Carter: U.S., Philippines Enjoy ‘Longstanding’ Alliance

 

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right center, meets with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, left center, at the Ministry of Defense in Manila, the Philippines, March 19, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett 

On the third stop of his weeklong trip to Asia, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with top officials in the Philippines and carried greetings from President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to be delivered to President Benigno Aquino III.

During meetings with the president's executive secretary, Paquito Ochoa, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Carter discussed a range of regional range of regional security issues important to the U.S.-Philippines alliance.

Carter began his visit in Manila by meeting with Gazmin at Camp Aguinaldo, the military headquarters of the Philippine Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or AFP. The men discussed the importance of the U.S.-Philippines alliance, including the continued U.S. commitment to work together on maritime domain awareness, capacity building of the AFP, defense modernization and continued assistance in counterterrorism. Carter emphasized the importance of working together to resolve incidents.

Later in the day, Carter met with del Rosario and senior Foreign Affairs Department officials, followed by a lunch that del Rosario hosted. The two discussed a range of issues including U.S.-Philippine efforts to enhance cooperation across security, diplomatic and economic sectors, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a code of conduct for resolving disputes in the South China Sea, as well as other bilateral and regional topics.

Carter wrapped up his Manila visit by meeting with Ochoa at the Malacanang Palace complex. The deputy defense secretary addressed issues involving the U.S. rebalance to Asia and concerns about the possible impact to that effort because of defense budget cuts. Discussions ranged from ASEAN and the regional security architecture to Philippine defense modernization efforts.

During a media interview, Carter said he came here "because this region of the world is so important to America's future in many ways -- political and economic, but also in the security sphere."

And because of his position as deputy defense secretary, he said, "obviously, I'm focused on the security area. In that context, the United States has deep and abiding security roots here."

As he met with officials, Carter took time to share a more personal reason for his appreciation of the Philippines. A physicist by training, the deputy defense secretary received part of that training in at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the coffee room there, he got to know a senior fellow from the MIT Center for International Studies.

"He was such a great advisor and mentor to students," Carter said of the man who turned out to be Benigno Aquino Jr., father of the current president of the Philippines. Aquino was assassinated in 1983.

"He and his wife would come to social events at MIT, … and I got to know them and had great affection for them, … so I've always had a little place in my heart for the Aquino family," he said. "And that's another good reason to be here in the Philippines."

The United States and the Philippines "have lots of human connections together, all of us," Carter said, "as well as having important global responsibilities and regional responsibilities that we exercise together."

U.S. engagement is part of what has helped to maintain the region's security structure since World War II, he added. Such engagement has allowed Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia "to rise and prosper because they've had peace and security, and now China and India are rising and prospering."

The Philippines, Carter observed, "is a longstanding friend and ally and partner with us in providing that kind of security."

The United States recognized the Philippines as an independent state and established diplomatic relations in 1946. Except for the 1942-to-1945 Japanese occupation during World War II, the Philippines had been under U.S. sovereignty since the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, according to a State Department fact sheet.

The U.S.-Philippine Bilateral Strategic Dialogue -- the third held last December in Manila -- advances discussion and cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues. The United States has designated the Philippines a major non-NATO ally, and the nations have close security ties.

The Manila Declaration, signed in 2011, reaffirmed the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty as the foundation for a robust, balanced and responsive security partnership. Such a treaty, Carter said, "opens the door to the U.S.-Filipino relationship, which exists along with other key treaty relationships in the region."

During this week's Asia trip, the deputy defense secretary has visited South Korea and Japan, which are also key treaty partners. And the United States has important treaty relationships with Australia and Thailand.

"These longstanding treaty relationships and other kinds of emerging partnerships are … part of a historical role that we play with countries in this part of the world -- to protect them, to protect us, but also, very importantly, that is what provides the foundation for peace and security in the region," he said.

"That's the climate in which all countries, the Philippines among them, have been able to … develop politically and prosper economically in an environment of peace," Carter said. "That's what everybody deserves, and that's what we're about when we talk about our alliance with the Philippines and our alliance structure in this part of the world."

By Cheryl Pellerin, American Forces Press Service

US Defense Department 

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Kaspersky Lab: 3 Filipino students to compete in regional cybersecurity cup

Three Filipino students from two state universities have been chosen to participate in this year's Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa (APAC and MEA) Cup 2013 which will be held at the National University of Singapore from March 21 to 23.

