The North Borneo dispute, also known as the Sabah dispute, is a territorial conflict between Malaysia and the Philippines over much of the eastern half of the state of Sabah. Prior to the formation of the Malaysian federation, Sabah was referred to as North Borneo. The Philippines, as the successor state to the Sultanate of Sulu, maintains a “dormant claim” on Eastern Sabah, arguing that the territory was only leased to the British North Borneo Company in 1878 and that sovereignty was never ceded by the sultanate or later the republic. Malaysia, however, views this controversy as a “non-issue.” It interprets the 1878 agreement as a cession and asserts that the population of Sabah, including Eastern Sabah, exercised their right to self-determination when they chose to unite and form the Malaysian federation in 1963.
Let’s deeply analyze this complex issue.
Philippines’s Claims
The Sabah claim remains a contentious issue in the socioeconomic, political, and historical relations between Malaysia and the Philippines. Both nations have recently avoided addressing it to preserve their economic relationship and maintain global peace. Historically, North Borneo (now Sabah) was not merely a gift from the Sultanate of Sulu but was ceded by Brunei Sultan Muaddin to the Sulu Sultanate in the 1670s after the Taosugs of Sulu helped end Brunei’s civil war. Consequently, the Sultan of Sulu became the sovereign ruler of North Borneo.
In 1878, North Borneo was leased by Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam Kiram to Overbeck and Dent, then to the British North Borneo Company, and eventually to the Malaysian government when Malaysia was formed in 1963. Until 2013, the Sultan’s family and successors received an annual payment of 5,000 to 5,300 ringgit. However, Malaysia interprets this payment as a cession fee rather than lease rent. In 1962, Sultan Mohammed Eshmail Kiram ceded North Borneo to the Republic of the Philippines, allowing the Philippine government to bring the Sabah claim to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
North Borneo, now known as Sabah, is only 18 miles from the Philippines and is home to nearly a million people of Taosug descent, according to the 2015 census. In the Tagalog and Visayan languages, it is referred to as “Saba.” The Philippine government can challenge Malaysia’s claim to Sabah, including cession, self-determination, and continuous authority, through peaceful territorial dispute resolution.
Efforts to withdraw the claim have been made. On August 4, 1977, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announced at the ASEAN Summit that the Philippines would take “definite steps to eliminate one of the burdens of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — the claim of the Philippine Republic to Sabah.” Despite Marcos’ repeated negotiations and reassurances to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1984, the statement was not implemented.
After Marcos’ fall, President Corazon Aquino attempted to publicly renounce the claim before the 1987 ASEAN Summit. Leticia Ramos Shahani introduced a bill in the Philippine Senate to repeal Republic Act 5446 in 1987. The bill faced widespread criticism for effectively abandoning the country’s claim to the land. Muslim members of Congress strongly opposed the legislation, arguing it would endanger the Sultanate of Sulu’s proprietary rights. Shahani eventually decided not to pursue the bill’s passage. Aquino’s successor, Fidel V. Ramos, also could not reach an agreement to relinquish the claim but publicly set the disagreement aside to repair relations with Malaysia. Later, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo similarly failed to reach a consensus on the issue. While the 2009 Philippine baseline law does not include Sabah within Philippine territory, the government maintained that this did not undermine the claim.
Malaysian Position
The controversy over Sabah originates from an 1878 treaty between the Sulu Sultanate, which controlled Sabah at the time, and the British North Borneo Company. The British company was granted the right to inhabit the eastern half of Sabah permanently in exchange for a fee paid to the Sultanate. After World War II, Sabah was handed over to British administration and became a crown territory. In 1963, following a referendum in which its people overwhelmingly chose to join the Federation of Malaysia, Sabah gained independence. The Philippines has consistently maintained that the 1878 agreement was a lease, while the British and Malaysian governments interpreted it as a land sale. To this day, Malaysia pays the Sulu Sultanate roughly USD 1,000 annually in accordance with the agreement.
On June 22, 1962, the Republic of the Philippines officially submitted a claim of sovereignty and possession over North Borneo to the British Ambassador in Manila. The following year, the British and Philippine governments held talks in London and issued a “Joint Final Communique” outlining their respective positions. They agreed to continue discussions through diplomatic channels. During President Diosdado Macapagal’s tenure, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram of Sulu legally transferred all rights, proprietorship, title, dominion, and sovereignty over North Borneo to the Republic of the Philippines in 1962. This cession empowered the Philippine government to pursue the claim in an international court.
In 1963, the Federation of Malaya was reconstituted as Malaysia, with North Borneo becoming one of its states, Sabah. The new sovereign state inherited the British Crown’s interest in Sabah. After consulting Congress and foreign policy experts, President Macapagal chose to suspend recognition of the Federation of Malaysia until Malaysia adhered to the Manila Accord.
