Kota Kinabalu, Wednesday, 2 March 2022
The so-called award of the RM62.5 billion by a foreign arbitrator against the Malaysia government in favour of the descendants of the defunct sultanate of Sulu is completely superfluous in law and will get nowhere.
This award supposedly in an arbitration ruling after a one-sided affair in a foreign country has no basis and will be of no legal effect just like the one-sided tribunal hearing brought by the Philippine government against China over the South China Sea matter.
What is of concern is that the news of the RM62.5 billion award will embolden some elements of the descendants of the defunct Kiram Sultanate to create disturbances in Sabah. Illegal immigrants from the Philippines will also feel a sense of legitimacy to remain in Sabah, hence making it more difficult for Malaysian authorities to deport them.
At the same time, the lure of this illusory RM62.5 billion will intensify the conflicts among the 50 plus Sulu claimants who claim to be the heir of the Kiram family. In fact, in the 1930s, after the death of the last Sulu Sultan without a male heir, the Philippines had declared that the Sulu sultanate has ended. It was this background that led to the court case of Dayang Dayang (daughters of Kiram) against the Government of North Borneo & others (1939) at the court in Sandakan.
Another consequence of this “award” is that the Philippine government will want to prevent the Kiram family for laying hands on this mouth-watering sum of RM62.5 billion. Imagine how much more trouble the recipients of RM62.5 billion can cause to the Philippine government?
The Philippine government will be wise to remind the Kiram descendants that in 1962, when they had wanted the Philippine government to pursue the Sabah claim under international law, in the prelude to the formation of Malaysia (in 1963), the Kiram family had already irrevocably abrogated their rights and interests to the Philippine government (so that the Philippines can take the claim to Malaya (at the time) and the United Kingdom.
So, if the Kiram descendants want to claim, they should claim against their own Philippine government.
And if the Philippines now were to take up the Sabah claim, that itself will be another exercise in futility because the Philippines had already bungled their legal case in 2001. This was because the Philippines’ attempt to revive their Sabah claim was thrown out by the International Court of Justice (World Court) in a judgement on 23 October 2001. Earlier in 2001, the Philippines had tried to intervene in the ICJ case between Indonesia and Malaysia who had (in 1998) submitted their respective claims over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan.
Who paid the fees?
Who paid the legal fees and costs of the arbitration case that had done to Spain and France? As every lawyer knows, legal fees and costs in Europe can cost millions of ringgit. Who are paying for the fees and costs? The Kiram family do not have the financial resources to mount such an international legal effort.
Therefore, I urge the Malaysian government to find out who had foot the bills of the claimants. Once we know the identity of the payors of the legal fees and costs, we will have the identity of the culprits who are pushing the poor Kiram descendants to pursue their Sabah claim.
In fact, in June 2020, I had publicly asked an ex-Federal Minister of Law and the then Sabah Chief Minister about the Madrid case but my statement was met with deafening silence.
I now urge both the Federal and Sabah State governments to fervently and seriously commit to a consistent, well planned campaign to counter the political and security implications of the Philippines/Sulu claim to Sabah, including the latest so-called RM62.5 billion award.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
Ex-Chief Minister, President SAPP