The Philippines' Sabah Claim at the Muzium Negeri (KL Malaysia)

The National Museum of Malaysia has several entries that mention or reference the Philippines, I was of course surprised. But why not? The Malays and the Filipinos have always been friendly neighbors. Some issues are of valid concern because they involve territories and sovereignty. I shall not discuss this fully, but will feature them as they are presented at the museum.

The photo above is of Alfred Dent, a British Merchant, who provided Baron de Overbeck, the Austrian Head consul in Hong Kong with 10,000 British Pounds to obtain the concessions of North Borneo from Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of Sulu. As a result, he managed to request a charter from the British Government and later formed the North Borneo Company to administer Sabah in 1881.

Sometime during the regime of despotic Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, a group of young Muslim Filipinos were gathered together to "claim" Sabah. They were trained for this takeover, but when the mission was aborted, these young Muslim men were summarily executed, thus the "Jabidah Massacre" which has recently been accepted as part of a cantankerous chapter of our history as a nation.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

The formation of Malaysia also affected Malaysia-Philippines bilateral relations over claims to North Borneo (Sabah). In 1962, the Philippine government demanded that the British Government hand over the land which the Philippines claimed as theirs, because North Borneo was part of the Sultanate of Sulu. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the Philippines submitted a claim to the government of Malaysia.

On February 10, 1964, both parties agreed to meet in Phnom Penh in order to negotiate a solution. Finally, on February 12, 1964, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman formally announced the restoration of the diplomatic ties between Malaysia and the Philippines.

A copy of the Borneo Cession papers in Jawi script given to Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent in 1874 by the Sultan of Brunei.

An indenture made out to Alfred Dent by the Sultan of Brunei for all the islands of North Borneo in 1881. 

An in-depth discussion on the conference's proposals took place at the Kedah House, Cameron Highlands on May 24, 1964. WPhoto shows Prime Minister Abdul Rahman, Thai Foreign Minister Thun Thanat Khaman, Salvador P. Lopez representing President Diosdado Macapagal, and Dato Ong Yoke Lin.