The three Filipino students who will represent their groups' research papers in the regional cup are Ivan Dominic Baguio and John Ultra, both from the University of the Philippines (UP) and Marvin Rey Garcia from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). All three are currently Computer Science seniors.

This is the second time the Philippines reached the regional finals for the annual event.

Last year, the research paper authored by Joshua Arvin Lat and groupmates Rod Bondoc and Kevin Atienza from UP-Diliman was shortlisted for the APAC and MEA round. The group later took home the first prize for their paper on a secure online USB login system during the final round of the Kaspersky Lab International Conference in the Netherlands.

Competition is stiff not just for the attractive cash prizes of US$1,000, US$750 and US$500 for the top three places but also for the opportunity to gain exposure at the international level. All teamleaders of the research papers are automatically accorded free travel and accommodation packages plus a guided tour of the host city.

Garcia with his teammates Hannah Roselle Chan, Christopher Celestial, and Arc Ezekiel Mercolesia proposed the "Integration of Virtual Private Network in a Secured Smart Home Electricity Management System". Their paper promises a solution to the secure management and control of household electricity. Through the Internet it can collect on-line data power consumption and manipulate power supply of the connected electrical appliances.

Ultra's solo research paper titled, "A Collaborative Access Control Model for E-voting Systems" proposes a new method for modeling and enforcing separation of duty (SoD) in computer system like the one used in electronic system (e-voting). SoD is a well-known practical approach to minimize fraud and error in high integrity tasks. He proposes an intuitive and easy to use method for enforcing SoD on tasks performed on computer system which can be used to raise the integrity of election administrative tasks performed on an e-voting system.

Meanwhile, Baguio and co-author John Carlo Florencio wrote about an "On-the-fly Encryption for Android Devices", which they said can address the limitations of Android devices in encrypting disks or external memory in real time.

The other top 15 finalists are from Indonesia's Bandung Institute of Technology, City University of Hong Kong, South Africa's Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Australia's University of Technology, Iran's Shiraz University, Japan's Institute of Information Security, India's KIIT University and the Malaysian institutes University of Malaya, Universiti Teknologi MARA, and Multimedia University.

Evaluation of the research papers will be based on scientific and methodological level, social importance and relevance, objectivity of the information and analytical materials, practical and innovation value and presenter's performance.

Harry Cheung, Kaspersky Lab managing director for Asia Pacific, said the brand is constantly on the lookout for fresh and innovation cyber security suggestions from the younger generations to address the complexity and severity of cyber crimes today.

"As cyber threats escalate, the need for a newer pool of talents to contribute new cybersecurity ideas is of pressing concern. This competition allows Kaspersky Lab to discover these young talents who can add significant input. The Filipino winners made our Asian region proud last year and we are excited for this year's representatives to make an impact," Cheung said.

The three best papers from this round will represent the region and compete against other regional qualifiers from North America, South America, Europe, Russia and Commonwealth Independent States at the international and final round. This will be held at the Royal Holloway, University of London in the United Kingdom in June 2013.

philSTAR 

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Cession and transfer of the territory of North Borneo by His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, acting with the consent and aprroval of the Ruma Bechara, in council assembled, to the Republic of the Philippines

Cession and Transfer of the Territory of North Borneo by His Highness,

Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, Acting with the

Consent and Aprroval of the Ruma Bechara, in Council Assembled,

to the Republic of the Philippines*

 

WHEREAS, for the last two hundred years or more the title of sovereignty and dominion over the Territory of North Borneo has been vested in the Sultanate of Sulu;

 

WHEREAS, Sultan Mohamet JamalAlAlam (or Sultan Jamalul Agham), then the head of the Sultanate of Sulu, signed a deed granting the lease of the Territory of North Borneo to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representatives of a British company, for a consideration of Five Thousand Dollars payable annually to him or to his heirs and successors;

 

WHEREAS, under and by virtue of the lease contract and the commission signed by the Sultan of Sulu, Sultan Mohamet Jamal Al Alam, appointing Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent and their successor, the British North Borneo company, merely derived leasehold right over the Territory of North Borneo and authority to administer the government of said Territory by delegation from the Sultan of Sulu;

