MALACAñANG on Thursday said that the country will not give up Sabah and that it will pursue and uphold national interest in the country’s claim to it amid calls by Malaysian authorities for Manila to “officially” drop the Philippines’ claim.
Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda stressed that the Philippines would not back out, citing the 1987 Constitution. It was yet the government’s strongest statement on the country’s claim on Sabah.
“With respect to the Sabah claim, let me emphasize that the 1987 Constitution, the ConCom members, when there was a rephrasing of the provision on the national territory, there was an issue whether Sabah was dropped [and] it was very clear in the debates of the [ConCom] that Sabah was not dropped,” he said.
“The baselines law also mentioned that. Supreme Court ruled on the new baselines law that the Sabah claim was not abdicated,” Lacierda added.
He issued the statement after Malaysia’s adviser Lim Kit Siang called on the Philippines to officially drop all claims on Sabah. He also wants Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to convene a special parliamentary meeting to immediately stop its annual “cessation payment” of RM5,300 (P70,000) to the self-proclaimed heir of the Sulu sultanate.
Lacierda said that there was also an indication from the former territory division head Hermes Dorado of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who claimed that the government is committed not to drop the Philippine claim.
He cited a law that states: “the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty.”
“We have never [dropped our claim]. The 1987 Constitution preserves Sabah. The new baselines law did not renounce Sabah,” he further stressed.
Lacierda, in rejecting the calls by Malaysian authorities, said: “The real test of government is to serve the concerns of our fellowmen.”
“So that is not end-all and be-all of the existence of this government,” he added.
Lawyer for Malaysia
At the Foreign Affairs department, officials said that they are still studying the Philippines’ claim on Sabah.
“Following the directive of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, the Sabah claim issue is currently being studied by a team of experts who will come up with recommendations,” said Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez.
Another official of the department, however, said that the Philippine government should stop lawyering for Malaysia and instead mediate between the Kirams and Kuala Lumpur.
“Why is the Philippine government acting as a lawyer for Malaysia when it should be mediating between its subject [Sultan Jamalul Kiram3rd] and the Malaysian government?” the source, who refused to be identified, said.
Another source said that the President should seek Kiram and discuss with him the Sabah claim.
The Ruma Bechara, in 1989, has approved the decision of the then sultan of Sulu to withdraw an agreement with the Philippine government to represent its claims on Sabah before the international community.
The agreement was withdrawn because of the alleged “inaction” of the Philippine government then.
Inherited
Another source also said that the Kirams acted to reclaim their “ancestral homeland” in mid-February over reports that Kuala Lumpur will stop paying the lease.
“They [Malaysia] will just say that they inherited Sabah from Britain,” the source added.
There were also unconfirmed reports, according to the source, that Kiram and the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines met “about a couple of years ago” to discuss the extension of the lease for the next hundred years.
The amount was undisclosed, however.
The source said that internally, Malaysia recognizes that Sabah was merely leased to them by Kiram’s ancestors.
Charge Razak
Meanwhile, a group of international lawyers said that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may be charged of committing crimes against humanity for ordering a crackdown on the followers of Kiram.
According to the Center for International Law, this is because of the reported widespread abuse and inhumane acts committed by Malaysian security forces against Filipino civilians caught in the crossfire in the war-torn Sabah.
International law expert Harry Roque, who is acting as the chairman of the International Law center, Razak should stop the abuses against Filipinos.
He said that Razak may incur liability if it is proven that he knew or should have known about these abuses being committed against the Suluks, or the Filipino residents of Sabah, and he did nothing to prevent or investigate them.
“It may not be today, it may not be in Malaysia, but surely sometime in the future and somewhere in this planet, he will be held responsible for these crimes,” Roque said.
Like Saddam, Milosevic
Roque added that this was the lesson learned by Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor and Tomoyuki Yamashita, who were known war criminals in the past.
“Najib should stop these crimes lest he join the roster of the infamous,” he added.
Since hostilities broke out on March 1 between the Malaysian forces and the Sulu royal army Forces headed by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, reports of widescale violations of human rights violations against Filipinos in Sabah have proliferated, including pre-trial detentions, torture and executions.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib has denied the allegations of abuse committed by Malaysian security forces, saying that no such incidents took place since the operation to flush out the sultanate’s army in Sabah began.
Roque cautioned Malaysia to think twice before it proceeds to commit further criminal acts under international law.
“This is known as crimes against humanity. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not require a nexus with armed conflicts. It suffices that the inhumane acts, be it deportation, arrest, or inhumane treatment, be widespread or systematic,” Roque explained.
No regard for right
Under international law, crimes against humanity may also be committed, besides murder, through extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, rape and persecution against an identifiable group on nationals such as the Filipinos in Sabah that intentionally cause “great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.”
Based on Malaysian accounts, the death toll in the Sabah conflict has reached 63 while the number of individuals who have been apprehended on mere suspicions that they are sympathizers of the sultanate of Sulu has reached almost 100.
“And yet, there does not appear to be any sign that Malaysian authorities will even slow down in their resolve to crack down on the historical owners of Sabah,” Roque said.
Also on Thursday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed that 36 members of the royal army of the Sulu sultanate can immediately be charged with illegal possession of firearms.
Besides violations to the revised penal code, de Lima said that they should also be liable for violating election laws during the gun ban period.
“There would be other charges, I’m sure, which is quite obvious to everyone is the illegal possession of firearms because they were caught with or they were found with assorted weapons; and that definitely is punishable under our laws,” she said.
Normal
The Philippine National Police said that peace and order situation in Tawi-Tawi remain normal despite the influx of thousands of Filipino “returnees” displaced by the ongoing conflict.
Nearly 2,000 Filipinos, mostly undocumented workers, have arrived in the province in the past few days.
Despite the influx, Director General Alan Purisima, National Police chief, said that they do not foresee any major peace and order and internal security concerns in Tawi-Tawi, described as the country’s southern backdoor.
Purisima said that security developments in Tawi-Tawi, which lies a hundred kilometers from Sabah, is being closely monitored by the National Police through the directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao.
With a report from Anthony Vargas
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net
