Shafie rejects fresh Philippine claim on Sabah

Shafie said even the UN had verified the support by Sabahans to help form Malaysia in 1963.

“Sabah is an equal partner in the federation,” the former chief minister said in a statement.

Shafie stressed that no foreign legislation or map could override the will of the people, noting that the state is governed under the Federal Constitution and fully integrated into Malaysia’s political and legal system.

He also pointed out that Sabahans participate in Malaysian elections, elect representatives for Parliament, and are subject to Malaysian laws.

“Malaysia exercises full and continuous administration over Sabah. These are not opinions but facts.”

Shafie went on to say that Malaysia would not accept narratives that disregarded the dignity, security and rights of Sabahans.

“Sabah is not an abstract claim. It is our home.”

Last week, the Philippines department of foreign affairs’ (DFA) maritime affairs spokesman, Rogelio Villanueva, said the country maintained its sovereignty claim over Sabah.

A few days ago, Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister Mustapha Sakmud dismissed the recent claims as old and stressed that Malaysia would continue to defend its sovereignty.

The Philippines’s claim on Sabah is based on the argument that the British North Borneo Company did not have sovereign rights and the British government did not acquire sovereignty from Spain under the Protocol of 1885 nor from the British North Borneo Company under the Protectorate Agreement of 1888.

Those in the Philippines who said Sabah belonged to them claimed the Section of the Order in Council proved that the British government was only claiming sovereignty over North Borneo for the first time on July 15, 1946.