 

WHEREAS, the title of sovereignty and dominion of the Sultan of Sulu over North Borneo has never been conveyed and it remained, and continues to remain, vested in the Sultan of Sulu;

 

WHEREAS, the title of the Sultanate of Sulu of the sovereignty and dominion over North Borneo has not been prejudiced by the assumption of United States jurisdiction over the Sulu Archipelago as evidenced by the Carpenter Agreement of March 22, 1915;

 

WHEREAS, the North Borneo Cession Order of the British Government of July 10, 1946 is a unilateral act of the British Government which cannot produce legal effects on the established title of sovereignty and dominion of the Sultanate of Sulu over the Territory of North Borneo;

 

WHEREAS, on November 25, 1957 His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, issued, in the exercise of his sovereign rights, a Proclamation declaring the lease of the Territory of North Borneo terminated as of January 22, 1958, and declaring further that after said date all the lands leased were deemed restituted to the Sultanate of Sulu;

 

WHEREAS, His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, acting with the expressed desire of the Ruma Bechara, has determined that the title of sovereignty and dominion over the said Territory of North Borneo should be ceded and transferred to the Republic of the Philippines.

 

NOW THESE PRESENTS WITNESS

 

The Territory of North Borneo, and the title of sovereignty and dominion over the said Territory are hereby ceded and transferred by His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, acting with the consent and approval of the Ruma Bechara, to the Republic of the Philippines.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, on his own behalf, has signed the present Instrument of Cession and Transfer and has affixed the seal of the Sultanate of Sulu.

 

DONE at Manila, Philippines, this 24th day of April 1962.

 

(Signed)

SULTAN MOHAMMAD ESMAIL KIRAM

Sultan of Sulu

 

Footnote:

* From a copy provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila.

Source: The Philippine Claim to a Portion of North Borneo

This entry was posted in Historical Papers & Documents, Primary Sources of Historical Importance.

Published in the Philippine Official Gazette

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Tribune: Malaysian 61 Casualties composed of Majority Sabahan Civilians not Sulu Royal Army

March 14, 2013, photo released by Malaysia's Ministry of Defense, Malaysian soldiers discuss strategies at Sungai Nyamuk where a stand-off with Filipino gunmen took place, near Tanduo village in Lahad Datu, Borneo's Sabah state, Malaysia. Another Filipino fighter was killed on Sunday in a skirmish between Malaysian security forces and remnants of the so-called royal army of the sultanate of Sulu in Sabah. AP PHOTO/MALAYSIA'S MINISTRY OF DEFENSE

Malaysian troops suffered more casualties in Sabah assault

Malaysian forces have suffered more casualties than the group of Raja Muda Agbimmudin Kiram, the brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of Sulu, who led more than 200 followers of the sultanate in their "homecoming" in Sabah last month that led to an armed confrontation in Lahad Datu.

A Tribune source, who has links to the group of Raja Muda, claimed that Malaysian authorities have suffered more deaths than the Tausug warriors of the Royal Security Force of the Sulu sultanate since the armed conflict erupted last March 1 in Tanduao village, Lahad Datu.

The source also told the Tribune that the reported 61 fatalities on the group of Radja Muda were mostly innocent civilians.

"The Malaysian forces sustained many casualties, more than the group of Radja Muda," the source said.

The same source told the Tribune earlier that followers of the Kirams from Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga Peninsula had sailed to Sabah to fight alongside their Tausug clansmen.

"They reported deaths on the group of the sultan but actually these are innocent civilians," he added.

According to the source, Malaysian authorities continuously conduct crackdown operations against suspected sympathizers of the Kirams in Sabah.

"The media could not go to the conflict area to gather information," he added.

The source also belied pronouncements by Malaysian authorities that Raja Muda has abandoned his followers and returned to Mindanao.

"He (Radja Muda) is still there. It's just part of Malaysian propaganda because they can't get him," the source said.

Fighting has subsided in Sabah during the past days compared to the intensified air and ground assaults launched by Malaysian forces during the first week of their so-called Operation Daulat.

But Malaysian online paper The Star reported a gun battle between security forces and remnants of the Sulu gunmen yesterday.

"Security forces killed another gunman at about 10.15 a.m. following skirmishes in Kg Tanjung Batu here," The Star quoted Army field commander Lt. Gen. Datuk Seri Zulkiple Kassim as saying.

