Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to
God what belongs to God. Give to Malaysia what belongs to Malaysia, and give to
the Kiram what belongs to Kiram, The Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah.
I would like to define national interest as state’s
national interest for the integrity of the nation’s territory, of its political
institutions, and of its culture. This definition connotes that the interest is
not only vested for one sided interest of the government but also it entails
interest of the people; either they are majority or minority such as indigenous
people. I believe that the Philippines shall actively pursue
the national interest in the Sabah Claim. To actively pursue our national
interest is to passively pursue our national security. And there is a big
difference between pursuing national interest and waging war.
However, other individuals have a different notion of
national interest in relation to Sabah. For them, Sabah conflict is a matter of
personal or interest of one political family, Kiram. But looking into
consideration of the Transfer of Sovereignty participated with Former President
Diosdado Macapagal only impart that Sabah is not a personal interest but a
national interest to seek peace, equality, and justice.
Ladies and gentle, history tells us the true to life
story written or oral of who really owns nationally, politically,
professionally, and legally Sabah. In other words, history tells the truth. And
truth must prevail.
Allow me to narrate a short
story of the Royal Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu and the Royal Hashemite
Sultanate of Sabah under the benevolent reign of HM Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abduall
Kiram I, The Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah, the 35th
Sultan.
The Kingdom of Sulu was founded in 1390 but became the
Sultanate of Sulu in 1457 while Sabah, Palawan including Spratly islands, were
annexed in 1658 as the gifts eternal of the Sultan of Brunei to the Sultan of
Sulu bestowing lawful ownership to the Sultan of Sulu and the Sultanate of Sulu
to this day.
The Royal House of Sulu and Sabah and the Royal House
of Brunei are related by blood as one family. From 1521 to 1690, the Sultans of
Sulu and Sultans of Brunei fought jointly the invasion and conquest of Spain in
their dominions in Muslim Philippines to claw back Muslim territories conquered
by force by Spain leading to the Muslim people being displaced, dispossessed
and ejected from their lands and properties in the Philippines, till the
Muslims only occupy a very small portion of Mindanao to this modern day.
The Transfer
of Sovereignty happened on 12 September 1962, from the Sultanate of Sulu to the
Republic of the Philippines conferred ownership of Sovereignty to the
Philippines, and it also continued to enshrine the ownership of Sabah as the
private property of the heirs of HM Sultan Jamalul Kiram II. However, the
current Sultan, HM Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I, as the true and
legitimate Sultan stated that "Sabah is not only the property of the heirs
but all of the people of the Sultanate of Sulu -- who are entitled to receive
benefits from the Sabah property recovery through economic developments in the
Sultanate."
However, Sabah was illegally and unlawfully occupied by
Malaysia since 1963 without the consent of the lawful owners namely the Sultan
of Sulu and the good people of the Sultanate of Sulu.
As point of
enlightenment, we have our constitution that facilitates our actions to deal
with this scenario.
The most
important provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which pertain to the
framing of Philippine foreign policy found in, Article II, Section 2 which
states that "The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national
policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part
of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, and justice."
Also in Article II, Section 7 states that "The State shall pursue an
independent foreign policy. In its relations with other states the paramount
consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national
interest, and the right to self-determination."
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s actively pursue our national interest
hand-in-hand, by giving to Kiram what belongs to Kiram with policy of peace,
equality, and justice. This is what history tells us and the constitution
evidently shows how we pursue.
Thank You.