The Manila Accord, signed in 1963 by Indonesia, the Federation of Malaya, and the Philippines, aimed to resolve the North Borneo issue amicably. However, the issue resurfaced in 2013 when around 200 followers of Jamalul Kiram III, a claimant to the Sultanate of Sulu’s throne, arrived in Sabah’s Lahad Datu village to assert their territorial claim. This action brought the territorial dispute back to the international stage. To date, no resolution has been reached.
The controversy has strained diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Malaysia, both members of ASEAN. Efforts continue to seek a peaceful settlement to the dispute to protect human rights and prevent loss of life.
Background & Historical Context: 1878 Agreement
The 1878 agreement, originally written in Malay using the Jawi script, hinges on the ambiguous term “pajakkan.” This term was translated by Spanish linguists in 1878 and later by American anthropologists H. Otley Beyer and Harold Conklin in 1946 as “arrendamiento,” meaning “to lease.” However, British interpretations by historian Najeeb Mitry Saleeby in 1908, and William George Maxwell and William Summer Gibson in 1924, rendered “pajakkan” as “to grant and cede.” Another interpretation suggests that “pajakkan” could mean “to mortgage,” “pawn,” or even “wholesale.” In contemporary Tausug and Malay, “pajakkan” implies that the land is pawned in perpetuity for the annual cession money, requiring the sultanate to repay the full loan amount to redeem it.
The phrase “selama-lama,” meaning “forever” or “in perpetuity,” indicates a binding agreement extending beyond the life of the reigning sultan. The translation of the agreement also includes a controversial clause regarding the exclusive jurisdiction over the mentioned territory. In the original Jawi text and the British translation, Her Britannic Majesty (written as Duli Queen in Malay) is granted exclusive authority over the territory’s transfer, with arbitration solely decided by the Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General for Borneo. However, the Tausug translation replaces this with “Their Majesties Government,” adding to the ambiguity surrounding the agreement.
Throughout the British administration of North Borneo, the British government continued to make annual “cession money” payments to the sultan and his heirs, as clearly stated on the receipts. During a 1961 conference in London, where a Philippine and British panel convened to discuss the Philippine claim to North Borneo, the British panel informed Philippine congressman Jovito Salonga that the wording of the receipts had never been contested by the sultan or his heirs. In a 1963 Maphilindo meeting between the Philippine, Malayan, and Indonesian governments, the Philippine government relayed a request from the Sultan of Sulu for a payment of 5,000 from the Malaysian government. Malaysia’s then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, promised to follow up on the request upon returning to Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia views the payment as an annual “cession” fee for the property, while the sultan’s descendants consider it “rent.”
1878 Appointment as Datu Bandahara, Rajah of Sandakan
In addition to the Sultan of Sulu’s grant of territories on the mainland of Borneo, another agreement signed on the same day appointed Baron de Overbeck as the supreme and independent ruler of these territories. He was given the titles of Datu Bandahara and Rajah of Sandakan, with absolute authority over the land’s inhabitants and property. The original Malay treaty used the term “anugerahi dan serahkan,” which translates to “give and cede.”
The Sulu claim is based on a treaty signed on January 22, 1878, by Sultan Jamalul Alam of Sulu, appointing Baron de Overbeck as Dato Bendahara and Raja Sandakan. However, an earlier treaty signed by Sultan Abdul Momin of Brunei on December 29, 1877, had already appointed Baron de Overbeck as Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan. This treaty granted regions from Paitan to the Sibuco River, overlapping the Sulu Sultanate’s claim over Sabah.
According to the International Court of Justice in 2002, the Sultan of Sulu renounced sovereign powers over all his possessions to Spain, based on the “Bases of Peace and Capitulation” signed between the Sultan of Sulu and the Crown of Spain at Jolo on July 22, 1878. The Sultan declared Spain’s absolute dominion over the entire Sulu Archipelago and its dependencies.
The Madrid Protocol, agreed upon in 1885 by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain, reinforced Spanish authority over the Philippine Islands. In the same deal, Spain relinquished all rights to North Borneo previously held by the Sultanate in favor of the United Kingdom. The protocol stated: “The Spanish Government renounces, in relation to the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the continent of Borneo, which belong, or have previously belonged, to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo). This includes the neighboring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, which form part of the territories administered by the British North Borneo Company.”
Confirmation of the cession of specific islands in 1903
On April 22, 1903, Sultan Jamalul Alam’s successor, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, signed a document known as the “Confirmation of Cession of Certain Islands.” In this document, he granted and ceded additional islands, beyond those agreed upon in 1878, to the British North Borneo Company. These islands, situated near the mainland of North Borneo from Banggi Island to Sibuku Bay, were explicitly included in the new agreement.
In the 1903 agreement, the ambiguous term “pajakkan” was replaced with the phrase “kita telah keredhai menyerahkan kepada pemerintah British North Borneo,” ( BHAI YEH CROP KR DAIN JO HIGHLIGHT HA) which translates to “we have willingly surrendered to the Government of British North Borneo.” This wording clarified the Sulu Sultanate’s understanding of the 1878 agreement, emphasizing their voluntary cession of the territory.
