De Lima: Nothing in note verbale that says PHL was giving up Sabah claim

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima branded as a "distortion" a report that the Philippines has given up its claim on Sabah in exchange for Malaysia's support for the Philippines' territorial dispute against China.

 

De Lima issued the statement following a report from VERA Files quoting a note verbale in which the Philippines allegedly downgraded its claim on Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support for its case against China before the United Nations.

 

The note verbale was supposedly handed by the Department of Foreign Affairs to a representative of the Malaysian Embassy two weeks ago, a week after the visit of Malaysian Defense Minister Dato  Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

 

"Binasa ko iyon (note verbale sa VERA Files website) and then wala naman akong nakikita doon.... Wala akong nababasang ganoon sa note verbale," De Lima told reporters.

 

"I think misinterpretation iyong sinasabi na gini-give-up ng Pilipinas iyong claim niya sa Sabah in exchange for Malaysia's support against China," she said, adding that the misinterpretation was a "distortion" of the supposed note verbale.

 

The note verbale, a copy of which was obtained by VERA Files, referred to the May 6, 2009 joint submission by Malaysia and Vietnam to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in which Malaysia claimed an extended continental shelf (350 nautical miles from baseline) that was clearly projected from Sabah.

 

The Philippines claims ownership of Sabah, which is at present occupied by Malaysia, based on the title of the Sultan of Sulu who ceded proprietary rights over the 76,115-square-kilometer land to the Philippines in 1962.

 

De Lima said it was still up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to confirm whether such a note verbale indeed exists.

 

"Whether or not the note exists, ang alam ko pagdating sa ganyan, that is a privileged matter. It's a confidential matter, meaning hindi basta-basta nakakakuha ng copy ng note verbale because it's a diplomatic matter," De Lima said.

 

De Lima said she wondered what could have been the "motive for such misinformation" in the VERA Files report.

'DFA misleading the public'

 

VERA Files earlier said the Department of Foreign Affairs was "misleading the public" in saying that it did not mention Sabah in a note verbale the Philippine government recently sent to Malaysia, the newsgroup that published the disputed report said Tuesday.

 

It countered the DFA spokesperson Charles Jose's claim that "Sabah is not in any way part of the note," when he denied information in the group's story. 

 

"Note Verbale No. 15-1979 sent to Malaysia, the basis of VERA Files' story, stated that it is reviewing the Aug. 4 2009 protest (No. 000819) it filed with the United Nations. The Philippines' August 2009 protest, contained in two pages, singles out North Borneo or the old name of Sabah," VERA Files said.

 

“The Philippines took issue with an earlier joint submission by Vietnam and Malaysia for the extended continental shelf because it lays claims on areas that are disputed not only because they overlap with that of the Philippines, but also because of the controversy arising from the territorial claims on some of the islands in the area including North Borneo.”

 

The VERA Files report stated that the Philippine government was "reviewing" its protest against Malaysia's claims over Sabah and was considering to downgrade its own claims in exchange for support in the case against China. 

 

According to the VERA Files report, the Philippines would "review" its 2009 position on the Sabah territorial dispute provided that Malaysia “confirm” that its claim over an extended continental shelf is “entirely from the mainland coast of Malaysia, and not from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands.”

 

The DFA also requested Malaysia to confirm that it “does not claim entitlement to maritime areas beyond 12 nautical miles from any of the maritime features in the Spratly islands it claims.” —NB, GMA News