Sabah 101

Amidst the ongoing saga in Sabah, I conducted a “quick and dirty” online research on the historical antecedents in conjunction with the various claims over this natural resource-rich territory. There is a treasure trove of materials written by international and domestic luminaries on the subject, scholarly dissecting the multifarious issues involved. Called Sabah or “the land below the wind” by early seafarers because it was located outside of the typhoon belt,” this scenic place is again caught up in a geo-political storm. Provided below are my preliminary findings which, for easy reading, are chronologically presented:

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1658: The Sultan of Brunei gives the territories of Sabah and Palawan to the Sultanate of Sulu as a reward for the latter’s efforts in diffusing a potential civil war in Borneo.

1878: Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent enter into a padjak agreement over Sabah with the Sultanate for approximately 5000 Ringgit per year. Overbeck and Dent later assign their rights to the British North Borneo Company.

Early 1880s: Spain compels the Sultanate to cede Palawan and Sulu to it. This cession did not include Sabah.

1885: The Madrid Protocol is signed by Great Britain, Germany and Spain. This confirmed Spanish sovereignty over Sulu but also contains Spain’s renunciation of all claims over Borneo territories (which include Sabah; except that Spain never acquired sovereignty over Sabah to begin with).

1962: Sulu Sultan Muhammed Kiram cedes sovereignty and dominion (but not ownership) over Sabah to the Philippines through President Diosdado Macapagal. This gave our government the locus standi to file a claim.

1963: The Philippines files a preliminary claim with the ICJ in the Hague on the basis of ownership by a historical and legal fact.

1963: Sabah residents vote to join the proposed Federation of Malaysia. Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah form the Federation. Great Britain cedes its rights over Sabah to the Federation.

1968: Republic Act No. 5446, a statute defining our territorial sea baselines, is passed into law categorically stating that “this act is without prejudice to the delineation of the baselines of the territorial sea around the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty.”

1969: Exposé of Jabidah massacre controversy which supposedly involved Filipino Muslims who were trained in Corregidor to mount a rebellion in Sabah. However, the recruits allegedly mutinied and were all reportedly slain except for one who was able to escape.

1973: New Philippine Constitution provides that “the national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago… and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title.”

1987: The definition of National Territory in the Constitution is again revised with the controversial phrase being replaced with “and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction.”

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The main legal issue is centered around the characterization of the original padjak transaction. 

American, Dutch and Spanish linguists have translated it to mean “arrendamiento” or “lease.” 

This is also consistent with the undisputed fact that the Malaysian Embassy up to today continues to make an annual payment of 5,300 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately P70,000) to the heirs of the Sultanate.  

On the other hand, the British (and later on the Malaysians) posit that the padjak’s true meaning is to “grant and cede” and that the money being paid is not rental payment but “cession money”.  

They call attention to several treaties and international conventions which allegedly excluded North Borneo from the territory of the Philippines during the Spanish and American occupations.

It will be interesting to see how the Sabah issue plays out. Hopefully, all the parties involved will commit to trying to find a peaceful and just solution. Our national territory is part of our identity as a people and therefore valid claims ought to be asserted. Between this and the West Philippine Sea issue, national territory has been front and center in our national consciousness in the recent past. I would like to believe that this controversy can be resolved legally and fairly; but I would not discount the role realpolitik will ultimately play in these matters.

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Superman: March 2, 1962 will forever be etched in this young (then) basketball aficionado’s memory as the day Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain scored 100 points and led the Philadelphia Warriors to a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. 51 years later, this remarkable performance still stands in the NBA record books and will probably remain there in the years (read: century) to come. Indeed, Chamberlain’s performance then makes today’s NBA stars look like collegiate players.

In surpassing his own previous NBA scoring record set less than three months earlier, Chamberlain shot 36 for 63 from the floor and 28 for 32 from the foul line. He went on to score 4,029 points or an average of 50.4 points per game for the 1961-62 season. He also led the league in rebounding with 25.7 rebounds per game during the season and was second in field goal percentage at .506.

Amazingly, Chamberlain also averaged 48.5 minutes playing time per game during the season when a regular NBA game only runs for 48 minutes. This happened because the Warriors played in 10 overtime periods and Chamberlain rested on the bench for only 8 minutes during the entire season. In other words, he was on the court for 3,882 out of 3,890 minutes and completed 79 out of the team’s 80 games.

What stamina he must have possessed to accomplish such feat. It brings to mind his boast, contained in his 1991 autobiography A View from Above, that he had slept with 20,000 women; although for him to have reached such physical milestone, he would have had to bed 1.2 women every single day from the age of 15 until he wrote the book. But hey, who knows?

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 Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”    —Toni Morrison

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