No one hits us with impunity
Tomorrow (or today depending on which side of the globe you are seated), 31 July is the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Manila Accord...
In an article by Vidal Yudin Weil for the Free Malaysia Today dated March 9, 2013, the writer called Najib to task after Najib's following pronouncement in Lahad Datu:
“The question of Sabah within Malaysia should not be disputed by anyone. Let not anyone underestimate Malaysia’s commitment to have Sabah within Malaysia forever. No one can dispute this, from within and outside the country. We will uphold the principle and fact of Sabah within Malaysia absolutely”.
Writer Vidal insisted that Najib was wrong: "Najib is wrong in making unilateral claims that Sabah belongs to Malaysia when historical legal documents and agreements may indicate otherwise."
To prove his point, he enumerated the salient points in that Manila Accord:
(i) the inclusion of Sabah into the formation of Malaysia is subject to the Philippines claim;
(ii) and the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) run by the United Nations.
With implaccable logic, he said: "Therefore, until such time when the ICJ has decided, Malaysia does not have absolute ownership of Sabah."
Fifty years hence and PH is still in no man's land about where its loyalty and interests lay... Fifty years hence and PH still has not fulfilled its contractual obligations part of which is to prosecute the Sabah claim which by PH law, by virtue of Republic Act 5446, is Philippine territory.
We were hoping that following the Tanduo siege and the in the aftermath of the Lahad Datu massacre of Filipinos who went to Sabah to finally stake their claim in February this year (because of the Republic's failure to honour its legal and moral obligations vis-à-vis the Republic and the Sultanate of Sulu), President Aquino now understands that he cannot give away Sabah without violating the law.
But the sad part is that while President Aquino just may have realised that his hands are constitutionally tied and that he cannot do as he pleases overtly or publicly, i.e., give up the claim or give Sabah to Malaysia officially, it seems he has resorted to subterfuge when he both implicitly and explicitly sided with Malaysia on virtually everything during the critical Tanduo-Lahad Datu events that saw many of our countrymen arrested, abused, killed, and deported! It's as if he had sworn his personal loyalty to Malaysia for some personal debt which to us is not this nation's debt!
By choosing to side with Najib and Malaysia rather than with the Sultanate of Sulu, the president is definitely guilty of violating the Republic's contractual obligation vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Sulu which was to prosecute the Sabah claim.
The President must realise that his refusal or inaction to push for the recognition of the 1963 Manila Accord during this critical period after Malaysia killed many Tausugs, jailed and deported Suluks and when KL judiciary is about to sentence to the death penalty many of our countrymen, is tantamount to giving Najib and the Kuala Lumpur government the right 'to rape' Filipinos and to go ahead and plunder the Philippines by way of Sabah.
I am sorry to say but no matter how we turn this Sabah issue around today, we see it no other way: The President may be guilty of working against the interests of the Republic in the service of a foreign government.
~~ AdB
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and for the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
30 July 2013
Related blog posts:
Admin Fred Amores rightly remarks, "China really needs new fishing grounds to feed its people. West Philippine Sea is next to [be] grabbed by force. Only time can tell."
But my suggestion is that China should go to the Antarctica and fish there if they want to look for new fishing grounds... There's a bit of fishing out there. Warmongering China can go there and fight with the bordering nations that own Antarctica!
Of course, they will need to face off and even battle it out with Antarctica claimants like Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, UK, France (although not sure about France but because of the Kerguelan islands, France just might have a claim to the Antarctica) and even the US (although not sure if the US has any rights there at all...)
Realistically, China should sod off in Antarctica and fish there... they could even declare war there if they so want but they must leave our EEZ alone!
Mangisay sila doon for all I care! Este... mangisda sila doon... But China must leave our EEZ alone! I don't see why we should sacrifice our fishermen to feed China's vast population when we could hadly do it ourselves. But what do they think Filipinos are? Saintly masochists? Damn China!
As we like to say, "NIMBY!" (Not In My Backyard!)
Here's the Antarctica map...
~~ AdB
For the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
and for the Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
29 July 2013
ATTENTION! TO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES:
We have just been informed that a group of charlatans headed by Datu Fuad Kiram and aided by his close-in handlers, are working hard, aiming 'high' in order to legitimise their sting operation and are exploiting the naivete of a UP student group: the UP Economics Society which is about to sponsor a symposium founded on the fraudulent claim by Datu Fuad Kiram and his handler Omar Kiram (not a Kiram nor a prince of the Tausug) that they are sultan of Sulu and Sabah and 'grand prince' of Sulu respectively.
We fear that the UP Economics Society which we understand is composed of students from the Philippine state university might be unwittingly lending their name to an economic scam by the group of Datu Fuad Kiram. The UP group must be informed. Their ignorance of Sabah claim history is most likely being exploited by said band of con artists.