The 1903 confirmation document explicitly stated that the newly indicated islands were part of the regions and islands mentioned in the January 22, 1878 agreement.
The 1939 Macaskie decision
In 1939, Dayang Dayang Hadji Piandao and eight other heirs initiated a civil case regarding the “cession money” owed to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu. This legal action followed the death of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, who passed away childless in June 1936. Chief Justice Charles Frederick Cunningham Macaskie of the High Court of North Borneo adjudicated the case, determining each claimant’s entitled share.
Supporters of the Sulu Sultanate’s claim have frequently cited this verdict as evidence of North Borneo’s recognition of the sultan’s control over the region. However, it is essential to note that the ruling solely aimed to establish the rightful successors entitled to the annual “cession money” of 5,300 Malaysian ringgit.
Key Events & Tensions
A 60-year-old dispute over the sovereignty of Sabah, Malaysia’s second-largest state, has recently reignited, straining relations between Kuala Lumpur and Manila and complicating the broader sovereignty issues in the South China Sea. The tension began with a diplomatic spat on Twitter. In July, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. tweeted, “Sabah is not in Malaysia,” responding to a message from the US Embassy in Manila regarding donations to Filipinos deported from Sabah. Following Locsin’s tweets, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein summoned the Philippine ambassador for a demarche. By the end of August, Malaysia had filed a formal complaint with the United Nations, known as a note verbale, against the Philippines.
Kuala Lumpur asserts that the payments made by the British North Borneo Company were instalments toward the acquisition of the region from Sulu, and thus, Malaysia gained sovereignty after succeeding British Malaya. Meanwhile, nine Filipinos, including Hushin Kiram, a cousin of Sultan Muedzul, are facing the death penalty in a Malaysian jail, signaling Malaysia’s firm stance on retaining the oil and gas-rich Sabah. Kiram was arrested in 2013 after attempting to seize Sabah on behalf of his father, Jamalul Kiram III, a Sulu dynasty pretender.
So, why now?
Locsin’s tweets about Sabah came just hours after President Rodrigo Duterte stated in a national address that the Philippines’ claim to the South China Sea was “inutile” because China was already “in possession” of the disputed waters. This unplanned speech faced heavy criticism, as territorial claims are typically a nationalist rallying point. Locsin aims to reopen the Office of North Borneo Affairs, a section of the Department of Foreign Affairs that was closed during the Marcos regime. Congress is currently debating a bill to include the South China Sea regions, often referred to as the West Philippine Sea, and Sabah on Philippine passports, which already show a map of the country. Former Sabah Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee described this as a “provocative” move. Notably, in 2012, Manila instructed customs officials not to stamp Chinese passports bearing the contentious Nine-Dash Line, which marks China’s territorial claims.
Moreover, tens of thousands of Filipinos live in Sabah without proper documentation. The Philippines has traditionally refused to open a consulate in Sabah, considering it part of its territory.
Sabah in Maps
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a substitute bill requiring the country’s map, including its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and Sabah, to be printed on Philippine passports. Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez stated that this move aims to “emphasize and insist” on the country’s legal and historical rights over the West Philippine Sea and Sabah, bolstering the Philippines’ victory over China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. Rodriguez authored House Bill, which has been integrated into the substitute bill to amend the Passport Law. “The inclusion of the map on our travel documents is a strong statement that we are asserting our sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea and our EEZ,” Rodriguez declared.
Strong Statements
Malaysia has firmly rejected what it labels as frivolous claims from the self-proclaimed group United Tausug Citizens (UTC), asserting themselves as the “rightful custodians of the Sultanate of Sulu Territory” over Sabah.
In a statement, Azalina declared, “This represents the latest frivolous and baseless attempt by a group to claim sovereignty over Malaysian territory and to extort unfounded payments from Malaysia.” She further highlighted Malaysia’s successful defense against a similar attempt by the self-proclaimed heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram II in Europe, which was based on a spurious arbitration award issued by rogue arbiter Dr. Gonzalo Stampa. “The Sulu Sultanate has been defunct for several decades and is not recognized by any sovereign State or international organization,” Azalina affirmed.
End Note
The Sabah Dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia remains unresolved to this day, rooted in conflicting interpretations of the 1878 Treaty between the Sultanate of Sulu and the British North Borneo Company, and subsequently the British government. The fundamental question of whether the Sultan of Sulu ceded Sabah to the British or merely leased it remains ambiguous. What is clear is that in 1963, Great Britain transferred Sabah, along with Sarawak and Singapore, to Malaysia to form the Malaysian Federation. This historical backdrop ensures that the Sabah conflict continues to strain Malaysia-Philippines bilateral relations, compounded by ongoing maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The timeline for resolution remains uncertain, leaving the matter unresolved after many years of contention.
