Sabah: A case for Christian and Muslim unity

The standoff in Sabah has become an international issue that has caught the interest of United Nations’ (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who has asked Malaysia to refrain from attacking the forces of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who are holed out in a corner of Sabah, a territory that he has a legitimate claim. But Malaysia has refused to listen to the UN because they know too well that Sabah is not really their territory.

This is where President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III should wake up and start believing that the Philippines do have a legitimate claim to this corner of North Borneo. P-Noy doesn’t need a committee to look into this case. All he needs to do is to read the March 25, 1963 debate between Senator Lorenzo Sumulong who delivered a speech questioning the Philippine claim to North Borneo, which was filed by then President Diosdado Macapagal on June 25, 1962. I was still in first year high school when this happened.

Sen. Sumulong’s privilege speech was rebutted point-by-point a few days later by Sen. Jovito R. Salonga. You can Google this report because it is too long to discuss it here. However it seems that the stand of P-Noy is uncannily similar or close to that of his grand uncle Sen. Lorenzo Sumulong. On the other hand, I’m not surprised that he is taking his grand uncle’s position in Sabah. But it matters not what’s the President’s stand is on the Sabah issue… what matters is, is the Sultan’s claim on Sabah the truth or not?

But somehow the Sabah issue was grabbed by that fellow “Rip Van Winkle” and put into a decades long slumber. But now the Filipino nation just woke up and realized that this was a historical faux pas on the part of all the previous Philippine governments, and it is high time to get this case finally settled once and for all. If the UN says it is owned by Malaysia, then let’s put an end to this claim. But if the UN says that Sabah belongs to the Philippines… then by all means, let’s move to secure this territory.

In the meantime, P-Noy should be advised to help all Filipinos in the area because they are Filipino citizens. But ordering the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to go on a fault-finding mission in this very delicate times will only fuel more animosity with our Muslim brothers. This is P-Noy’s golden opportunity to unify Christians and Muslims in this highly-diverse nation of ours. Alas, once again P-Noy is missing the boat. All he needs to do is sit down with Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. If he could sit down with Al Haj Murad, a Muslim rebel, he ought to be talking with the legitimate owner and Sultan of Sulu and of Sabah.

While the Philippines still faces a tense situation in Sabah, on the other side of the world, an unexpected incident gave another headache to the Aquino government which already has its hands full from the Sabah incident. This was when last March 6, 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers who re members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) assigned in Syria were “kidnapped” in, of all places… Syria!

As you know, Syria is having a deadly two-year-old civil war and having Filipinos caught in the crossfire was totally unexpected, and it creates a new set of problems that the Aquino government least expected to happen. These Filipino UN peacekeepers are part of the UN Mission that monitors the armistice line in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, which the Israelis captured at the height of the 1967 Six-Day War and later the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Call it a fortunate blessing for the Philippines and the Aquino government that the 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers were released and brought to Jordan. There are currently 333 Filipino military and police contingent at the Golan Heights. Let’s just hope that this incident won’t be repeated. In the meantime, just food for thought, why can’t the UN reassign these Filipinos peacekeepers and send them to Sabah? Of course Malaysia would protest against their deployment in the same light that I also protested their role in brokering that ill-fated peace deal that P-Noy signed with the MILF last October. Malaysia had selfish intentions in that deal.

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While we have no choice but to report the dark clouds happening in our country… it must be said that there are bright spots appearing in the horizon and most of it seems to be focused on our Tourism industry, that 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness report by the World Economic Forum (WEC) that showed the Philippines as the most improved country in the region advancing 12 spots is very welcome news indeed.

Then there’s the recognition by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that recently lifted our Significant Safety Concerns imposed on us in the year 2008, plus P-Noy’s signing into law a bill removing the 3 percent common carriers tax on foreign airlines flying into this country is very positive news that should bring more foreign tourists into our shores.

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