LAST week, I was in Manila, Zamboanga City, Jolo Island in Sulu Province, and Davao City for a fortnight to meet with possibly legitimate descendants of the Sulu Sultan’s family as well as pretenders to the throne and conmen. I was even verbally awarded a “Datu” title by a “Queen of Sulu and North Borneo”.
It was the first anniversary of the time arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa, from Spain, ordered Putrajaya to pay US$14.92bil (RM62.6bil) to the descendants of a Sulu Sultan in a case heard in France – one in which Malaysia did not participate.
Among the reasons that led to the claims by the self-proclaimed heirs of the Sulu Sultanate was that Putrajaya stopped paying the cession money of RM5,300 a year to the heirs in 2013. Malaysia stopped payments following the armed intrusion by followers of the Sulu Sultanate into Lahad Datu, Sabah, 10 years ago.
In my chats with Filipinos – some with “dual citizenship” as they also have Malaysian identity cards – I discovered that some believe that the Sulu Sultanate claimants have won and will receive the US$14.92bil. Others are doubtful as they see the claim as a lengthy legal battle the result of which may or may not favour the claimants.
The believers say that the award issued by Stampa is the final judgement as it was described as the “final award” by the arbitrator.
“The arbitration in Paris has decided. It is the final judgement. We won. We are just waiting to collect the money,” a Filipina told me while we drank kahawa (the Tausug word for coffee) during buka puasa.
“But the cases are ongoing,” I said.
“It is the final judgment. We have won,” she insisted.
However, others who have been following the legal battles in Spain, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, have different opinions.
“We are going against a country with the funds to fight us in the courts. We don’t know what the outcome is. I doubt Malaysia will pay the award,” a Filipino told me.
“But the claimants are backed by Therium,” I said, referring to the London-based investor group, which, according to the Financial Times, funds the Sulu claimants’ legal battles.
On its website, Therium describes itself as “Expert Litigation Funders”, and “one of the world’s largest litigation funding firms”.
“We have funded claims with a total value of circa $100 billion across the world, including many of the most high-profile funded cases,” it says.
“Still, it will be a long battle,” said my Filipino contact.
“It has been one year since the Stampa award. We were told the payment would be made in three months, and then in December. It has been one year and walang pera (Tagalog for no money),” he said.
To summarise the case so far, Malaysia has annulled Stampa’s appointment as an arbitrator in Spain, while proceedings continue in France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
On Feb 2, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the Spanish Constitutional Court rejected the appeal by the group against the Madrid’s court annulment of Stampa as arbitrator on June 2021.
On June 29, 2021, the High Court of Justice of Madrid issued a decision that disallowed the judicial appointment of Stampa to act as an arbitrator.
Describing it as another significant victory for Malaysia against the self-described Sulu heirs, Azalina said the Spanish court’s decision is final and reaffirms Malaysia’s position on the arbitration case.
The US$14.92bil award is like a pot of gold that is drawing not only the Sulu Sultanate families but also pretenders to the throne and conmen too.
They have written letters directly or via proxy to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, offering to “solve” the arbitration case. Those who don’t think Malaysia is likely pay the US$14.92bil want to negotiate a backdoor win-win settlement for both parties, Putrajaya and themselves.
Some showed me their letters to Anwar stamped “Received” by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It seems they have “people” in Putrajaya who can deliver the letters.
The PMO has to be vigilant about these “heirs” as well as pretenders to the throne and con artists trying to negotiate. The family tree of the legitimate Sulu Sultan and heirs is a complex maze. Knowing who is legitimate is crucial.
The Sulu issue is also complex.
Armchair analysts on the matter tend to lump the Sulu arbitration case together with Sabah sovereignty and security threats.
That’s not exactly accurate.
While the three issues – proprietary (Sulu arbitration case), sovereignty (claims to Sabah’s territory) and security (Lahad Datu Intrusion 2.0) – are interconnected, some Sulu players are involved in all three issues while others are only involved in one.
For example, a Sulu Sultanate family member is involved in the sovereignty issue (ie, the Sulu Sultanate and the Philippines government claim that Sabah is part of their territory) but not in the propriety case as he is not listed as a claimant.
Then there is a Sulu Sultanate branch involved in all three areas, proprietary, sovereignty and security.
Sovereignty has been put on the back burner by some of the legitimate claimants to the Sulu Sultanate throne as the family wants to focus on the proprietary claim. The dream of some to be recognised as a Sulu Sultan has to wait as they don’t want to muddy the issue.
As for the security issue, we have to wonder if there will be a repeat of the 2013 attack on Lahad Datu that killed six civilians, 10 Malaysian security forces members, and about 56 Sulu fighters.
According to intelligence officers in Malaysia and the Philippines, there is a possibility it could happen again as the Stampa decision “confirmed” what some people in the southern Philippines believe, that Sabah belongs to them.
“If they don’t get the payment, they will take what they think belongs to them. That is what happened in 2013,” a Filipino intelligence officer told me in Zamboanga City over a bottle of whisky.
“For now, they plan. But they won’t execute it yet as they won’t jeopardise the Sulu arbitration case.”
The three Sulu issues are the perfect recipe for geopolitical games.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
