lawyers to study the claim,” Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras
was quoted as saying.
But, he said, that any action by the country will be carried out according
to international laws, and not through force, appearing to echo President
Benigno Aquino III’s views.
The daily also reported Aquino as saying that his administration was drawing
up a roadmap to end the dispute over Sabah peacefully.
Debates about the Philippine government and the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim on
Sabah had resurfaced following an incursion into Sabah’s east coast by a group
of over 200 armed followers of the self-styled Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Kiram III
over a month ago.
The Sultanate of Sulu has laid claim to Sabah, saying it had merely leased
North Borneo in 1878 to the British North Borneo Company for an annual payment
of 5,000 Malayan dollars then, which was increased to 5,300 Malayan dollars in
1903.
Sabah, however, joined Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia in
1963, after which Malaysia continued paying an annual stipend of 
RM5,300 to the
Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state.
RM5,300 to the
Sulu sultanate on the basis of the sultanate ceding the Borneo state.
Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had previously highlighted the Cobbold
Commission’s 1962 referendum in Sabah and Sarawak, where about two-thirds of
the people voted to be part of Malaysia.
Early this month, Malaysia’s Bar Council said the Sulu sultanate no longer
holds any legal claim over Sabah.
- Pointing out that the 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 ASEAN, and the former was instrumental in brokering a peace deal in the southern Philippines.
Source: Yahoo News
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