Kuala Lumpur: The government of the Philippines has nothing to do with the claims by the so-called heirs of the Sulu sultan on Sabah, insists Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“There is no evidence to suggest the Philippine government has any link to this claim, based on our investigation,” Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat.
He was responding to Khlir Nor (PN-Ketereh), who alleged that Manila was involved in both the claim over Sabah and the Lahad Datu incursion in 2013 by Sulu militants.
After Anwar’s rebuttal, Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) suggested otherwise, pointing out that the Philippines has yet to cease its claims on Sabah.
Manila has also refused to set up a consulate in Kota Kinabalu as it did not wish to recognise Sabah’s status as being part of Malaysia, Bung said.
Anwar, however, stood by his earlier remarks, stating that he had met Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr twice and found no such proof of Manila’s involvement.
The dispute between the self-proclaimed heirs of the Sulu sultan and Putrajaya originated from a deal signed in 1878 between two European colonists and the sultan for the use of his territory in present-day Malaysia.
Malaysia honoured the agreement and made payments of about US$1,000 a year until 2013, when there was an incursion by armed men into Lahad Datu, along the eastern coast of Sabah.
