Phl’s Sabah claim discussed in Noy’s KL trip

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines and Malaysia discussed the ticklish issue of the claim over Sabah during President Aquino’s state visit in Kuala Lumpur and agreed not to make it a source of conflict at this time.

Aquino told reporters in Malaysia that after the Lahad Datu incident, it became clearer that positive engagement is needed and the study on the country’s claim is continuing.

Last year, followers of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III occupied Lahad Datu to press their Sabah claim. They said they were being left out of the peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front being facilitated by Malaysia.

Before Aquino left he said Sabah was not part of his trip’s agenda. However, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak brought up the matter of a Philippine consulate being set up in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s capital.

Some sectors oppose this move because it will mean giving up the Philippines’ claim since consulates are established only in foreign territories.

Aquino said without good relations with Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur could have just sent home all the thousands of Filipinos in Sabah after the Lahad Datu incident.

“How do you address generating employment for hundreds of thousands or at least a couple of hundred thousands?” Aquino asked.

“So we thank them that they...were very selective. They were very conscious of what the negative effects are if they sent all of them back at the same time. We recognize also the anxieties on their concerns. So that’s just more or less the extent of our discussion on that particular topic,” the President said, referring to the reported crackdown on Filipinos in Sabah.

He also noted that the Sabah issue itself is too complex and its history is long, thus the need for meticulous study.

Aquino showed a three-page briefer on Sabah that “grabs us into exactly what transpired in all of these centuries.”

“Now, what is written here is not what is the common or the conventional wisdom of what our people perceive to be. We tasked (Justice) Secretary Leila (de Lima) to come up with a study on the Sabah issue, and also I think we will be going to one of the institutions under UP (University of the Philippines) to fully flesh out all of these things,” the President said.

“This is part of the effort to understand exactly what has transpired. Then we told our Malaysian counterparts, first of all we’re not after conflict with anybody. But we want to be able to tell our people the real score, and in that sense, come up to a consensus based on that which is right,” he explained.

Aquino added that the Department of Foreign Affairs is re-examining the request to set up the consulate in Sabah and the claim that Kota Kinabalu is not part of the property being claimed by the whole of the Sulu sultanate.

Najib also announced that during his talk with Aquino, they agreed on the importance of the timely exchange of intelligence as well as ensuring a high degree of deterrent.

He added that the Philippines and Malaysia are also looking at the possibility of establishing a hotline between their security forces to immediately respond to any security incident or threat.

The Philippines and Malaysia reviewed the aspects of their defense relations, particularly on training and education exchanges between their armed forces and defense officials. The two countries are looking at continued joint training activities and intelligence exchanges.

“We need to ensure immediate interdiction on our Malaysian side as well as the Philippine side, so that is a very important facet. Once we have peace and security, then trade and investment will flow in the southern Philippines as well as in Sabah,” Najib said.