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COLLEGE OF LAW
A covert war for Sabah
That is the basic reason why two governments normally send such claims for
mediation with another government that both consider as neutral. It is up to the
honest broker to mediate the talks and lead to an agreement. In the case of the
talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, can
Malaysia be considered as an honest broker? The Philippines still has an existing
claim on Sabah, which Malaysia contests. The claim has been dormant and to date,
four Philippine administrations did nothing to press the Philippine claim.
A thorny history
The beginning of the dispute is generally believed to have began in 1878 when
Baron von Overbeck, a consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Hong Kong bought
concession rights for Sabah, then known as North Borneo. The seeds of the
Philippine claim were sown. According to Rozan Yunos in a feature article published
in the Brunei Times on Sept. 21, 2008, Overbeck played both sides of the street.
When he formed the Dent Company with Alfred Dent of Hong Kong, Overbeck
apparently agreed to pay leases to all who claimed land in Sabah, namely the
Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of Sulu. Other records state Overbeck agreed to pay
$12,000 annually to the Sultan of Brunei on Dec. 29, 1877 and $5,000 to the Sultan
of Sulu on Jan. 22, 1878.
When Overbeck failed to get funding support from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he
sold his rights to his business partner, Dent. Dent then obtained a royal charter from
the British Crown, forming the British North Borneo Company. The company also
took over the liabilities of the original company formed by Overbeck and Dent. In
awarding the Royal Charter, the British government assumed a form of sovereignty
over the state especially its foreign relations, wrote Yunos. Because of this, the
other western powers in the area immediately took renewed interest in Borneo and
Malaya. However the Spanish agreed to British control over northern Borneo
because the British accepted Spanish control over the Sulu Archipelago. The
Germans also accepted British control over Sabah because the British agreed to
accept German control over New Guinea.
Yunos added: It was the Dutch that tried to claim some land near Sandakan in 1879
but the British North Borneo Company objected to it. To solve the problems, both
the Dutch and the British agreed to divide Borneo into a British area in the north
and a Dutch area in the south. This was later known as the Madrid Protocol.
British North Borneo Company effectively ruled Sabah for six decades, ending when
the Imperial Japanese Army occupied the region at the onset of World War II. After
the war ended, a bankrupt British North Borneo Company, which could no longer
afford reconstruction costs, ceded its rights to the British government on July 15,
1946. On Aug. 31, 1963, the British granted self-government to Sabah, Sarawak,
and Malaya.
An overt and covert war
The post-war Philippine government under President Diosdado Macapagal began
asserting its claim on Sabah on Sept. 12, 1962. This was a period of tension in the
region when diplomatic relations between Malaysia (then still known as Malaya),
Indonesia and the Philippines were still shaky. At around this time, Indonesian leader
Sukarno, Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Macapagal met in Manila
in what was publicly declared as talks for the formation of a new regional grouping
to be known as Maphilindo (Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia).
But away from the public eye, the three leaders were actually pressing their
respective territorial claims.
Aware of the brewing difficulty, the British government on Aug. 31, 1963, granted
self-government over the states of Malaya and North Borneo.
According to a Time Magazine article on Aug. 9, 1963, Tunku was initially hesitant of
getting self-government for Malaya early.
The British government applied some needed stiffening to Tunkus back by telling
him bluntly that they were pulling their troops out of Sarawak and North Borneo
(Sabah) on schedule, thereby opening both territories to possible Indonesian
infiltration and terrorism, the Time article said.
Because of the British pressure, Tunku and his allies organized a referendum
wherein people in Sarawak and Sabah were asked if they wanted to join the
Malaysian federation.
According to a retired Filipino military officer who was in Sabah during the
referendum, Tunku rigged the polls. The officer told the Philippines Graphic that
for a period before the polls, Tunkus allies embarked on a policy of encouraging
Malaysians to settle in Sabah while deporting those residents of Sabah who were of
Filipino descent. He added that he sent his intelligence reports to another Filipino
military officer based in Singapore. The officer said he and his team of Filipino
soldiers had the job of observing the referendum. When asked if they also had
considered interrupting the polls, he declined to answer.
In another meeting in Manila, Tunku pointedly reminded Sukarno that he had taken
over West Irian without a plebiscite and that the legislatures of North Borneo and
Sarawak had passed resolutions in favor of the new federation. Publicly, Macapagal
Sibling rivalry
At the same time, a shooting war erupted between Malaysia and Indonesia with
Manila on the sidelines. Ironically, just a month before the fighting started
Macapagal had described the three countries as triplets who became separated at
birth, who were placed under the care of different foster parents but who have now
come of age and are trying to rediscover their common origin and shape their
common destiny.
Manila, with strong ties to the United States, could not openly side with Indonesia
against Malaysia, which was supported by the United Kingdom. Philippine
involvement consisted of inserting teams of US-trained Filipino commandoes in
some Indonesian. According to various reports at that time, the British government
sent 50,000 troops and 70 warships to defend Malaysia in the three-year war. There
was no way that Manila, a US-backed nation, could openly go against British-backed
Malaysia because of the huge British military involvement. Macapagal and the next
President Ferdinand E. Marcos, knew this.
Operation Merdeka
Since Marcos was aware that Malaysia had just gone through a rough border war
with Indonesia and was still reeling with the secession of Singapore in 1965, a new
team of Filipino commandoes, many of whom were known as third country
operators were tasked to destabilize Sabah.
Under the plan, codenamed Merdeka, once Sabah was embroiled in violence,
Philippine troops would intervene to protect Filipinos in Sabah. With Malaysia still
weakened with its border war with Indonesia, it was thought to be a plausible
diplomatic excuse.
I was already in Sabah, just waiting for orders from another officer in Singapore,
the officer told the Graphic.
The Philippine plan also called for recruiting young men from Sulu who were familiar
with Sabah, training them and eventually sending them out on covert missions in
Sabah.
Malaysias counter move
The Graphic asked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who was defense secretary
during much of the Marcos administration, if he had heard of such a Malaysian
move. Enrile said he had no knowledge of such an operation. When told of Enriles
answer, the retired officer replied, Hes right, he wouldnt know. He was not part of
the operation.
Jabidah Massacre
With Malaysia successfully infiltrating the Filipino recruitment effort, the Malaysian
commando unit ordered its men, believed to be Filipino Muslims who favored
Malaysian control over Sabah, to begin the second phase. The second phase,
sowing dissension, reaped its fruit in Corregidor when several trainees for the
Philippine Sabah operation began complaining of poor pay and living conditions.
The officer related that several trainees attacked his colleagues at night. Most of
the officers of the training cadre were in pup tents when the trainees crept up to
them, he said. One lieutenant was immediately killed and several other soldiers and
officers were wounded in that attack, the retired officer claimed. Fortunately, others
were able to fight back. At dawn, the remaining trainees were rounded up. Unsure of
which of them had taken an active part in the night attack, they were mowed down.
One escaped and was able to swim ashore to Cavite where he was later presented
to Congress and the press.
Once this was blown, the Malaysians had succeeded in thwarting the Philippine
plan.
It can be said, in a way, that Malaysia and the Philippines waged a covert war for
Sabah, the officer said. Apparently, it was the Malaysians who won.