Gov't 'seriously' studying its claim over Sabah: official

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government is seriously studying the country's claim over Sabah, which is now being controlled by Malaysia, a senior government official said here today.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. made the statement following allegation of Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the Sultanate of Sulu, that President Benigno S. Aquino III's directive to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other concerned agencies to study the country's claim over Sabah was not serious and just for a show.

"The Department of Justice is doing what has been ordered of them and they are serious about it because this is a very important matter for our country," he said in a news briefing in Malacanang, the Philippine presidential palace.

Coloma said that the DOJ is studying voluminous documents on the country's "historic claims" over Sabah, which is located on the northeastern portion of the island of Borneo.

Aquino ordered the study on the Sabah claim after more than 200 armed supporters of the self-proclaimed Sulu sultan Jamalul Kiram III holed themselves out in Lahad Datu early last year with the aim of reclaiming Sabah.

The stand-off between the Filipino militants and the Malaysian forces ended up in bloody encounter, resulting to deaths of dozens of people, mostly from the members of the sultanate army.