In the formation of Malaysia

On August 31, 1963 North Borneo attained self-government. The idea for the formation of a
union of the former British colonies, namely, Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo was
mooted by Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and was supported by the British. In 1962,
the Cobbold Commission was set up to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak favoured
the proposed union. The Commission had found that the union was generally favoured by the people
but wanted certain terms and conditions incorporated to safeguard the interest of the people. The
Commission had also noted some opposition from the people but decided that such opposition were
minor. The Commission published its report on August 1, 1962 and had made several
recommendations. Unlike in Singapore, however, no referendum was ever conducted in Sabah.

Most ethnic community leaders of Sabah, namely, Tun Mustapha representing the Muslims,
Tun Fuad Stephens representing the non-Muslim natives, and Khoo Siak Chew representing the
Chinese, would eventually support the formation. An agreement was signed by Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Harold MacMillan, the British Prime Minister, and William Goode, the last Governor of North
Borneo, signed on behalf of the territory on August 1, 1962 putting to paper the agreement to form the
union.

The intention had been to form Malaysia on August 31 but due to objections from the
Philippines and Indonesia, the formation had to be postponed to September 16.[citation needed] On
September 16, 1963, North Borneo together with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore formed the
Federation of Malaysia and from then on, it became known as Sabah and declared independent from
British sovereignty. To safeguard the interest of North Borneo in the new federation, a 20-point
agreement was entered into between the federal and the state government.
 The Philippine objection on Sabah’s inclusion in Malaysia

In 1885, Great Britain, Germany and Spain signed the Madrid Protocol to cement
Spanish influence over the islands of the Philippines. In the same agreement, Spain relinquished all
claim to North Borneo which had belong to the Sultanate in the past.

n 1906 and in 1920, the United States formally reminded Great Britain that North Borneo did
not belong to the Crown and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu. However, the British did turn
Sabah into a Crown leased Colony.[2]

The Philippine Constitution of 1941 states that the national territory of the Philippines
included, among other things, "all other areas which belong to the Philippines on the basis of
historical rights or legal claims." Malaysia was federated in 16 September 1963. Even before Sabah
was incorporated into Malaysia, the Philippines sent delegations to London reminding the British
Crown that Sabah belonged to the Philippines. [3]

The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the north-eastern part of the territory as a prize for helping
the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies and from then on that part of Borneo was recognized as part
of the Sultan of Sulu's sovereignty. In 1878, Baron Von Overbeck, an Austrian partner representing
The British North Borneo Company and his British partner Alfred Dent, leased the territory of Sabah.
In return, the company was to provide arms to the Sultan to resist the Spaniards and 5,000 Malayan
dollars annual rental based on the Mexican dollar's value at that time or its equivalent in gold. This
lease was continued until the independence and formation of the Malaysian federation in 1963
together with Singapore, Sarawak and the states of Malaya. As of 2004, the Malaysian Embassy to the
Philippines had been paying cession/rental money amounting to US$1,500 per year (about 6,300
Malaysian Ringgits) to the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu.[4] This is an act of British government before
the federation and continued to the todays government of Malaysia. [5]

The contract between Sri Paduka Maulana Al Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam, representing
the sultanate as owner and sovereign of Sabah on one hand, and that of Gustavus Baron de Overbeck
and Alfred Dent representing the North Borneo Company, on the other as lessees of Sabah, was
executed on January 22, 1878. The Lease prohibits the transfer of Sabah to any nation, company or
individual without the consent of His Majesty’s Government (“Government of the Sultan of Sulu”).[6]
Although it is mentioned to be a permanent lease, it is contrary to international law, which states that
the terms for a lease contract can be for only 99 years, as in the case of Hong Kong and Macau when
these were leased to Great Britain and Portugal respectively, by China and subsequently returned after
the expiration of the lease.[citation needed] This would make the lease on Sabah overdue by 130 years.[citation
needed]

Less than a decade later, the Sultanate of Sulu came under the control of Spain and was
forced to sign a document giving all of the Sultan's Properties in Palawan and Sulu (excluding
Northern Borneo) to Spain. In 1885, Spain relinquished all of its claim to Borneo to the British in the
Madrid Protocol of 1885.[7]

In spite of that, in 1906 and 1920 the United States formally reminded Great Britain that
Sabah did not belong to them and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu on the premise that Spain
never acquired sovereignty over North Borneo [see Madrid Protocol] to transfer all its claims of
sovereignty over North Borneo to Great Britain on the Madrid Protocol of 1885. This is so because
the Sultan of Sulu did not include his territory and dominion in North Borneo in signing the treaty of
1878 recognizing the Spanish sovereignty over “Jolo and its dependencies.” North Borneo was never
considered a dependency of Jolo. However, the British Government ignored the reminder and still
annexed the territory of North Borneo as a Crown Colony on July 10, 1946. This was in spite of the
fact that the British Government was aware of the decision made by the High Court of North Borneo
on December 19, 1939, that the successor of the Sultan in the territory of Sabah was the Government
of the Philippine Islands and not Great Britain.[8]

On September 12, 1962, during President Diosdado Macapagal's administration (the father of
Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), the territory of North Borneo, and the full
sovereignty, title and dominion over the territory were ceded by the then reigning Sultan of Sulu, HM
Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I, to the Republic of the Philippines.[9] The cession effectively
gave the Philippine government the full authority to pursue their claim in international courts. The
Philippines broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the federation had included Sabah in 1963.
It was revoked in 1989 because succeeding Philippine administrations have placed the claim in the
back burner in the interest of pursuing cordial economic and security relations with Kuala Lumpur.[10]
To date, Malaysia continues to consistently reject Philippine calls to resolve the matter of Sabah's
jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice.[11] Sabah sees the claim made by the Philipine's Moro
leader Nur Misuari to take Sabah to International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a non-issue and thus
dismissed the claim. [12]