"We believe they are still in the area and we have surrounded it," he  added.

Malaysian authorities claimed that at least 61 followers of the Kirams, whom they branded as Sulu terrorists, had been killed while 97 others are now detained.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday said it would still continue to maintain its forces in Tawi-Tawi to assist in the ongoing humanitarian efforts for Filipino families displaced in the fighting in Sabah.

"We're going to continue maintaining the function of these assets for humanitarian purposes," AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said.

Around 34 Philippine Navy (PN) ships, a Lockheed C-130 "Hercules" cargo plane and two battalions of troops are currently deployed in Tawi-Tawi.

These military assets are primarily used in the transporting of displaced individuals, relief goods and medical supplies.

"With the enormity of the tasks, we can expect that additional manpower would be needed or deployed on the field," Burgos said. With PNA and Jason Faustino

As reported in The Daily Tribune read more here

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Royal Clan Lawyer ordered Malaysia to immediately return Sabah & pay “no less than 50% of its income from 1963 to the present.”

Atty. Ulka Ulama leafs through the annexes to the March 15 letter he sent to the Malaysian Ambassador to Manila. MindaNews photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas

Lawyer of Sulu Sultan's heirs on Sabah: 'final say' from Philippine gov't body

JOLO, Sulu (MindaNews/17 March) –  Claiming Malaysia acted in bad faith, the lawyer of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu said Malaysia "must immediately turn over" Sabah to the heirs and the Philippine government and pay them "no less than 50% of its income from 1963 to the present."

"In my considered opinion, since the Malaysia acted in bad faith in the occupation of British North Borneo-Sabah, Malaysia must immediately turn over its possession of the Sabah territory (to) the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and the Philippine government," lawyer Ulka Ulama said in a three-page letter addressed to Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dato Mohd Zamri Mohd Kassim, dated and mailed via a commercial courier on Friday, March 15.

"Malaysia will have to wake up," Ulama told MindaNews in his office here on Saturday, as he took out folders of his files on Sabah and pointed to a filing cabinet filled with Sabah-related documents.

But Ulama, who has been receiving since 1975 the 5,000 Malaysian ringgit "annual customary payment" of Malaysia on behalf of  the heirs,  acknowledged in his letter that the "final say" on Sabah will come from the Bipartisan Executive-Legislative Advisory Council on Sabah Issues (BELACS), a body first created 20 years ago under the Ramos administration and reconstituted under the Estrada and Arroyo administrations.

Ulama said President Benigno Simeon Aquino III should now appoint members of the BELACS "to solve the current Sabah issue."

Ulama recommended that the private sector membership in BELACS will include former Senator Santanina Rasul,  himself "and Kiram." The letter did not say which Kiram he was referring to. Asked which Kiram he was referring to, Ulama replied "We will get the approval from the Kiram after the BELACS approval to avoid any misunderstanding."

Copies of the March 15 letter to Kassim were also mailed to President Aquino, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., and Loretta Ann Rosales, chair of the Commission on Human Rights.

Ulama ended his letter with a prayer "that the Sabah crisis will be resolved as soon as possible without bloodshed."

"61 terrorists shot dead"

In Sabah, Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib announced on Saturday that Operasi Daulat (Operation Uphold Sovereignty), launched with aerial and ground attacks on March 5 to flush out the "Royal Security Forces" of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III from Lahad Datu where they had holed up since February 12 until violence broke out on March 1, "will continue until all areas in the district are rid of the intruders from southern Philippines."

Taib was quoted by the state-owned news agency, Bernama, as saying, "We will finish it (operation) as soon as possible" even as he "stressed that the security forces did not have a deadline for the operation."

Bernama's report said that from March 5 to 16,  "61 terrorists were shot dead, with 27 of their bodies removed from the red zone, while 104 were detained on suspicion of having links with the terrorists. An additional 232 were detained for being in forbidden areas."

The "Royal Security Forces," numbering about 200, led by Crowned Prince Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, holed up in Lahad Datu last month to assert the Kirams' proprietary rights over  "The Land Below the Wind," as Sabah is popularly known for.

