MALAYSIA will not recognise or entertain any claim on Sabah, Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman said of the Philippines’ renewed efforts to stake a claim over the state.

He said Sabah is recognised by the United Nations (UN) and the international community as part of Malaysia since the formation of the federation on September 16, 1963.

“Therefore, statements such as these will only expose the ignorance of history and international law of those who make them, as well as potentially harming the excellent bilateral relations which Malaysia and the Philippines presently enjoy,” he said in a statement issued by Wisma Putra today.

He was responding to news that the Philippines Charter Change consultative committee, currently tasked with amending the country’s 1987 constitution, has included Sabah as part of the Philippines under proposed amendments.

Former senator Aquilino Pimentel said the Philippine government must find ways to assert the Sabah claim in a way acceptable to international laws.

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

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

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 said that Sabah belonged to the Philippines and there are documents to prove this claim. Malaysia is just a lessee, he added.

He said these documents are the 1878 land lease agreement between the Sultanate of Sulu and the British North Borneo Chartered Company over the 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. – January 31, 2018.