We suggest that the UP Economics Society not allow the name of the University of the Philippines to be lent to such undertaking by a group of fraudulent sultanate of Sulu claimants.
However, if the UP student group could INVITE ALL THE CLAIMANTS TO THE THRONE TO THE SYMPOSIUM TO TACKLE THE Sulu Sultanate claim and to ask them about their purpose, then fine... Otherwise, the said UP students must exercise due diligence and inquire, get informed and learn about who is who in the Sultanate before they attach their name to a group of objectionable individuals such as Datu Fuad's and his handler's whose only purpose in life it seems is to use the nation's Sabah claim to try to get rich quick.
It is imperative for the members of the UP Economics Society not to risk their credibility as the nation's brightest of the bright students whose education is greatly subsidised by the Filipino taxpayers. One way to do it is to be cautious...extremely cautious that they are not exploited to satisfy the grandiose economic dream of Datu Fuad Kiram and his men for himself and for their band of fraudsters that can and will damage the nation's genuine claim to Sabah.
~ Administrators
Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
Defenders of the Philippine Sabah & Spratly Claims
16 July 2013
We have
always said that we should not allow Malaysia to engineer peace talks
with Muslim rebel groups in Mindanao especially with the MILF.
We
don't have anything against wealth sharing with members of our country,
individuals or groups but we take issue with the presence of Kuala
Lumpur. We don't want Kuala Lumpur's people in Mindanao. We don't want
their troops in Mindanao. And this entire GPH-MILF so-called peace framework agreement has
sidelined groups in Mindanao notably the MNLF and the Sultanate of Sulu
whose sons and daughters are languishing in jail and possibly will face
the death penalty in Kuala Lumpur government prisons over the Tanduo,
Sabah siege in February.
Why did they do that? Why did President
Aquino approve such Malaysia-engineered arrangement? Because we figure
it is his way of annihilating the Philippine claim to Sabah which is
rumoured was was his father's -- the late Senator Ninoy Aquino -- vow to Malaysia.
It
smacks of great stupidity to allow Kuala Lumpur to engineer this
so-called peace talks. President Aquino, ever the appeaser himself said
that he has a personal debt of gratitude to Malaysia. What debt of
gratitude? His father's debt of gratitude to the Malaysians, to Mahathir via the Sultan of Johor, is not the nation's debt. President Aquino's sister, Kris Aquino, who, by the way, has been cavorting with the Sultan of Johor if
we believe her own show, could very well pay for that debt personally
and there's no need to involve the nation's national integrity in that
Aquino debt of gratitude.
It
smacks of common sense that you do not allow one with whom you have an
outstanding territorial dispute to engineer an important peace
initiative with your country's secessionist rebels. And we have an
outstanding territorial dispute over Sabah with Kuala Lumpur.
Doesn't
the Aquino Administration know that Malaysia, the engineers of the
so-called peace framework, has been funding rebels against this govt for
the last 40 years? Kuala Lumpur has been funding the MILF to sow terror
in Muslim Mindanao. Kuala Lumpur has been able to stage manage this
rebellion and then convinced the Philippine government to accept
Malaysia boots in Mindanao. How stupid and idiotic can one get!
Malaysia has not even deigned honor the Manila Accord, a United Nations treaty no less, which
was signed 50 years ago and you trust them not to be in cahoots with
the MILF to push the 13 provinces to ultimately secede from the
Philippines?
Once
more with feeling: You cannot and must not trust the MILF. They do not
speak for all the Muslims in Mindanao. They do not represent the great
Bangsamoro. There are at the very least 5 rebel factions in Mindanao
among which is the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the enemies of
the MILF, on top of which you have the Sultanate of Sulu which has been
sidelined by this inept Aquino Administration.
The
MILF has been funded by Kuala Lumpur since the early 70s to wage war
against the Republic of the Philippines. They are the permanent boots of
Kuala Lumpur in Mindanao. Wake up. Open your eyes.
A Malaysia-engineered so-called peace framework cannot bring the ultimate peace that you desire.
Start
all over again! Kick out Malaysia from "peace talks" and kick out
"Malaysia troops" from Mindanao. Select another country to chair peace
talks and assemble, include all the rebel groups in Mindanao in the
drafting of a peace agreement. To achieve a minimum of just and lasting
peace, the process must be inclusive otherwise pockets of war will be
inevitable.
