The Sultanate of Sulu will lead the newly organized Mindanao Sulu Unification Movement (MSUM), which seeks to promote the cultural, historical, and general welfare of Muslims, tribal groups, and Christians in Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan.

Abraham Idjirani, MSUM convenor, told the DAILY TRIBUNE that Sultan Phugdalun Kiram II has given the go-ahead for the group, which will include the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Maguindanao, tribal groups (Higaonon, Manobo, Talaandig, Bukidnon, Subanen), and the Christian populace in the region.

He said the entry of the Sultanate of Sulu into MSUM was discussed during a meeting in Jolo, Sulu, where they sought U.S. endorsement of the 2004 petition to the United Nations, demanding $25 billion in compensation from Malaysia for the “illegal” annexation of North Borneo in 1963. This claim is based on the Carpenter-Kiram Agreement, which placed Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan, and Sabah under U.S. protection.

“Sultanate of Sulu and Mindanao has been an abandoned protectorate of the U.S., and in view of the current regional security concern in Southeast Asia, there is a need to accelerate the dispute between Malaysia and the Sultanate of Sulu over ancestral territory,” Idjirani said.

The MSUM will fully support the proprietary and territorial claim of the Sultanate of Sulu.

Idjirani said the Sultanate of Sulu is invoking the 1915 Carpenter-Kiram Treaty in seeking U.S. endorsement for the $25 billion suit against Malaysia.

In an email sent through the U.S. Embassy in Manila, the 35th Sultan of Sulu, Phugdalun Kiram II, and nine other Sultanate leaders asked then-U.S. President Donald Trump for assistance in pursuing their case against Malaysia before the United Nations.

The email, coursed through the U.S. Embassy in Manila, was titled Seeking the Endorsement of the United States of America Re: 2004 UN Petition of the Sulu Sultanate, which had been submitted to the United Nations for deliberation in the UN General Assembly.

The Sultanate asserted that the treaty guaranteed their historic connection to the United States.

They are invoking historical documents to reopen their 2004 UN petition, initially submitted by their predecessor, Datu Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram. 

“Our desire to recover the leased territory of North Borneo (Sabah) was already submitted for legal disposition to the Philippine government as a national contract in 1963. However, the resolution to the matter has remained on the back burner since 1972,” the letter stated.

The Sultanate reiterated its position to reclaim and seek redress for Malaysia’s illegal occupation and administration of its ancestral territory in North Borneo. The land had been leased to the British North Borneo Company under a commercial lease agreement. In 1963, the United Kingdom transferred the territory to Malaysia, naming it the new state of Sabah upon the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. However, the Sultanate argues that this was a lease agreement, not a sovereign transfer.

“Aligned with our demand to repossess North Borneo, now called Sabah, we charge the government of Malaysia with a $25 billion payment for the unilateral and illegal development of North Borneo’s (Sabah) natural resources and land use since 1963.”