LUCBAN, Quezon—Presidential bet Vice President Jejomar Binay and his running mate Gregorio Honasan on Sunday vowed not to give up the Philippine claim to Sabah and chided the Aquino administration for its failure to pursue the claim to Sabah in the past five years.
The candidates of the United Nationalist Alliance cautioned President Benigno Aquino III against using Sabah as a “bargaining chip” by surrendering Sabah to Malaysia so the latter could be made a Philippine ally against China over the disputed Spratly Islands.
UNA senatorial bet Princess Jacel Kiram said Sabah earns $72 billion a year, which could help improve the lives of the Filipinos who are mired in poverty.
“Sabah is ours. We cannot give it up just like that as a compromise to West Philippine Sea. WPS is ours too,” Honasan said.
He was reacting to reports that the Department of Foreign Affairs allegedly sent a note verbale to Malaysia that the Philippines will drop its claims to Sabah provided Malaysia supports the Philippines’ case against China over the West Philippine Sea before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.
“Our sovereignty is non-negotiable. We will pursue all means possible to stake our claims both on Sabah and the West Philippine Sea,” Binay said.
Honasan said while Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the note verbale to Malaysia, the mere thought of giving up Sabah left a bad taste in the mouth.
“The Philippines for the past years has not revived and pursued our claims on Sabah. Giving it up for WPS is out of the question. We have to pursue our national interest first,” Honasan said.
Honasan said Sabah and the West Philippine Sea were both rich in precious minerals and oil.
“We have to find out what is under the West Philippine Sea, then we can share the underwater abundance and wealth with our neighboring countries,” Honasan said.
He said should he and Binay win the race, their administration would enter into multilateral talks with the other claimant-countries, including Malaysia, to discuss the wealth-sharing in the West Philippine Sea.
“Like our quest for lasting peace in Mindanao, we will engage in talks with all the stakeholders or claimant-countries so we can come up with an agreement in accordance with our Constitution and laws,” Binay said.
He said the Philippines could not engage in bilateral talks with China at this point due to the ongoing arbitration case at UNCLOS.
Sabah was ceded by the Sultan of Brunei to the Sultan of Sulu in 1658 in compensation for the latter’s help in settling a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate.
On Jan. 22, 1878, the Sultanate of Sulu leased Sabah to a British commercial syndicate.
However, when Malaysia was granted freedom in 1946, the British government turned over North Borneo to the new government and not to the original lessor, the Sultanate of Sulu.
