I think Malaysia should condemn and send a protest note to Manila over an 'inciting' statement issued by one of its senior officials yesterday; and as a Malaysian, I feel like staging a peaceful demonstration in front of the Philippines embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
It's all about bad diplomacy which can easily be translated into an act of betrayal, insensitive and against the spirit of good relations between two neighbors. It also amount to declaring 'a war'!
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De Lima (pic), tapped by the Palace to come up with a legal position on Sabah, said she was able to read the note verbale and there was nothing there that says or implies the supposed downgrading of claims on Sabah.
It is also meant to give 'a license' to Filipinos that they are at anytime free to enter and stay in Sabah as the status of the Borneo state is more 'Filipino' than Malaysian.
De Lima also questioned why the media outfit was able to get a copy of the note verbale that was supposed to be confidential and privileged.
“It’s a diplomatic matter. It concerns diplomatic relations and diplomatic relations are covered by confidentiality,” she lamented.
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De Lima’s statement supported that of DFA spokesman Charles Jose, who confirmed that the department has sent a note verbale to the Malaysian embassy in Manila last month following the visit of Malaysian Defense Minister Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein but insisted that the country is not giving up Sabah.
NOTE: If it is a diplomatic matter, she shouldn't have made such a provocative open statement to the world. This implies how determine Manila is to continuously assert its claim. It reflects greed and hunger for the country to expand its already big and vast territory.
If we really want to rake the past, Malaysia too could have pushed its claim on four territories in southern Thailand; Iraq (during Saddam Hussein's era) was right to claim Kuwait as one of its states while Argentina still can claim Falklands as its land from Britain.
The DFA official also said the note verbale does not diminish or downgrade the country’s claim on the 73,000-square kilometer territory as he explained it only concerned the territorial issues in the South China Sea and nothing else. The country and Malaysia have excellent relations, he added.
Vera Files cited the note verbale in reporting that the government has offered to downgrade its claim to Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support in the case against China before the UN.
The report also said the DFA has asked Malaysia to confirm that it does not claim entitlement to maritime areas beyond 12 nautical miles from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands it claims.
Malaysia and the Philippines claim parts of the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, which is also being claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Brunei.
NOTE: We can't help but question her motive in issuing such a statement.
Firstly, is that what Manila has been 'easy' on its nationals entering and staying in Sabah illegally? Is Manila harboring plans whatsoever to mobilise its peoples in Sabah when 'the time comes'?
Secondly, did Manila deliberately help the intrusion of Suluk peoples in Lahad Datu in 2013 as to test our line of defense?
Thirdly, is Manila supporting any secessionist group in Sabah of late since the call for Sabah to leave Malaysia is getting louder, and is Manila also sponsoring them in cash and kind?
With such statements by de Lima, Filipinos are now looking at Malaysia, its government and its people as 'imperialist crooks' and deserve no respect. In fact, they should wage a war against our country.
What is de Lima's intention, actually, and did she really speak for her government? Did Malaysia make the right move in brokering peace for Mindanao?
And is Manila - proud to be more American and Asian - a friend we can trust from now on?
It's all about bad diplomacy which can easily be translated into an act of betrayal, insensitive and against the spirit of good relations between two neighbors. It also amount to declaring 'a war'!
MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima assured the people yesterday that the Philippines has not ceded to Malaysia its territorial claims on Sabah.She contested a report of investigative news outfit Vera Files about a note verbale in which the government allegedly offered to downgrade its claims on Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support in the Philippines’ territorial dispute with China before the United Nations.
“I think it’s a misinterpretation to say that the Philippines is giving up on its claim on Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support against China. I didn’t read anything to that effect in the note verbale,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.NOTE:When she told Filipinos that Sabah belongs to the Philippines, of course it incites nationalism upsurge among its nationals, thus painting an impression that Malaysia is a colonial power that had annexed Sabah a few hundred years ago.
She believes that the report could be a “misinformation” and “distortion” of the intent of the diplomatic document.
“It is only the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) which can really confirm the content of the note verbale. So the motive of this misinformation is really puzzling,” she stressed.
It is also meant to give 'a license' to Filipinos that they are at anytime free to enter and stay in Sabah as the status of the Borneo state is more 'Filipino' than Malaysian.
De Lima also questioned why the media outfit was able to get a copy of the note verbale that was supposed to be confidential and privileged.
“It’s a diplomatic matter. It concerns diplomatic relations and diplomatic relations are covered by confidentiality,” she lamented.
De Lima’s statement supported that of DFA spokesman Charles Jose, who confirmed that the department has sent a note verbale to the Malaysian embassy in Manila last month following the visit of Malaysian Defense Minister Dato Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein but insisted that the country is not giving up Sabah.
NOTE: If it is a diplomatic matter, she shouldn't have made such a provocative open statement to the world. This implies how determine Manila is to continuously assert its claim. It reflects greed and hunger for the country to expand its already big and vast territory.
If we really want to rake the past, Malaysia too could have pushed its claim on four territories in southern Thailand; Iraq (during Saddam Hussein's era) was right to claim Kuwait as one of its states while Argentina still can claim Falklands as its land from Britain.
The DFA official also said the note verbale does not diminish or downgrade the country’s claim on the 73,000-square kilometer territory as he explained it only concerned the territorial issues in the South China Sea and nothing else. The country and Malaysia have excellent relations, he added.
Vera Files cited the note verbale in reporting that the government has offered to downgrade its claim to Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support in the case against China before the UN.
The report also said the DFA has asked Malaysia to confirm that it does not claim entitlement to maritime areas beyond 12 nautical miles from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands it claims.
Malaysia and the Philippines claim parts of the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, which is also being claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Brunei.
NOTE: We can't help but question her motive in issuing such a statement.
Firstly, is that what Manila has been 'easy' on its nationals entering and staying in Sabah illegally? Is Manila harboring plans whatsoever to mobilise its peoples in Sabah when 'the time comes'?
Secondly, did Manila deliberately help the intrusion of Suluk peoples in Lahad Datu in 2013 as to test our line of defense?
Thirdly, is Manila supporting any secessionist group in Sabah of late since the call for Sabah to leave Malaysia is getting louder, and is Manila also sponsoring them in cash and kind?
With such statements by de Lima, Filipinos are now looking at Malaysia, its government and its people as 'imperialist crooks' and deserve no respect. In fact, they should wage a war against our country.
What is de Lima's intention, actually, and did she really speak for her government? Did Malaysia make the right move in brokering peace for Mindanao?
And is Manila - proud to be more American and Asian - a friend we can trust from now on?