~~ By HM Sultana Matt Salleh
for the Philippine Sabah Claim Forum
15 July 2013
Related post: A plan to dismember the Republic
In
September 2004, the MILF Chairman wrote to Malaysia Federation's Prime
Minister Badawi to make known his desiderata. Immediately thereafter,
the peacenicking talks panel was established. We thought even then that
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was
completely out of her mind to ask Malaysia to engineer the talks and we
were hoping that President Aquino would right that serious wrong.
Sadly, we did not count on President Aquino's loyalty to Kuala Lumpur
because of his Daddy's promise to Mahathir through the Sultan of Johor.
Excerpts (lifted from official MILF website):
.../...
Of
course, as far as we are concerned it is to our great advantage. But it
is fresh in our mind and memory that we belong to Malay race and we
came from the same recent ancestors plus the fact that we cembrace the
same Faith. We learn to love and to beloved, yet we have suffered enough
for several centuries under these bad circumstances and situations of
the creations of others. We, the Suluans are but just human. We feel
that our backs are now against the wall. But before running out of time
we would like to suggest that both parties concerned – Malaysians &
Suluans – should create two panels whose members should come from the
different sectors of society to include, above all, the Ulama then come
to the negotiating table for brotherly confrontation, make resolutions
for lasting and comprehensive peace that serve as a monumental
reservation for our coming generations.
At
this juncture, only two options hereunder have been left for us and we
are required already to decide and choose our prerogative, by all means:
1)
Return back Sabah to its rightful owners and be under the Federation of
Malaysia as a compromise. We are considerate enough; we believe it is a
win-win solution more appropriate to both Malays Bomeputra and the
Suluans as brothers of the same religion. Allah says: “Muslims are just a
single brotherhood 2)
The cessation or disintegration of the entire Sulu Archipelago to
include Zamboanga Peninsula, Palawan and North Borneo (Sabah) from both
the Philippine Republic and the Federation of Malaysia and be created an
Independent State as Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo with her own
government and sovereignty.
To
avoid bloodshed and for legal purposes, all past Treaties entered into
between the US Governments and the Sulu & North Borneo Sultans be
used as vital instruments for the creation of such State. Otherwise,
worse will come to worse, God forbid. We should get lessons from Iraq
and Afghanistan which are severely devastated now owing to the obstinacy
and stubbornness of their leaders who imposed tyrant rules and
dictatorship just for personal aggrandizement. These are all charged to
experience. I am confident that relinquishing Sabah to her legitimate
owners is inevitable.
On
behalf of the Islamic brotherhood and in the name of Islam I venture to
challenge Yang Amat Berhormat to lessen your burden of responsibility
here in our contemporary world and in the hereafter by solving the Sabah
conflict before stepping down from top position in the near future.
May Allah bless us all. W a s s a l a m!!!!
Ustadz/Prof. SHARIFF MOHSIN JULABBI Amer/Chairman, MILF-BMA, Personal Envoy of HRH Sultan Ismael Ibn Al-marhum Sultan Haji Punjungan Kiram
cc. Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong X11 Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail
Full post: www.defenders-philippine-sovereignty.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-is-milf-leadership-silent-about.html
Related news report: 'Ninoy vowed to drop Sabah claim to get KL support vs Marcos'
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/12/13/ninoy-vowed-drop-sabah-claim-get-kl-support-vs-marcos
By Janvic Mateo, The Philippine Star
Posted at 03/13/2013 7:42 AM | Updated as of 03/13/2013 7:42 AM
MANILA,
Philippines - Former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. had promised
Malaysia in 1983 that the Philippines would drop its claim over Sabah in
exchange for its support in the move to oust strongman Ferdinand
Marcos, a former foreign affairs official revealed yesterday.
Hermes
Dorado, former national territory division head of the Department of
Foreign Affairs, said Aquino met with then Malaysian Prime Minister
Mohammad Mahathir before he went back to the Philippines and was
assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983.
Dorado
said there were no official records of the supposed meeting between
Aquino and Mahathir, but said he “became privy to this bit of
intelligence” from former ambassador and retired general Rafael Ileto.
“General
Ileto indirectly confirmed that Ninoy Aquino asked for help from
Mahathir in exchange for dropping the Sabah claim when he gains power,”
Dorado told a forum at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.
Dorado said Ileto was the person assigned to monitor Aquino’s movement on his journey back to Manila.
“There
was a commitment to help oust Marcos,” he added. “That is the reason
why the government today is somehow reluctant to support the Sabah
claim.”
“Our hands are tied today because the leadership up to this day is committed to drop the Philippine claim of Sabah,” he said.
According
to Dorado, the clearest proof of Ninoy’s supposed pledge to Malaysia
will be found in the 1987 Constitution, which was written during the
presidency of his widow Corazon Aquino.
Dorado
said the 1987 Constitution amended the first article of the 1973
Constitution and removed the phrase, “and all other territories
belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title.”
