The Sultanate of Sulu will seek the endorsement of US President Donald Trump for a 2004 petition to the International Court of Justice (ICC) seeking a $25-billion damages suit against Malaysia for the exploitation and use of natural resources in Sabah (North Borneo). This comes after the disputed territory was annexed to the Malaysian Federation without the consent of the Sultanate, despite the existing Carpenter-Kiram Treaty, which guaranteed the Sultanate’s ancestral territorial rights under American protection.

Abraham Idjirani, convenor of the Mindanao-Sulu Unification Movement (MSUM), told the DAILY TRIBUNE that the elders of the Sultanate will officially request the endorsement of the US President to reactivate the petition, which has been pending since 2004.

The resolution received by the UN on 20 August 1984 was achieved at the UN pending the endorsement of a member state such as the Philippines, China, or the US.

The $25-billion claim represents the estimated value of resources exploited since Sabah was annexed to Malaysia in 1963, up to the present day.

“Since the Philippine government has already opted out of the Sabah case, our only hope is for the US or China to endorse the petition and initiate deliberations at the ICC,” Idjirani said.

He also noted that the endorsement of President Trump would align with his administration’s objective to secure vital waterways across the globe.

Idjirani further emphasized that the Sultanate’s ancestral territory includes the South China Sea and part of the Celebes Sea, which were historically part of the ancient Silk Sea route in the 17th century.

The Sultanate asserts full sovereignty, legal, and historic rights over the territory of North Borneo (Sabah) from 18 September 2004, onward. It demands that the government of Malaysia pay $25 billion in damages for its "illegal" annexation of the disputed territory and exploitation of its natural resources. 

Sultanate of Sulu's 2004 petition to the UN

The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (or the Bangsa Suluk Nation) submitted a petition to re-possess Sabah in 2004 to the UN through its satellite office in Makati.

The 2004 petition was based on the Sultanate's sovereign, legal, and historic rights, adopting internationally accepted arguments and positions for the peaceful settlement of disputes regarding its occupied ancestral territories.

The petition's legal grounds were rooted in the 1915 Carpenter-Kiram Agreement, the 1947 UN Charter Resolution, the 1950 UN Resolution, and the spirit and intent of the Monroe Doctrine of 1885.

The late Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram spearheaded the submission, which was signed by hundreds of followers of the Sulu Sultanate throughout the Sulu Archipelago, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Palawan on behalf of the 33rd Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, the 34th Sultan Esmail Kiram II, and the Bangsa Suluk people.

The Sultanate viewed the UN as the proper tribunal to resolve the issue of Sabah with Malaysia through the application of internationally recognized principles for the peaceful settlement of disputes. This signified the ruling family’s desire for a peaceful resolution to the issue.

The UN petition is separate from the $14.9 billion arbitration award, which was dismissed by a French arbitration court last year.

The Philippine government has refused to become involved in the dispute over Sabah after the lawyer of the claimant heirs of the Sulu Sultanate said that the French court's recent dismissal of the arbitral award opened the possibility of leasing the resource-rich contested territory, potentially to China or the Philippines.

The Philippines is not privy to the cases between the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu and Malaysia, according to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, when sought for comment on the latest development in the long-standing dispute.