SCUTTLEBUTT

Maritime law aids Sultanate’s UN plea

The Sultanate of Sulu will employ a newly approved maritime law in its petition to the United Nations for a $25-billion claim against Malaysia for the annexation of Sabah despite the existing 1915 Carpenter Kiram treaty which placed Mindanao, Sulu and Sabah under US protection.

The Philippine Maritime Zone Act, signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 8 November 2024 will be included among documents that the Sultanate will submit to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for UN endorsement.

“The Maritime Bill that is now part of the Law of the Philippines is connected to the historical rights and interests of people around the Sulu Archipelago.”

He stated that the Sultan of Sulu has expressed a firm stance regarding the intent and territorial jurisdiction outlined in the 12 June 1898 Declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite.

This declaration only covered Luzon and the Visayas. At that time, the Sultanate of Sulu, also known as the Bangsa Suluk Nation, continued to exercise independent sovereignty over its territorial integrity and rights, including the Sibutu Sea, as emphasized in Maritime Law. This area falls within the Sulu Sea.

The redefinition of territorial integrity and rights, now recognized under the Two Landmark Laws of the Philippines, is challenged by the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, which was signed between the United States and the Sultanate of Sulu (Bangsa Suluk Nation).

The incorporation of the Sultanate of Sulu’s territorial jurisdiction and rights into the Philippines did not occur through the 12 June 1898, Declaration of Philippine Independence, the 1898 Treaty of Paris, or the 7 November 1900, Cession of Sulu and its underlying islands, which include Cagayan de Sulu (now Mapun Municipality) and Sibutu Island.

Spain, a signatory to both the 1898 Treaty of Paris and the 1900 Cession of Sulu, never had a de facto government over the Sultanate of Sulu, North Borneo, or the Bangsa Suluk Nation. Nor did Spain acquire a sovereign hold over the Sultanate or the Bangsa Suluk Nation.

The Philippine claim to the territory covered in the Two Maritime Laws of the Philippines stems from the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, which was signed during the American occupation.

Under this agreement, the United States vested itself with sovereign power and authority to incorporate rights into the Philippines in 1935.

This incorporation was formalized after the 10-year transitional period outlined in the 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Law, becoming part of the Philippine national boundary and baseline territory on 4 July 1946, when the United States granted independence to the Third Republic of the Philippines.

The 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, stated: “The Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo was assured full protection should the question of North Borneo (Sabah) arise in the future between him and any foreign authority. Furthermore, the United States promised and committed itself to placing the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, or the Bangsa Suluk Nation, under its protectorate and flag.”

The United States Congress has not abrogated the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, thus, the United States remains morally bound and legally obligated to rectify the historical wrongs it inflicted upon the Sultanate of Sulu, North Borneo, the Bangsa Suluk Nation and the Bangsa Suluk people.

A source familiar to the royal clan emphasized that Philippine Maritime Zone law strengthened the basis for the country’s assertion of territorial rights and jurisdiction over the ancestral territories, continental shelf, and Sulu Sea — areas historically belonging to the Sultanate of Sulu that rule over the Bangsa Suluk Nation.