The
1987 Constitution revised the definition of Philippine territory and
“deleted Sabah as a historic claim backed up by the legal title
pertaining to the sultanate of Sulu,” he added.
Dorado
said Mrs. Aquino had no choice but to honor Ninoy’s commitment to
Mahathir because she needed support from ASEAN nations to legitimize her
ascendancy to the presidency through the people power revolution.
“Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir adamantly refused to attend the ASEAN Summit in
Manila until President Cory made a firm commitment to amend Article 1
of the 1973 Constitution,” Dorado pointed out.
“Malaysian
hard-ball diplomatic and guerrilla war maneuverings, backed by shrewd
use of economic leverage, sourced from huge revenues from oil extracted
in Sabah, were completed by 1987,” he added.
“They succeeded in forcing the Constitutional Commission to drop the Philippine Sabah claim, hands down.”
Dorado said the amended Baselines Law approved in March 2009 resulted in the exclusion of Sabah from the Philippine territory.
He
said the amended law removed Section 2 of the 1968 law that included
the phrase, “…the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over
which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and
sovereignty.”
“Removal
of the specific reference to Sabah represented a disastrous outcome to
the claims of the sultanate of Sulu,” Dorado said.
He
claimed the results of the supposed “Ninoy-Mahathir pact” have
destroyed all peaceful possibilities of pursuing the country’s claims.
Proprietary rights
Reacting
to Dorado’s presentation, Princess Jacel Kiram – daughter of Sulu
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III – maintained that Filipinos have proprietary
rights in Sabah.
“We have so much wealth in Sabah na dapat tayo ang nakikinabang (we should be the ones benefitting),” Jacel said.
She said the lease agreement over North Borneo expired in 1978.
She
accused the Aquino administration of protecting the interests of the
Malaysian prime minister rather than the interest of the Filipino
people.
“I would prefer to be another (nationality) rather than a Filipino citizen under our current set of leaders,” she said.
According to Interaksyon, China PLA navy ships and China fishing boats never left Ayungin contradicting an earlier report that the foreign vessels had already left.
My initial reaction is that if Navy can see them, they must be very close to Ayungin - really within our EEZ and perhaps even closer to Ayungin island itself than we imagine, i.e., within 12 nautical mile territorial waters of Ayungin reef on which PH has established a military garrison akin to being "inhabited".
Off-the-cuff, China PLA Navy's main mission, in all likelihood, is to protect and defend their fishermen from any action by PH Navy ships even as they encroach illegally on our EEZ, even perhaps on our territorial waters. Of course their presence is a form of intimidation tactics too but that is not reason to scare our Navy personnel stationed on Ayungin. The military personnel on Ayungin are made of sterner stuff.
But the real question is: Has PH deployed a PN or PCG vessel to Ayungin waters?
More off-the-cuff thoughts pertaining to the 12 nautical miles or legal territorial waters of PH by international law:
(1) It is impertive to note that Ayungin island is part of the regime of islands of the Philippines and is so by PH law, i.e., RA 9522 albeit disputed, hence it falls under PH sovereignty. Moreover, there is an existing military garrison in that island which makes the island inhabited.
(2) Therefore 12 nautical miles from Ayungin baseline is legally PH territorial waters which no other foreign country should be allowed to claim: it is Philippine territory -- full stop.
(3) A foreign warship, armed to the teeth at that, sailing in those 12 nautical miles of water from Ayungin baseline without invoking right of innoncent passage can be considered an armed invasion of the Philippines.
Take this example: St Pierre Miquelon is an offshore island near Newfoundland belonging to France. Twelve nautical miles from St Pierre Miquelon baseline constitute French legal territorial waters and considered French territory much like Paris is or any provinces situated on the coasts of mainland France. Any armed foreign warship that sails into those 12 nautical miles of St Pierre Miquelon without invoking right of innocent passage will be considered an invasion of France and France has all the right to repel invaders.
It becomes all the more imperative for PH navy to stay on course -- that is if they are around, to show that we are not giving up Ayungin and whatever the cost!
REPORT FROM INTERAKSYON Premature rejoicing - Chinese fishing boats still in Ayungin:
As proof that the Chinese are still in the reef area which they claim entirely, and over which they recently issued a protest against supposed Philippine incursions, the source explained that “In the vicinity of Ayungin the PLA Navy ship with bow number 83, is still there, along with many fishing bancas. The other PLA Navy ships go back every so often to Ayungin whenever they monitor new movements by the Philippine Navy.”
~~ AdBFor Defenders of the Philippine Sabah and Spratly Claims10 July 2013
Related blog post: DON'T LET CHINA STEAL AYUNGIN REEF
