Duterte on Sabah Issue SULU SULTANATE MUST NEVER BE ABANDONED IN SABAH CLAIM

By Manny Piñol

Davao City Mayor and presidential prospect Rody Duterte, in what could probably be considered as his first foreign policy pronouncement, said that the Philippine Government must never abandon the Sultanate of Sulu and the people of the islands West of the country in their search for the recognition of their proprietary rights claim over Sabah.

“The proprietary claim of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and the people of the islands West of the Philippines cannot be ignored and abandoned by their own government,” Duterte declared in a statement which is now included in a soon to be published book “The Heart and Mind of Rody Duterte” authored by this writer.

Duterte’s position on the Sabah Claim also indicates his strong and ardent adherence to social justice and the protection of the Filipinos’ rights over what they claim as theirs.

“It cannot be denied that there is a recognition of the proprietary right of the Sultanate over Sabah and that is the yearly payment being made by the Malaysian government to the heirs of the Sultan,” Duterte said recently.

He, however, said that supporting the Sulu Sultanate’s proprietary rights claim over Sabah does not mean a territorial claim over the part of the island of Borneo which according to historical records was leased to the British North Borneo Company in 1878.

The Sulu Sultanate claims the Sultan and his heirs have proprietary rights over Sabah which was given to it by the then Sultan of Brunei for the help of Tausug warriors in quelling an uprising in Brunei in the 1600s.

An account of this historical event was cited by Wikipedia.com which said “The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the north-eastern part of the territory as a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies in 1658.”

A seasoned lawyer who served as legal prosecutor for the government for 10 years before he was appointed vice mayor of Davao City in 1986, Duterte said his call for the recognition of the Sulu Sultanate’s proprietary claims over Sabah should not be mistaken as support for a territorial claim.

Duterte said the state of things as they stand today could no longer be undone and this includes the fact that Sabah is now one of the Federal States of Malaysia and that the people of Sabah have already expressed in a referendum their preference to stay with Malaysia.

These realities, however, do not extinguish the proprietary claim of the Sultanate of Sulu over that piece of property which was given to it by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658, Duterte said.

“Every year, the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines issues a check in the amount of 5,300 ringgit (US$1710 or about 77,000 Philippine pesos) to the legal counsel of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu. Malaysia considers the amount an annual “cession” payment for the land, while the sultan’s descendants consider it “rent”,” according to wikipedia.com.

Duterte said the dispute over the interpretation of the meaning of the word “pajak” which the Sultanate of Sulu claims to be “lease” but which the Malaysian Government says means “cession” or complete surrender of the property, could be resolved in a friendly manner between two neighboring countries.

“We should not even think of going to war with our neighbor over this. The issue could be resolved through bilateral negotiations between two nations belonging to the same Malay race,” he said.

“We could come up with a formula which would be satisfactory to the parties involved in the dispute which could even further strengthen our relationship of our neighbor Malaysia,” Duterte said.

Duterte, however, emphasized that in addressing the dispute, the Philippine Government must stand by its people, in this case the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu.

“A country would only earn respectability in the community of nations when it is able to protect the lives and interests of its people,” Duterte said.

Interest over the Sabah issue resurfaced recently following allegations by the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu that the dropping of the Sabah Claim was among the “secret” arrangements between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Malaysia which serves as the Third Country facilitator in the establishment of a highly autonomous Bangsamoro Government through the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in Congress.

The spokesman of the Sultanate has issued a statement that the heirs of the Sultan will not support the BBL because of the Sabah Issue.

Duterte, who has been Mayor of Davao City for almost 23 years now with only two 3-year interruption because of a statute limiting local elective officials maximum term to only nine years, is now considered as one of the front-runners among political leaders being considered as Presidential prospects for 2016.

While he has consistently refused endorsements for the Presidency from his supporters, a recent national survey showed him a surprise 3rd placer, tied with former President Joseph Estrada.

His current standing in the recent survey effectively makes Duterte one of the notable political personalities in the country today whose pronouncements are interpreted as indications of leanings or even governance policies should he become President.

Duterte’s position on the Sabah issue becomes the first such foreign policy statement made any of the Presidential prospects for 2016.