FILIPINO senators who called for their republic to stake a claim on Sabah is just making a political issue out of it, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
He said Wisma Putra would only step in if it involved the Philippines government.
“We know what is going on there and we are monitoring the reactions of politicians there who are taking advantage of the situation, because these claims have never been dropped by the senators,” he said during Ministers Question Time. He said the issue was supposed to be dropped during the rule of then Philippines president Fidel Ramos.
But it did not happen and the Sabah claim remains a political issue raised by politicians there.
He said Wisma Putra was aware that the claim had been raised by politicians in the Philippines.
He was replying to a supplementary question by Chan Foong Hin (PH-Kota Kinabalu) on the statements made by two Filipino senators, Francis Tolentino and Robinhood Padilla, who called for their country to reclaim Sabah.
Chan had asked whether the Philippines ambassador to Malaysia has been summoned by Wisma Putra to explain the country’s official stance on the matter.
In a related note, Wan Junaidi said the latest attempt by the descendants of the former Sulu sultan on Malaysian assets in the Netherlands went against the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s arbitration rules.
PETRONAS said on Oct 1 that it would fight any claims by the heirs of the Sulu sultanate with legal action, after the latter had gone to a Dutch court to seek permission to seize the assets.
