Nine “heirs” of the Sultan of Sulu have agreed to drop their claim on Sabah, saying they were now “willing to surrender their rights” to the North Bornean state.
The Star newspaper quoted one Datu Omar Ali Datu Backtiyal as saying that he had obtained the signatures of the nine heirs of the late Sultan Mohamat Jamal Al Alam agreeing to relinquish their claim last year.
Sabah claim, a footnote in a library
Well, as far as this blog is concern, the so-called Sabah claim is just that — a claim; a footnote in a library of books.
A footnote, therefore, cannot rise to claim to be the whole book.
Let’s see… Sabah is being claimed by at least three parties — the Philippine government, Nur Misuari and the Sulu Sultan (whoever he is).
I wonder why the preoccupation with Sabah when they could not even take care of their own backwater — those islands in the Sulu Sea.
I guess it has got to do with looks. Sabah is beautiful and prosperous. Their backwater, though beautiful but due to decades of neglect, is no longer attractive.
Reverse claim
Tell you what, why don’t someone among the Sulu heirs make a reverse claim… ask the Philippine government to let go southern Philippines and then apply to join Malaysia as its 14th state?
Then they can make one of the Sulu Sultans the Yang Dipertua Negeri Sulu and appoint someone from the area as the Chief Minister and form a whole cabinet.
Caribbean of the East
That way, we can co-exist nicely. Then we can develop together.
Heck, we can make the waters in the east coast of Sabah and the islands towards the east as the Caribbean of the East. But the people of Sulu should promise one thing la… they will have to surrender their guns to the authorities.
We want no Jack Sparrow in the Caribbean of the East.
The people should now fight another kind of war, the one fought in the economic battlefront. What say you?
Link to this page
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Sabah claimants Sultan Ismael Kiram II and Rajah Muda Agbimuddin Kiram have denied reports from Kota Kinabalu that the heirs of the Sulu sultanate were dropping their claims on North Borneo.
“What is being reported that nine principal heirs (dropped the Sabah claim) is not true. I hope the Inquirer will help us straighten facts,” their spokesman, Abraham Idjirani, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Thursday. The two are presently in Malaysia.
In a report on Malaysian newspaper The Star, Datu Omar Ali Datu Backtiyal said Wednesday he had obtained the signatures of the nine heirs of the late Sultan Mohamat Jamal Al Alam agreeing to relinquish their claim on the Malaysian state.
At the same time, Putra Eddy Sulaiman, “executive secretary and Keeper of the Royal Seal” of Rodinood Julaspi Kiram II, who claims to be the closest heir to the Sulu sultanate, said Kiram was also dropping the claim on Sabah.
Agbimuddin Kiram is the official administrator of Sabah, appointed by his father Sultan Punjungan Kiram, who in turn was appointed administrator of North Borneo by the Sessions Court of North Borneo under Justice Macaskie in 1939.
The issue on dropping Sabah claim would require lengthy discussions involving not just the Sulu Sultanate but the United Nations, as well, according to Idjirani.
“There are many important issues to be discussed before dropping the Sabah claim and one important issue is the condition and situations surrounding the descendants’ welfare. It is an established fact that the Sabah issue is waiting for the pending resolution at the United Nations,” Idjirani added.
The two descendants of the Sultan of Sulu are in Malaysia, but not for the Sabah claim. They have been discussing issues with Datu Omar Ali Dati Backtiyal pertaining to the immediate review of the 1963 Manila Accord that was signed by Malaysia Prime Minister Tongko Abdurahman, Sukarno of Indonesia and President Diosdado Macapagal of the Philippines.
The 1963 Manila Accord, according to Idjirani, pertains to the inclusion of Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia that would not prejudice the entry of refugees and interests of the parties concerned.
“Sultan Ismael Kiram II is very much concerned about the plight of the refugees and we are here in Malaysia to visit and see for ourselves the situations and conditions of the refugees,” the spokesperson said, referring to the Filipinos who would soon be deported by Sabah.
He added that Kiram’s talks with Backtiyal revolved around a joint undertaking that would resolve the refugees’ problems in Sabah, with emphasis on humanitarian concerns.