Resource-rich Sabah, the second largest state in Malaysia, has, according to its official website, has an area of 72,500 sq. kilometers, almost thrice the size of the 26,974 sq. kilometers Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Ulama in his letter cited Sabah's income in 1998 at "more than US $45.98 billion."

 Less than a million pesos in a decade

In his March 15, 2013 letter, Ulama, who has been receiving payment for the heirs from the Malaysian Embassy since 1975,  said he wrote Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through the OIC of the Malaysian Embassy on September 17, 2012, inquiring if Malaysia is still paying the "Annual Customary Payment Rental" to the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu because he had not received payment after 2010.

"If the answer is yes, to whom did Malaysia tender the payment? Is the person (to) whom payment (was) made, cloth(ed) with authority?" Ulama asked.

Ulama attached several annexes to his letter, including copies of the letters and cheques from sent to him by the Embassy of Malaysia in Philippines from 2001 to 2010, totalling less than  million pesos for 10 years:  ₱724,845.04.

The cheques from the Malaysian Embassy were in Philippine pesos, apparently based on the prevailing exchange rate and the Embassy's accompanying letters indicated these were for "payment of 'cession money' to heirs of Sultan of Sulu for the year…."

Ulama's letter showed only two columns: the year and amount paid. MindaNews added a third column to indicate the date the payments were made.  As can be gleaned from the third column, there is no fixed date for the payment of what the Malaysian Embassy refers to as "cession money."

         Year                Amount                      Date paid

• 2001                ₱68,888.44                  March 6, 2002
• 2002                ₱73,940.77                  April 16, 2003
• 2003                ₱77,442.36                  March 18, 2004
• 2004                ₱78,212.62                  Oct. 5, 2005
• 2005                ₱72,000.11                  Oct. 9, 2006
• 2006                ₱70,444.06                  July 5, 2007
• 2007                ₱71,242.30                  July 16, 2009
• 2008                ₱69,504.55                  Feb. 24, 2009
• 2009                ₱69,770.81                  May 7, 2009
• 2010                ₱73,399.02                  June 22, 2010

No "cession money" was paid in 2008 for the year 2007. But three payments were made in 2009: for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Payment for 2008 was made on February 24, 2009; for 2009 on May 7, 2009 and the late payment for 2007 was paid only on July 16, 2009.

Ulama said Malaysia "has defaulted in its payment for 2011, 2012 and 2013."

$749 million

Ulama said that through the years, he had written to the Prime Minister of Malaysia through the Malaysian Embassy in the Philipines and the Philippine President through the Department of Foreign Affairs "countless times to increase the Annual Customary payment rentals to the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu" but received no answer except during the time of President Joseph Estrada.

On April 16, 1999, then  Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo L. Siazon, Jr. wrote a memorandum for Executive Secretary Ronald Zamora on the "request of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu" for the Philippine government to "submit their request to the Malaysian government… for an incremental increase in the 'cession monies' or annual rental paid by the Malaysian Government to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu in the amount of US $749 million covering from 1962 and taking into account the money/land values and improvement of Sabah."

Siazon said that upon payment of the full amount, "the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu are willing to waive their proprietary rights over Sabah (North Borneo)."

"Unique"

Siazon referred to the Philippines' claim over Sabah as "unique" in that it has two distinct and separate aspects – the proprietary rights of the Sultanate of Sulu as represented by the heirs and the Philippines' sovereignty right which was ceded by the Sultanate of Sulu through the Sultan of Sulu in favor of the Philippine government in 1962.

He noted that under the principle of parens patriae, the Philippine government should help the heirs in pursuing their proprietary claims. "The question, however, is whether Malaysia would be willing to pay the amount demanded by the heirs as full settlement of their claim without any condition. Chances are Malaysia would not be agreeable to a full settlement unless the Philippines drops its sovereign claim to Sabah," Siazon wrote.

Siazon recommended that the Estrada administration reconstitutes the Legislative-Executive Advisory Council on Sabah "in view of the last election and empower it to deliberate on the request of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and its consequent effect on the sovereignty claim of the Philippines over Sabah, the issue of multiple claimants to the title of 'heir of the Sultan of Sulu,' as well as the over-all bilateral relations between the Philippines and Malaysia.

EO 46 was issued by President Ramos on January 11, 1993, days before making his first state visit to Malaysia.

