Written on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 8:26 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia
The real reason for the intensified expulsion of undocumented Filipinos (TNT’s or Tago-Ng-Tago) in the disputed territory of Sabah, which has been under formal Malaysia control since 1963, has finally been admitted in a tangential way by Malacanang.
A report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer quotes presidential alter ego or ‘little president’ Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as saying, “you can’t disregard the Sabah issue, but we can’t connect all these issues at once. Otherwise the goodwill that we have with the other country will be lost.”
Mr. Ermita made the remark in the context of the latest round of talks between Manila and Kuala Lumpur (actually the 5th RP-Malaysia Working Group on Migrant Workers held against the backdrop of the expulsion of the latest batch of Filipinos from Sabah.
Ermita was careful to say that the dialogue was held “under an atmosphere of common understanding of the need to solve an immediate problem.”
So here, the Philippine official has let the cat out of the bag: the current concern is the manner the Filipino TNTs are being expelled, most after being jailed for months on end.
By that remark, Ermita reveals that Manila is maintaining its policy of putting the Sabah claim of the Philippines in the back-burner, while Malaysia is using the deportations to nudge the Philippines to take action.
This is all too apparent given the conflict reports last week about the heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram The First allegedly relinquishing their claim to the territory and denials from other members of the sultanate.
What cannot be denied is that Malaysia has through the year continue to pay the sultanate ‘rent’ on the ‘perpetual lease’ which, as far as the claimants are concerned, has long expired.
So what has really emerged is that the Filipino illegals in Sabah variously estimated at a low of 200,000 to a high of 400,000 or 500,00 are the diplomatic bargaining chips in the long drawn out territorial dispute.
As for the expelled Filipinos, many of them originally from Sulu, they simply will ‘cool their heels’ and venture back to Sabah because “there are no jobs in our home towns, our families no longer want us and while we are discriminated against and even jailed in Sabah we will risk going back because here you cannot eat shame.”
Indeed this human drama will continue with the Philippine government not really willing, much less able, to face the issue squarely.
Both the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives have frozen action of the new Baselines Law. Apparently, low on their list of priorities is the reintegration of our compatriots in Sabah.
If this is not deplorable, and tragic, nothing else is:Filipinos abandoned by their own government and society.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sulu claimants deny reports they have given up on Sabah
By Julie Alipala, Ed General
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 20:11:00 07/17/2008
JOLO, Sulu, Philippines—(UPDATE) 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.
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 20:11:00 07/17/2008
JOLO, Sulu, Philippines—(UPDATE) 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.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sulu ruler issuing birth certificates to Filipinos in Sabah
Asia News Network
First Posted 17:48:00 07/09/2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The issuance of birth certificates by the Sultanate of Sulu to illegal immigrants from the Philippines in Sabah has raised the question of sovereignty of Malaysia and the state, a party official said.
“How can this take place?” asked Democratic Action Party adviser Lim Kit Siang.
“It challenges the question of the sovereignty of Malaysia in Sabah and there is a disturbing implication in terms of long-term consequences because of the subsisting claim of the land in Sabah by the Filipinos," he said at the Parliament lobby Wednesday.
He said the issue was of great concern to the people in Sabah as the estimated number of illegal immigrants had exceeded the number of Sabahans.
“It makes Sabahans the strangers in their own land and this is why there is so much unhappiness among the people there,” he said.
He said there were about 100,000 to 140,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah in 1978 but the number had since risen to about 1.5 million.
Lim said he had made a copy of such a birth certificate and forwarded it to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Cheung. Lim said he hoped the Chor would make a ministerial statement in Parliament before the sitting adjourns on July 17.
Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu said it was believed that the birth certificates had been recently distributed to Filipinos who were either born in Sabah or illegally migrated to the state.
“We want to know the motive behind this act,” he said. “We hope the government can investigate the case and solve the issue of land claim once and for all.”
Hiew said he would lodge a police report on the case when he returned to Kota Kinabalu on Thursday.
Malaysian authorities have been chasing out Filipinos from Sabah despite the existence of a legal claim by the Sulu Sultanate over the territory.
In 1658, the Sultanate of Brunei ceded the north-east portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu as a reward for the Mindanao ruler’s help in winning a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate.
Today, Malaysia pays annual rentals to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who have granted the Philippine government power of attorney to pursue a sovereign claim on their behalf.
But the claim has been placed in the back burner due to Manila’s fears of severing cordial economic and security ties with Kuala Lumpur. Ng Cheng Yee, The Star-ANN with a report from INQUIRER.net in Manila
First Posted 17:48:00 07/09/2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The issuance of birth certificates by the Sultanate of Sulu to illegal immigrants from the Philippines in Sabah has raised the question of sovereignty of Malaysia and the state, a party official said.
“How can this take place?” asked Democratic Action Party adviser Lim Kit Siang.
“It challenges the question of the sovereignty of Malaysia in Sabah and there is a disturbing implication in terms of long-term consequences because of the subsisting claim of the land in Sabah by the Filipinos," he said at the Parliament lobby Wednesday.
He said the issue was of great concern to the people in Sabah as the estimated number of illegal immigrants had exceeded the number of Sabahans.
“It makes Sabahans the strangers in their own land and this is why there is so much unhappiness among the people there,” he said.
He said there were about 100,000 to 140,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah in 1978 but the number had since risen to about 1.5 million.
Lim said he had made a copy of such a birth certificate and forwarded it to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Cheung. Lim said he hoped the Chor would make a ministerial statement in Parliament before the sitting adjourns on July 17.
Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu said it was believed that the birth certificates had been recently distributed to Filipinos who were either born in Sabah or illegally migrated to the state.
“We want to know the motive behind this act,” he said. “We hope the government can investigate the case and solve the issue of land claim once and for all.”
Hiew said he would lodge a police report on the case when he returned to Kota Kinabalu on Thursday.
Malaysian authorities have been chasing out Filipinos from Sabah despite the existence of a legal claim by the Sulu Sultanate over the territory.
In 1658, the Sultanate of Brunei ceded the north-east portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu as a reward for the Mindanao ruler’s help in winning a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate.
Today, Malaysia pays annual rentals to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who have granted the Philippine government power of attorney to pursue a sovereign claim on their behalf.
But the claim has been placed in the back burner due to Manila’s fears of severing cordial economic and security ties with Kuala Lumpur. Ng Cheng Yee, The Star-ANN with a report from INQUIRER.net in Manila
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