Meanwhile, a lawyer representing the heirs and administrators of the former Sultanate of Sulu branded on Thursday as lies reports that they had dropped the Sabah claim.
Lawyer Ulka Ulama told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone that “nobody has the power to drop the claim up to now.”
“We do not have a sultan anymore, who has territory and government. The last sultanate existed up to 1936 only,” he said.
Ulama said the claim of Datu Omar Ali Datu Backtiyal about securing the signatures of the nine heirs to the sultanate was not true either.
“It will never happen. I have been a lawyer for the heirs of the sultanate and those recognized administrators of the sultanate for 40 years now,” he said.
Ulama said it would be impossible for Backtiyal to secure the signatures of the heirs because they already died.
“Those must be fake heirs. Only the administrators are living now,” he said.
Among the recognized administrators is Datu Esmail Kiram of the Mora Napsa heir, according to Ulama.
Reacting to the same report, which said that another claimant to the sultanate, Rodinood Julaspi Kiram II, also dropped his claim to Sabah, Ulama said he was one of those considered “fake.”
“He said he descended from Sultan Jamalul Kiram II who has no known heir so he is not real also,” Ulama said.
Ulama vowed to come out with an official statement in the next few days to dispute the Backtiyal claim and that of Rodinood.
all abuzz over sabah claim
This stupid pirates better deal with Philipines and free themselves instead of trying to claim Sabah whose people NEVER under the rule of anyone.
Just because some dillusional idiot say he owns the Island of Borneo does not give him any rights over the people of Borneo nor the land.
Only the people who were here for hundreds of years the natives of Borneo have rights over our own place.
If any of these so called pirates want to come over to Sabah. Please do so, and let’s see if you can leave with your head intact.
Fking idiot!!! Go back to being a stupid uneducated terrorists and go blow yourself.
I’ve travelled quite a lot in the southern Philippines in 1995-2000 and it’s a shame that the area is mired in poverty. It is really a fertile land, with rolling hills and blue sea and dozens of beautiful islands.
But something has gone wrong in the area in the last century and I blamed it squarely on the Sultan of Sulu for failing to reign over the area and the Philippine government for neglecting it.
Now they are looking at the shining new diamond called Sabah right at their doorstep and say… “hey, that diamond is mine”.
If something is not done, the area will remain trapped in their pre-1950s condition and it would be painful for the people there to see its neighbours are already galloping confidently into the 21st century…
The more undemocratic groups of people claim for separation from the already existed sovereign states like Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, the more crises we will face in the near future. Why create trouble when we already have stability? Peace and unity must prevail. This is the very reason why rich and powerful nations like the United States, the European Union and even the former Soviet Union which is now called the Commonwealth of Independent States had their voices heard and so is the United Nations. Not the voice from those like the pirates of the Caribbean. And so does ASEAN our own bloc of nations that advocates integrity for strength and security. For these separatist groups please think not only of others but also the news generations that come from your own flesh and blood. Let us all, the great-great grand children of Abraham, join hands together and make peace with one another in the name of God the Almighty.
I was wondering if the Sultanate of Sulu really exist? Coz all I know the Sultanate on exist in 1936. I’ve read the buku about the Tausuq and all stories on the monarchy. It really stops in 1936. So, why now pop-up claims saying they were the descendants of the Sulu Sultanate. Lots of question with no answer. Hurm..
Sabah belongs to the Philippines.
Malaysia got rich JUST BECAUSE of their Borneo states. Malaysia should voluntarily relinquish Sabah to the Philippines.
Sabah isn’t even Muslim to begin with.
hehe as a tausug on sabah soiled, i were originated here with mykad.
i like the idea of reverse claim, i thought of it before, i mean it is much better with malaysia than philipine, i wonder why they could think of it.
ironic, the sultans(which one the real one?) have no power over the area in philipine, yet want to have sabah, weird, maybe if its going to happen, then sabahan should form its own liberation army just like separatist in the southern philipine, that should add more turbulent in the region lol.
sabah isnt even muslim to begin is not an issues here, sabah instill with its people, and the sultan are with those who recognize them if not, then its meaningless to have a sultan but not its people.
so its better reverse claim, the sultane of sulu to malaysia, seriously, ratherthan being in philipine.
I was thinking if philipine will be rich if sabah join them? hmn its not that all to it, do be so quick to judge it, sabah its not just about oil, and malaysia is not all too dependable to oil.
Sabah belongs to the Philippines.
Malaysia got rich JUST BECAUSE of their Borneo states. Malaysia should voluntarily relinquish Sabah to the Philippines.
Sabah isn’t even Muslim to begin with.
” what the fuck you think we will be stupid to join philipines haha..sound is suck.. worse bwcome more worse to join philipines..if you u country is rich ok la..this soo poor , you people come to sabah be on the street, bring all the dirty life to sabah…you say sabah to join philipines is a fucking good idea..no way man…!!!!!!!!!! : P
Malaysia is richer because of its economic policies and good governance philippines is poor and corrupt the rich have everything the poor get nothing. Malysia with a quarter of the population of phillippines is an economic tiger in Asia while philippines is well not Mindanao doesn’t even belong to philippines they stole it with USA support (who hate muslims)
Phillippines only has claim to about half of sabah (the poorer half) and only through sulu who don’t want to be apart of RP
Sabah is muslim to begin with it has 63.7 % muslim population the christians came from well you know where.
All this talk of voluntarily giving up sabah is because the rubbish that is the phillippines army struggles with the Moros freedom fighters so what will happen if theres a war between malaysia and phillippines? It will be a one sided war malaysia will win easy
This is just pure greed pinoys see sabah and want all of it (even though sulus claim is to half only) for money and thats about it
the people of sabah want to be apart of malaysia a rich prosperous and righteous nation not a corrupt hell hole whose people steal land
sabah is 63.7 % muslim its an muslim state so it is better Mindanao and sulu join malaysia
Malaysia is like a standing bear proud and strongly claiming Sabah as their own. There is a 1939 North Borneo Court Ruling stating the ownership of Sabah belong to the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo kingdom before they become independent in 1963. It is very hard to prove by Malaysia that their Federal Government has credibility to slam to the face of the people of the world that they owned Sabah right after their independence . Even if they insist that their ownership of Sabah has given by the British Crown , it will appears that the British Crown play clown by issuing the 1939 McKaskie Ruling and breaking it in 1963 in favor of Malaysia’s claim.
Take note that ICJ has ruled that neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has proven ownership of Sipadan and Ligitan islands as ruled by ICJ . However, ICJ has granted the administration of Sipadan and Ligitan island to Malaysia by the ” Virtue of Effectivites , meaning effective administration and not of ownership. This remind the reply of Lord Granville when scrutinized by Germany and US questioning of their holding of Sabah by reasoning that the British Crown only administer Sabah and not landgrabbing it.
THIS IS ALL I CAN SAY TO MALAYSIA – YOU CAN RUN BUT CANNOT HIDE – THE TRUTH WILL SET ALL FREE – SUCKING THE BLOOD OF OTHER CONFIRM YOUR VAMPIRISTIC RELIGION – MALAYSIA IS NOT ISLAM BUT SLAMMER – MALAYSIA CAN PRETEND ALL THE WHILE BUT FOR HOW LONG. NO POLITICAL MANEUVER CAN COVER THE PURPORTED STEALING OF SABAH FROM ITS OWNER.
That sounds astonishing , if Malaysia can disprove your statement ,they have to pack up and leave Sabah at once or else it is like a spit in the air that will slamm to their face downward.How anyone in this world cannot see this grand heist of aggravating the people of Sabah. If I heard it correct that the money they used to build twin Tower in KL came from the money they earned in Sabah oil . This is a shame that Sabah people are getting sucked by KL . Maybe this need to be addressed asap and if KL do not listen all Sabahan must revolt and kick the ass of KL. Maybe they have to say to KL to leave them alone or bolt out like Singapore to mend their lives.
Hey , you got it right !! Malaysia has to stop political pretension and paying all fake Sultan of Sulu to make it appear there is a squabble in hierarchy to make a perfect excuse not to return Sabah. I will join the legion of MNLF and MILF if they will go to Sabah against Malaysia who used to supply guns and ammos to kill our muslim brother in Phils.