After a month-long observance of Ramadan and a pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, the emissary of the Sultanate of Sulu is set to return to Washington, D.C. to hand-carry an official letter from Sultan Phugdalun Kiram II. The letter seeks the endorsement of the U.S. government—through Secretary of State Marco Rubio—for its 2004 petition to the United Nations demanding $25 billion in damages from Malaysia over the alleged illegal annexation of Sabah, despite the still-valid Carpenter-Kiram Treaty of 1915 that placed Mindanao, Sulu, and Sabah under American protection.

Abraham Idjirani, Secretary-General of the Sultanate of Sulu, told the DAILY TRIBUNE on Monday that, following earlier contact with the U.S. Department of State last month, the emissary will personally deliver the letter that had previously been sent via email.

“The emissary is scheduled to meet with U.S. State Department officials for a possible audience with Secretary Rubio to seek the U.S. endorsement of the petition,” he said.

Idjirani noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs will be furnished a copy of the letter for reference, but the main objective is to invoke the 1915 Carpenter-Kiram agreement, which was never rescinded by the U.S. Congress and is still considered active.

The $25-billion damage claim against Malaysia represents the estimated value of natural resources exploited after Sabah was annexed by the British and later absorbed into the Malaysian Federation—allegedly in violation of the Carpenter-Kiram Treaty.

The endorsement request follows a 2004 communication from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which informed the Sultanate that the matter should be referred to the United Nations General Assembly and that it could be brought forward once endorsed by the U.S., China, or the Philippines.

“The filing of the 2004 UN petition by the Sulu Sultanate was meant to advance the vital interests, well-being, and general welfare of its constituents and others residing in Sabah,” Idjirani said.

He added that Malaysia merely inherited British leasehold rights—originally obtained from the British North Borneo Company in 1878—when it established its federation in 1963. Late Senator Arturo Tolentino had declared before the UN that these rights were that of a lessee, not of a sovereign state.

The Sultanate of Sulu is now invoking the Carpenter-Kiram Treaty as the legal basis for U.S. endorsement of its longstanding claim.

In an email coursed through the U.S. Embassy in Manila, the 35th Sultan of Sulu and nine other Sultanate leaders appealed to President Donald Trump for assistance in pursuing their case before the UN.

The email, coursed through the US Embassy in Manila is seeking the endorsement of the United States Re: 2004 UN Petition of the Sulu Sultanate submitted to the United Nations for deliberation in the UN General Assembly

“With esteemed honor, the Bangsa Suluk people—the ancestral constituents of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo—have always looked upon the United States of America as our protector and benefactor,” the letter stated.

The Sultanate emphasized that the treaty ensured their historic connection to the United States.

They are now seeking to reopen the 2004 UN petition initially submitted by Datu Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, invoking historical documents and precedents.

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

The Sultanate of Sulu has since revoked the transfer of sovereignty over Sabah to the Philippine government.

In a seven-page resolution signed by the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and the Ruma Bichara Council, the 29 January 1962 transfer of sovereignty was declared null and void. The revocation was formally declared in a document dated 12 February 1989, signed by Kiram III and other direct descendants in Jolo, Sulu.

The resolution cited the Philippine government’s failure to fulfill its obligation to pursue all legal means for the recovery of Sabah.

“The 29 August 1962 transfer of the Sultanate’s sovereign title to the Republic of the Philippines is null and void and revoked by His Royal Highness Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Kiram III and the Ruma Bichara,” the resolution stated.

A source from the TRIBUNE also pointed to the exclusion of Sabah in the 1987 Constitution as another basis for revoking Philippine authority over the claim.

The source added that even during the Commonwealth era under President Manuel Quezon, the Philippine government failed to protect the Sultanate’s proprietary and sovereign rights over Sabah.

The Session Court of North Borneo (Sabah) has also recognized the proprietary rights of the heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

In an 11 October 1939 judgment, British Chief Justice C.F.C. Macaskie upheld the claims of the Sultanate and appointed Datu Punjaman Kiram as administrator of the North Borneo estate. Datu Punjaman was later crowned the 32nd Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo.

"The Macaskie judgment proves that even the British colonial government acknowledged the Sultanate’s rights over Sabah before Malaysia’s independence," the source said.

In addition, Malaysia signed an agreement with the Philippines and Indonesia stating that the inclusion of Sabah in the Malaysian Federation would not prejudice the Philippine claim to the disputed territory.

According to the 1963 Manila Accord, the resolution of the Sabah claim is to be pursued in the International Court of Justice.

Among the signatories of the Manila Accord were Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and then Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Emmanuel Pelaez.

The heirs of the Sultanate assert they are the rightful successors-in-interest to the last recognized Sultan of Sulu, who in 1878 entered into a lease agreement with a British trading company for the use of Sabah’s natural resources.