April 23, 2023 | 6:28 pm
Introspective By Amina Rasul
The
longstanding dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia over Sabah has been
ongoing for over a century, worthy of an epic Netflix series. Sabah, also known
as North Borneo, is a resource-rich state located on the island of Borneo. The
dispute stems from competing historical claims to the territory by both the
Philippines and Malaysia.
However, I won’t go into this
contentious sovereign claim between the two governments. Instead, let’s focus
on the proprietary claim — about the legitimate claims of Filipino heirs to a
property in Malaysia that has been rented or leased by a foreign entity.
Last August, I wrote about the
victory of several descendants of then Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, who had
filed a case, “Heirs to the Sultanate of Sulu v. Malaysia,” with the French
Arbitration Court. On Feb. 28, 2022, the court ruled in their favor, awarding
them $14.92 billion in restitution value over the leased territory along North
Borneo. Malaysia was also ordered to pay interest at a rate of 10% per annum,
calculated on a simple basis, as well as the claimants’ legal fees.
(Introspective, “$14.92 Billion Reasons: Sabah Claim”)
The drama does not end there. Last
July, the claimants moved to seize two Luxembourg-based units of Malaysian
state oil firm Petronas as part of efforts to enforce the award. On July 12,
2022, the Malaysian government filed a case with the Paris Court of Appeal to
stay the enforcement of the final award in the Heirs of the Sultan of Sulu v
Malaysia. The Court issued a stay, on the grounds that an award of damages,
based on the restitution value of disputed territory, presented a risk of
serious prejudice to territorial sovereignty that warranted a stay.
Recently, Malaysian news reported
that the government will hold a roadshow overseas to explain that the Sulu
sultanate’s claims against Sabah and Malaysia are baseless. The roadshow would
be conducted by the Prime Minister’s Department on Law and Institutional
Reform.
This comes after Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim met with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on March 1 at
Malacañan Palace where, according to the news, both agreed to hold in-depth
discussions on their territorial dispute over Sabah.
The latest salvo by Malaysia: Fuad
Kiram, one of the representatives of the Sabah heirs who filed the case in the
French court, was designated as a terrorist last week under the country’s
anti-money-laundering and terrorism law. The basis for Malaysia’s declaration
of Fuad Kiram as a terrorist lies in his alleged involvement in the 2013 Lahad
Datu standoff, which was a conflict between followers of the self-proclaimed
Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, and Malaysian security forces in Sabah. The
conflict resulted in the deaths of over 50 followers of the Sulu Sultan and
Malaysians.
Fuad Kiram is also one of the
claimants to the throne of the Sulu Sultanate. There are so many claimants, I
can no longer keep track. I can only say that Fuad’s brother — the late Sultan
Mahakuttah Kiram — was crowned in the biggest public ceremony Sulu had
witnessed. Then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. fully supported and
acknowledged the accession of Mahakuttah to the throne. I was there, as my
father, the late Ambassador Abraham Rasul, Sr., was Prime Minister of Sultan
Mahakuttah as well as Mahakuttahs’s father, the late Sultan Esmail Kiram.
Will declaring Fuad a terrorist
delegitimize the claim altogether? It is important to note that Fuad and the
Kirams who filed the case in the French arbitration court are only
representatives of the heirs of the Sultan Jamalul II. They are not the only
heirs.
How do we determine who are the heirs
of the Sabah property and the rental, lease, or cession payments owed?
In 1939, the late Dayang Dayang Hadji
Piandao Kiram and eight other heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II filed a civil
suit regarding the “cession money” for North Borneo (Sabah) payable to the
heirs of the sultan of Sulu. Jamalul Kiram II died childless in June 1936.
Chief Justice Charles Macaskie of the High Court of North Borneo ruled on the
share entitlement of each claimant to the “cession money” of 5,300 Malaysian
ringgit per year: Dayang Dayang Piandao Kiram (who was awarded 3/8th of
the claim), Datu Punjungan Kiram, Datu Esmail Kiram, Dayang Dayang Sitti Rada
Kiram, Princess Tarhata Kiram, Princess Sakinur-In Kiram, Dayang Dayang Putli
Jahara Kiram, Dayang Dayang Sitti Mariam Kiram, and Mora Napsa. Since they are
deceased, their heirs will inherit.
The declaration of Fuad Kiram as a
terrorist by Malaysia has been criticized as a politically motivated move to
discredit the heirs’ claim over Sabah and the so-called “cession monies.”
However, Malaysia maintains that the declaration is based on the country’s
national security interests and its commitment to combat terrorism and
extremism.
Is there a resolution to this drama,
set on a global stage?
The question we Filipinos must ask —
what will our government do to protect our rights as citizens? If you were to
ask me, I would say that it is time to be pragmatic and resolve the Sabah Claim
through negotiations between the Malaysian and Philippine Governments. Both
countries have much to gain with a settlement and much to lose if tensions
escalate. PM Ibrahim knows the Philippines well and needs a political
win. President Marcos Jr. can peacefully conclude a claim his late father
had pursued. It is time for President Marcos Jr. to unite all the heirs, as the
late former President Fidel V. Ramos had done, and pursue a just settlement of
this contentious issue. Perhaps it is time to lay to rest both the sovereign
claim and the proprietary claim.
Amina Rasul is President of the
Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy and host of the She Talks Peace
podcast.
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