J. ALBERT GAMBOA l April 8, 2024 l Manila Bulletin
Today, we celebrate Araw ng Kagitingan as a tribute to the heroism of Filipino soldiers who fought in the Battle of Bataan during World War II. Center of commemoration is the Mount Samat National Shrine in the town of Pilar, Bataan where the surviving veterans’ groups converge with the President of the Philippines and the Governor of Bataan province as well as the American and Japanese ambassadors to the Philippines.
Tomorrow is the Feast of Eid’l Fitr, which has been declared a national holiday to mark the end of Ramadan – the ninth month in the Islamic calendar that is observed as a month of fasting by Muslims worldwide. Islam is considered the oldest monotheistic religion in the Philippines, having been introduced in the country almost 200 years before the start of Spanish colonization. In fact, trade relations between Mindanao and Johor in present-day Malaysia began even before the Sultanate of Sulu was established in 1457 and gained its independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578.
In contemporary times, the descendants of the Sultanate of Sulu won a case for breach of contract against the Malaysian government in 2022. In rendering its landmark decision regarding the Sultanate’s ownership of Sabah, the International Arbitration Tribunal based in Paris used the 2010 rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or UNCITRAL.
It could be recalled that the heirs of Sultan Kiram have claimed the territory of North Borneo – now known as Sabah – which was ceded in 1874 by the Sultan of Brunei to Kiram in gratitude for the help extended by the latter in suppressing a revolt in the Bruneian Empire. Over the years, European countries such as Spain, Britain, and the Netherlands acknowledged the Sultan of Sulu as the sovereign ruler of Sabah as they entered into various treaties with him.
However, Kiram was persuaded by Austrian adventurer Baron de Overbeck to lease him the territory of Sabah in 1878. Overbeck then sold his rights to British merchant Alfred Dent who formed the British North Borneo Company to which Dent ceded his rights and obligations under the 1878 agreement.
Thereafter, the British North Borneo Company transferred all its rights and obligations to the British Monarchy, which in turn, asserted full sovereign rights over Sabah on July 10, 1946 – just six days after the Philippines was granted independence by the US. In the early 1960s, Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal filed the country’s sovereignty claim over Sabah in the United Nations. By that time, the territory had become a state of the Malaysian federation which gained its independence from Britain on September 16, 1963.
Republic Act No. 5446 was passed by the Philippine Congress in August 1968 and provided that Sabah is a territory over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty. It was signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in September 1968 and up to now, that law has not been repealed or suspended.
Shortly after the passage of RA 5446, then Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Narciso Ramos delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly calling for the Sabah dispute to be settled in international courts. However, the Philippines’ sovereignty claim was placed on the back burner because of many intervening events, including Malaysia’s pivotal role in the Mindanao peace process.
On the other hand, the proprietary claim of the Sultanate of Sulu’s descendants was honored by Malaysia, which continued paying the $1,000 annual lease payment until 2013 when a conflict arose between the Malaysian military and a team of 235 militants sent to Sabah by a claimant to the sultanate’s throne.
Seeking compensation and damages for the breach of the 1878 contract, the sultan’s heirs filed the arbitration case in the International Arbitration Tribunal, which ruled in 2022 that the agreement was indeed breached by Malaysia. As a consequence, the Malaysian government must pay the heir $14.92 billion representing the “restitution value of the rights over the leased territory with 10% interest thereon, plus all legal and expert costs.”
How come the DFA has been reluctant to pursue the policy mandated under RA 5446 despite calls from concerned Filipinos to press our sovereignty claim? Granting for the sake of argument that sovereignty should be set aside, can the Philippine government initiate talks with its Malaysian counterpart for the joint development of mineral resources in Sabah and Mindanao? Or could this be another story of missed opportunities and unrealized potentials?
Amid the current tensions in the West Philippine Sea, these national holidays over the next two days bring to light the importance of maintaining peace and cultivating trade relations in our part of the world.
*** J. Albert Gamboa is a Life Member of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) and Vice-Chair of the FINEX Ethics Committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and the Manila Bulletin. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph