MANILA – Malaysia has lodged a diplomatic protest to the Philippines over the latter’s territorial claims over Sabah and the Kalayaan Island Group, which covers most of the disputed Spratly Islands.
In a note verbale sent to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the Malaysian government said the Philippines’ claim to “clearly has no basis under international law.”
“The Permanent Mission of Malaysia wishes also to inform the Secretary-General that Malaysia has never recognized the Republic of the Philippines’ claim to the Malaysian state of Sabah,” read part of the document.
Malaysia also rejected Manila’s “excessive maritime claims” over the entire Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea.
Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs assistant secretary Ed Meñez, in response, said the government “is aware” of Malaysia’s move and is studying “if a public response is in the country’s interest.”
The two regional allies have long kept the decades-old dispute in the back burner, but a tweet from Philippines’ Foreign Affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. recently triggered a public spat.
Malaysia had considered Sabah its territory since it became part of the Malaysian federation in 1963.
Kuala Lumpur maintained that the United Nations and the international community have recognized Sabah as part of Malaysia.
Manila, however, insisted that Sabah was merely on lease to Malaysia by the Sultanate of Sulu, which ceded sovereignty over the area to the Philippines./PN
