IN the heat of controversy concerning territorial disputes as China continues to maintain its hold on certain parts of the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines should not forget the fact that Sabah is also part of its terrain.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin reminded people in his online post to keep an eye on Sabah as some jerks are allegedly proposing we compromise our historical claim to it.
For everyone’s information, an agreement between the Sultanate of Sulu and the British North Borneo Chartered Company in 1878 dealt only with the leasing of the land and did not make Sabah part of Malaysia. The Philippine government maintained its claim over the area.
In 2016, President Duterte stated he would stick to the original position of the government. Last month, the Palace emphasized that the Philippines has a claim to Sabah after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in an interview that we have no claim to the territory.
Up to now, only irregular discussions have been held between the Philippines and Malaysia. Still, the latter continues to rule over Sabah.
Hundreds of militants from Tawi-Tawi calling themselves the “Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo” went to Sabah in 2013 to assert their claim. As a result, nine Filipinos were sentenced to death by Malaysia.
Duterte and then Prime Minister Najib Razak agreed to set aside the dispute in 2016. Now that another person is at the helm of power in Malaysia, who knows what will become of our claim?
In case we lose Sabah, we cannot blame anyone but ourselves. If the territory was only leased in 1878, why did we surrender control over it? How was the lease being paid over the years? We should have continued to be in charge of the area.
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Singer Regine Velasquez condemned Secretary Locsin over his remark regarding clams, saying the issue is not just about food but about the invasion of Philippine territory.
Locsin earlier said he would not go down in history as a clam defender since these are just “f***king food”. No one supposedly goes to war for clams.” He also told Velasquez that Panatag Shoal is not part of Philippine territory but only of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
May we remind the DFA secretary that under Republic Act 9522 or the Philippine Baselines Law, Panatag Shoal is part of the Philippines.
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