Manila bid to block transfer of North Borneo sovereignty
Published on: Thursday, November 29, 1962
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Philippines congressman Godfredo Ramos said in the UN General Assembly last night that his government would use all diplomatic means at its disposal to thwart any plans by Britain regarding the transfer of sovereignty over North Borneo.
Mr Ramos, who is chairman of the foreign affair committee of the Philippines House of Representatives, recalled that under the London agreement between the British and Malayan Governments, the Federation of Malaysia would come into being by August 31 next year.
He also asserted that the two governments had agreed on an earlier formal transfer of sovereignty over North Borneo and out the end of January 1963.
“My government cannot accept this situation with equanimity,” Mr Ramos declares, “particular because, as we have pointed out, the transfer arrangements contain no provisions for the effective exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of North Borneo.
“We hope, therefore, informed the government concerned that we can in no way accept the London agreement effecting the territories of North Borneo as a fait accomply tending to set aside the Philippines claim of which those government are fully aware.”
He reaffirmed President Macapagal’s pledge in July that the Philippines would give the North Borneo people the right to decide their own future.
(The official Philippines position is that self-determination will be granted once sovereignty passes to the Philippines.)
Mr Ramos said that the late Francis Burton Harrison, former American Governor-General of the Philippines made a legal study of North Borneo question and reported to President Quirino in 1949 that British annexation of the territory was “an act of political aggression.”
He said Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez referred briefly to the Philippines claim to North Borneo in a speech to the Assembly on September 27. The British delegate replied in one sentence that Britain had no doubt as to its sovereignty over the territories.
But, Mr Ramos continues, that reply was not good enough.
He said the British Government had largely ignored three Philippines notes on the subject and had refused to negotiate on the problems, as requested by the Philippines on June 22.
“From the point of view of national security,” Mr Ramos said “the Philippines has a vital stake in the future of North.
“The territory is like a cork that closes our great inland sea, the Sulu sea and is, therefore, of great strategic importance to the Philippines.”
He declined to reveal what the Philippines’ next stop would be should London continue to refuse to negotiate, but it is known that several steps are being contemplated.
It has been suggested that both governments should agree to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice on The Hague and there have been hints that the Philippines may request a full debate on North Borneo in the general Assembly.
Last night’s speech by Mr Ramos was delivered in the Britain’s failure to even talk about the claim.
“We are finding it increasingly difficult not to draw the conclusion that Britain is deliberately ignoring our claim in an apparent effort to present us with a fait accomply,” he said.
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