SABAH will be included as part of the Philippines under proposed constitutional amendments for a new federal government, Philippines’ ABS-CBN News reported.

The northern Bornean state, which joined Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore to form Malaysia in 1963, will be added as the Philippines’ 13th federal state under a proposal by former senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, who is a member of the Philippines Charter Change consultative committee.

The committee is tasked with amending the country’s 1987 constitution.

Pimentel said the Philippine government should find ways to assert the Sabah claim in a way acceptable to international laws.

“There should be a way that is acceptable under international laws to assert our claim to Sabah. I think we can defer it a little bit more but to say that we stop doing it is not in the context of my proposal,” he was reported saying.

His proposal includes 12 federal states, with Sabah to be added later as the 13th federal state.

The 12 states are Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Minparom, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Bangsamoro.

“Eventually once we have asserted our sovereignty and rights over Sabah, we should include Sabah. Not only Sabah, but also Scarborough, Benham Rise, and Spratlys,” Pimentel said.

The Sabah claim was part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise during the 2016 elections, with his administration aiming to pursue the initiative only by peaceful means.

Pimentel maintained that Sabah belongs to the Philippines and there are documents to prove the claim that Malaysia is just a lessee, he added.

This refers to 1878 land lease agreement between the Sultanate of Sulu and the British North Borneo Chartered Company over North Borneo.

The Philippines maintains that the agreement was only for leasing the land and did not render Sabah part of Malaysia, when it was formed into a federation in 1963.

In November 2016, however, both Duterte and Prime Minister Najib Razak reportedly agreed that the matter be kept on the “back burner”, with the Philippine president saying pursuing claims over Sabah was not a priority at the time. – January 31, 2018.