There are two major issues plaguing our national security these days. First, the continued bullying by China right on our territorial waters, which has been in dispute in Scarborough or Ayungin Shoals for many years, but it is only now that China has become so aggressive. After three years of having this problem with China, the Philippine government finally did what it should have done in the first place from day one - haul China to the International Court or the so-called United Nations Arbitration Court in order to finally settle this issue once and for all.
Of course China isn't happy that the Philippine government has done this because they know too well that their claims to the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea has no historical basis. The islands that they are claiming violate provisions in the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. So this case is of grave importance to us so that in the end, we would know for sure who really has rightful claim on these disputed seas. If the International Court awards it to China, then so be it! But if it awards it to the Philippines, then China must also abide by their decision and make peace.
While I do not support the claim of China on their territorial dispute with us in Scarborough Shoals, however in the case of another disputed islands called the Diaoyu (its Chinese name) or Senkaku Islands (its Japanese name) territorial dispute between China and Japan, I believe that China has a rightful claim to these islands because historically it belonged to China and in the Shimonoseki Treaty of April 1895, these islands were not ceded to Japan after the defeat of China in the First Sino-Japanese war, unlike Taiwan and Korea were given to Japan in those old days.
However Japan's only claim to the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands was when the United States gave these islands for Japan to administer, which they annexed as part of the Okinawa Island group. If you looked at the map of these disputed islands, they are much closer to Taiwan than in mainland Japan. Again the solution to this issue is for both claimants to seek the support of the UN International Arbitration Court so that tensions would ease.
With that said, the Philippine government under the leadership or should I say the non-leadership of Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino III should be consistent in its methods and actions. In the Peace Agreement signed last Thursday with the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the issue of Sabah was never on the table. This was recently confirmed no less than by Sen. Pres. Franklin Drilon and we can only reckon that since Malaysia was the principal broker of this peace deal, Malaysia did not want the Sabah question on the peace agenda.
So at this point, it is incumbent upon the Philippine government to also file our territorial claim before the same United Nations Arbitration Court so the Sabah question can be finally settled. Of course just like China who refuses to participate in our plea before the UNAC, Malaysia too doesn't want the Philippines to use the UNAC because they know too well that the Philippine claim to Sabah is very well documented, where the sovereignty of Sabah was bestowed to the Philippines and not Malaysia.
As the story goes, the Sultan of Sulu and of Sabah leased Sabah to the Baron Von Overbeck and Alfred Dent who later created a Chartered Company called the North Borneo Company in 1888, who in turned paid rental to the Kiram family. But in 1962 then Pres. Diosdado Macapagal filed a formal claim on North Borneo because Malaysia was in the process of being granted Independence by the British and we learned that the North Borneo Company gave Sabah to Malaysia, even if it did not have the right to do so.
Perhaps our best claim which was very well documented was the event that happened on April 24, 1962 when the living heirs of the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram signed an instrument thereby irrevocably recognizing the Republic of the Philippines to have sovereign, title and dominion of Sabah without prejudice to the proprietary rights of the heirs of the Sultan.
On that day 52-years ago, no less than Philippine Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez who was concurrently Secretary of Foreign Affairs formally accepted this instrument on behalf of the Philippines on Sept. 12, 1962. So ask yourself if the Federation of Malaysia has a similar instrument signed by the Sultan of Sabah that precedes this document?
Of course Malaysia is holding an empty bag here. Their only claim to fame is that they have squatted on Sabah since 1962. In short, their claim is as legitimate as a squatter sitting on land that doesn't belong to him. This is why the Sabah issue was not discussed in the Peace Accord that Pres. PNoy signed with the MILF last Thursday. When Pres. PNoy is gone from power, I guarantee you that the next President would push for this legitimate claim. So in the end this peace agreement with the MILF doesn't solve the age-old Muslim question. It is just another propaganda ploy by the PNoy regime.
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Email: vsbobita@gmail.com