The Sulu case is not a political football

Foreign incursion: General Operations Force personnel on guard as part of a security ring around a village in which armed Filipino men were holding out during the 2013 attack on Lahad Datu. — Filepic/The Star

LAST March, at the height of the buzz over the news that a French arbitration court had instructed the Malaysian government to pay US$14.92bil (RM62.6bil) to the descendants of a Sulu Sultan, I was in Manila, Zamboanga City, Jolo and Davao to get insights on the matter.

Covid-19 travel restrictions had been eased, and after more than three years of not travelling to the Philippines, I wanted to meet old contacts and make new friends.