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 Tunku’s 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, Tunku’s 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 was posturing to be the peacemaker. However, because of intelligence reports received from the Filipino team in Sabah, events were to turn worse.
Manila broke relations with the newly formed Malaysia, whose capital was Kuala Lumpur, after it was confirmed that Sabah had joined the federation.
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.
Malaysia’s counter move
According to this officer, Malaysia launched a covert operation to disrupt the Philippine plan. It had to be a covert operation because Malaysia was still not strong enough to engage the Philippines openly. Besides, with both opposing sides having the the U.K. and the U.S. as firm partners, two major countries would firmly put their foot down to stop a shooting war between Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
As part of the Malaysian covert operation, the Malaysians established a commando unit in Sabah.
The Malaysian countermove, said the officer basically consisted two phases: Infiltrating the Filipino recruitment effort and then sowing dissension within the ranks of those recruited.
“They were successful in both phases,” the officer said.
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 Enrile’s answer, the retired officer replied, “He’s right, he wouldn’t 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.”
Reference:http://philippinesgraphic.com
