Pawns in the game for Sabah

So called militant groups are now belatedly attending to the plight of Filipinos who are banished from what is supposed to be part of their homeland.

At the same time, the Manila government is getting embroiled in the condition of Filipinos being forcibly deported by the Malaysian government and returned to the country, particularly Zamboanga.

This policy of the Malaysian government of deporting Filipinos who have been working there or contributing to the economy and development of that country is unexplainable except for the fact that the Malaysians have also been suspicious of Filipinos, particularly those coming from the Sulu Archipelago or what used to be the Sultanate of Sulu.

The near phobic fear of the Malaysians of the Filipino presence in Sabah can be traced to what happened way back in the 18th century

In that century, the Sultan of Sulu came to the aid of his cousin, the Sultan of Brunie to put down a revolt in what was then called Borneo or Sabah.

In return for his help, the Sultan of Brunie handed over Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu.

In January 22, 1878, the Sultan of Sulu entered into a lease agreement with two adventurers the Austrian Gustavus Baron Overbeck and Englishman Alfred Dent for their use of Sabah. This lease agreement for 100 years was supposed to expire in January 22, 1978.

In the interregnum of 100 years, the British Government took over the management of Sabah from Overbeck and Dent and despite protestation from the Sultanate of Sulu, included Sabah as part of the newly Federated states of Malaysia that was granted its independence on August 31, 1957.

By the time the 100 year lease Agreement was supposed to expire in 1978, the newly federates government of Malaysia was effectively in control of Sabah.

Incidentally, to this day the Malaysian government continues to pay “rental” for Sabah to the Sultanate of Sulu.

The Malaysian has this morbid fear that sooner or later, the Sultanate will try to retake Sabah and thus fear that the presence of Filipinos in that State could be part of that plan to repossess that territory.

Is it any wonder then that Filipinos who helped developed Sabah, constructed its highways and building, are being maltreated to this day.

We refuse to look at things this way and this is the reason why we despair.

New strategy needed vs MOA-AD

The city government will have to rethink its strategy to prevent a sellout of Zamboanga or to counter the inclusion of this city in any kind of governance outside its present governmental setup under the sway of the Manila government.
Some officials, particularly Congresswoman Maria Isabelle Climaco has thought out aloud about the possibility that the Supreme Court will dismiss the petition to stop the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain or MOA-AD that was aborted on August 4 by the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the signing.
The Manila government, with all its wise men around, initially countered the petition by saying that since no signing occurred as scheduled, no crime was committed against the people of Zamboanga and other concerned constituents in Mindanao.
They even said that the MOA-AD does not violate the constitution, because no signing occurred and asked that the petition filed be junked.
We are forgetting the fact here that the drafting of that MOA-AD was not with the full consent of the people that will be affected by the agreement. What is surfacing now is that outside forces and foreign government have exerted influence on the Manila government to facilitate the creation of another republic in Mindanao to suit their ends. The sponsor of the rebel movement in Mindanao is having a direct hand in the conduct of the talks.
So although, contrary to opinions and oppositions expressed by Zamboanga Iligan and North Cotabato, the Manila government is bent on complying with the wishes and caprices of foreign governments who continue to dictate on leaders of this republic.
So it was not surprising when a retired general announced that any future talks with the rebels will be anchored on this precious MOA-AD. He even promised the Malaysian government that MOA-AD will still be the basis for any future peace talks.
When they realized the significance of these announcements, they hurriedly said that the general was misquoted. But not one of them came out with the assurance that Zamboanga City will be excluded from any promised territory to be established for an independent state in Mindanao.
But maybe it is about time that our leader here should think of a court case that will lay down the basis against the inclusion of Zamboanga in any proposed new government setup in Mindanao.
We should think of a way out of the shenanigans of foreign powers in our land.