KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): It is "not possible" for Sabah to come under the Philippines as a result of an arbitration award granted to the heirs of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, as the state will never be relinquished by Malaysia or come under the control of the republic, said caretaker Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“To clarify, my answer is in relation to whether there is any chance that Sabah could, as a result of the unlawful Paris award, become part of the Philippines. Let me say again that this is not possible.
“Sabah will never be ceded to or come under the control of the Philippines, and the Federal Government stands by and will always defend the integrity of Malaysia’s territorial sovereignty,” Wan Junaidi said.
He was further clarifying his answer to Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Chan Foong Hin during a Dewan Rakyat sitting on Oct 6, where he said the Paris award was a private claim and had nothing to do with national sovereignty.
Chan said the Sulu claim had turned into an issue of national sovereignty, after some Filipino senators reportedly wanted to renew the Philippines' claim on Sabah.
“When I said that the Paris award was a result of a private claim, it was a statement meaning that the claim was made by private individuals (the purported heirs of the defunct Sulu sultan), and not by the government of the Philippines,” the minister clarified in a statement on Thursday (Oct 13).
“Further, when I stated that the Sulu claim and the purported Paris award were not related to the question of sovereignty, that statement was in the context of territorial sovereignty — that is whether or not there is a chance that Sabah could ever be handed over to the Philippines.”
In February, a French arbitration court recorded Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa's decision that Malaysia must pay RM62.59 billion to the descendants of the late Sulu sultan for violating an 1878 agreement.
On July 12, the Paris Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian Government's application to suspend the enforcement of the final award dated Feb 28, 2022 issued by Stampa.
Wan Junaidi called the Sulu claim an attack on and an infringement of Malaysia’s sovereign and economic interests abroad, which he said is an abuse of process.