Sabah Claim: Did Ninoy Aquino betray the Philippines?

Former Opposition Senator Ninoy Aquino. Source: Wiki

The question remains unanswered, did Ninoy Aquino betray the Philippines? I’m so sorry folks but Ninoy is no hero and has no place in our currency.

But first, where is Sabah?

Sabah is situated in northern Borneo, bordering the state of Sarawak to the southwest, Kalimantan to the south, while separated by sea from the Federal Territory of Labuan in the west and the Philippines to the north and east. [Wiki]

Historical Essay

As I quote from Amando Respicio Boncales in his article,

The Philippine-Malaysian dispute over the State of Sabah remains a contentious diplomatic issue. There is a very limited amount of literature available that discusses this complex issue.

One of the ‘historical evidence’ the Philippines have to contest the claim on Sabah is the deed in 1878:

2.1. Sufficient evidence has been shown on the side of the Sultan of Sulu that the Deed of 22 January 1878 executed by Sultan Mohammed Jamadul Alam with Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent was an agreement of lease. “In consideration of this (territorial) lease…[they] promise to pay His Highness…and to his heirs and successors the sum of five thousand dollars annually to be paid each and every year.”

2.1.1. Written in Arabic, the agreement had been authoritatively translated by an American and by a Dutch scholar as “lease.” In the Spanish translation, the agreement has been described as an “arrendamento” which means “lease.” [UP]

With this evidence, there is an astounding fact that it was the Sultan of Sulu who has dominion over the territory of Sabah.

Anyways, since the dispute is far more complex than it should be, let us go forward in time to the term of President Diosdado Macapagal’s claim on Sabah.

Historical Evidence that Sabah belongs to the Republic of the Philippines

According to Amando Respicio Boncales’ “The Philippines Claim over Sabah and its Arguments”:

Contrary to allegations, the Philippine claim had been studied for years before 1962. While serving in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1946, Diosdado Macapagal, who later became President of the Philippines, advocated the filing of the claim. The official filing of the claim took place on June 22, 1962. The claims are of sovereignty, jurisdiction, and proprietary ownership to North Borneo. Philippines being successor-in- interest of the Sultan of Sulu derived its legal and historical rights in North Borneo.

In the early part of the 1960’s it became an imperative for the Philippines, aside from the strong historical and legal rights that North Borneo is important to Philippine territory and vital to its security.

And so after President Diosdado Macapagal comes to his successor President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr who pushed the claim on Sabah to its height armed with a historical and legal foundation as derived from his speech on September 26, 1963. [Official Philippine Government Website]

With that much support, Philippines can claim Sabah as how it won the case against China on the West Philippine Sea dispute.

What is the propaganda created by the Liberal Party to counter Marcos’ Sabah claim?

The momentum of Sabah claim was pulled down by the political ambition of the opposition Liberal Party with Benigno “Ninoy” Simeon Aquino, Jr. Armed with his dream to bring the Marcos administration down, he made an agreement with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir, as revealed by a former Foreign Affairs Secretary Hermes Dorado (to those doubting that a certain Hermes Dorado exists, read this) in exchange of support from the Malaysian government.

The Jabidah Massacre:

The so-called “Jabidah massacre” was the purported murder on Corregidor island on March 18, 1968 of 24 Muslim Tausug recruits being trained by the military to infiltrate Sabah and foment there an uprising among their ethnic group against the Malaysian government. According to the plan called Operation Merdeka (Freedom), hatched by Marcos’ armed forces, the uprising would be the excuse for the Philippine military to invade Sabah, which the Philippines had declared to be part of its territory. At that time, our country had a more powerful military than that of the new nation Federation of Malaysia, founded only in 1963. [MT]

It was said to be a ‘tool’ of President Marcos to occupy Malaysia. With only ‘one witness and survivor’ to the said ‘massacre’, there was no conviction in the court that it did happen, later on, the Jabidah Massacre was then turned into a myth since the twenty-four recruits allegedly massacred turned up to be alive. Sad isn’t it? [Inq]

The said purpose of Jabidah Massacre ‘hoax’ was to counter President Marcos’ Sabah claim engineered by the Liberal Party with late Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir.

But you may ask, why are the ‘Reds’ persistent in claiming that the Jabidah Massacre indeed happened? Is there any proof that the Jabidah Massacre was a plain myth? Well, even the late Ninoy Aquino said it himself.

Well, the truth is, aside from engineering Jabidah Massacre to spark the hate of Muslims, Ninoy Aquino networked with everyone, ‘Reds’ included.

Oh, the plot thickens!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, there goes the old saying.

Not convinced yet? Why do you think his son, President Benigno “Noynoy” Simeon Aquino III et al.  wanted to pass the Bangsamoro Law so badly? The answer is, to fulfill the wish of his father and his deals with Malaysia, although half granted, our claim on Sabah can still be opened to this day.

Unless Sabah is not included in the BBL draft, it will only conclude that President Aquino wants to revoke our strong sovereign rights to Sabah, strengthening the conspiracy that the Aquinos really wanted to give Sabah to the Malaysian government.

But with change of government under Rodrigo Duterte, a huge possibility that Sabah will be included in the BBL draft (since he supports it) because Kiko Pimentel is the Senate President of the Duterte administration, who is a son of Nene Pimentel that presented an excellent paper to the Senate Committee on Local Government titled “Comments on the Bangsamoro Basic Law” and has the byline “By Nene Pimentel of the Pimentel Institute of Leadership & Governance.”

It ends with the following paragraphs dealing with the Sabah issue and the concerns of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

“As final points, we bring to the attention of the Committee two relevant issues: (1) the apprehension of His Excellency, the Sultan of Sulu, that in his view, the BBL does not clearly state whether or not the traditional jurisdiction of the Sultanate of Sulu over the Sulu Sea is recognized by the BBL; and (2) whether or not the Sultanate’s claim over Sabah is simply not a priority of the administration? Some members of the House of Representatives have already spoken out against the inclusion of the Sabah claim on the ground that it might only unduly prolong the implementation of the BBL. Maybe, they are right. But, the Sabah claim is well-documented, and the sooner it is tackled by the government, the better it will be for the nation.” [MT]

We could have had Sabah a few years back when Malaysia was in its weakest, but because of selfish political ambition of the yellow party, the Philippines was betrayed then everything turned into shambles.