The Council was to be composed of eight representatives from the Executive Branch to be designated by the President, eight members of the Senate including a member of the minority party, to be designated by the Senate President and eight members of the House of Representatives including a member of the minority party, to be designated by the Speaker of the House.

Under the EO, the Council is to "serve as an advisory body to the President with respect to the Philippine claim on Sabah" and shall "formulate and recommend alternative modes of pursuing the Sabah claim in the appropriate international and regional fora; advise the President on the manner in which the Philippine claim on Sabah may be successfully pursued taking into consideration the requirements of regional harmony and cooperation;  and advise the President on the attendant complications and ramifications regarding the Sabah issue."

President Joseph Estrada issued EO 117 reconstituting the Council on July 5, 1999 with the same number of members and the same functions but added a feature to the third function: "advise the President on the attendant complications and ramifications as well as other issues related to the Sabah claim, including the request of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu for an increase in cession monies."

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose administration got Malaysia to facilitate the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front issued EO 121 on September 6, 2002 but reduced the number of members to five each for the executive, the Senate and the House and added three seats for private sector representation.

Arroyo also summed up the Council's function in only one sentence: "The Council shall serve as an advisory body to the President with respect to the broad range of issues concerning Sabah."

The Aquino administration has yet to issue an EO on the BELACS.

On February 21, he announced the creation of a study group to review the country's options on Sabah.

"I am not an expert. I have tasked the experts to study all of this and to find out precisely all of our standings. Where do we stand? And from where we stand where do we move forward?"  Aquino said in an interview in Iloilo.  (Carolyn O. Arguillas)

Minda News 

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Is Sabah (North Borneo) under lease to Malaysia or been sold?

Setting aside the political maneuver of Sabah issue will only boil down to two questions. Is it under Lease Contract or has been sold ? The answer cannot be benevolently deduce without going to the parameter of the International Law. The two key words suggest for different approach of legal opinion. For the consumption of the public, let us tackle the word "Lease" . The " Lease is normally documented in the form of "Contract Agreement" between two party specifically identifying the Lessor and the Lessee. The elements of lease is written in the form of articles with the provision of stipulations Common question simplify the agreement - What is being Lease? - a piece of land. How big is the land being leased? - enumerate the boundaries and established the size. How long to have it leased? - a mentioned of length of time. How much to have it leased? - a mentioned of monetary or equivalent in kind as per agreed in continuous mode to the length of time, if the contract has no specific lenght of time , the payment will continue endlessly. The secondary stipulation is the involvement of the third party between contracting party - Can the lease be transfer to other entity or person?

Now let us tackle the word "Sell or Sold" . The same exist to write off a " Contract Agreement " between two contracting party with the same parameters as Lease except for the condition of payment, because no point of sale with continuous payment forever has been written so far in the history of legal practice. . We can easily point out that writing a Lease Contract or Selling Contract has no much deviation except for the payment method of specific price at specific time. Therefore , this must present no problem except if the Contract agreement is not written in English. This is the advantage of English language over all languages of the world because of it's inherent specific characteristic of meaning.

The Sabah Lease Contract of 1878 was written in Malay language and the word used is " Padjak" this keyword is the object of interpretation. The British government has translated it "Cession" while the Malay language mean it " Lease" . This terminology squabble can be easily lodge for interpretation to the Malay linguistic expert based during that time, because people of the same token language deviate from the original meaning in passing of generations . The Malay language terminology can be different after 100 years due to cross race culture and race inter-mixture or inter racial marriage. Unlike English language that did not differ much of it's meaning after so many generations.

In so far as Sabah is concern and the uniqueness of the case is not very hard to solve, because interrelated and collateral evidence is in place and will suffice if it is Lease or Sell. Regardless if Lease or sell, if the breach of contract has been comitted , the chance is the "Contract" will be automatically void. The Lease Contract of 1878 states that it will be forever assigned to the Private British Company and to it's heirs ( Third Party) But cannot be transfer to another company or country. This specific provision has very clear interpretation, there is an actual discrepancy because people and company is dissolvable and therefore the word forever is not existent, when company has dissoved or died. The contract is written and addressed to the Company , the person who signed the contract is representing the company.It is an individual contract on the part of the landlord but contracted to a Corporate Company and so when company has ended to exist so is the contract, even if the signatory to the contract or his heirs of the signatory is still existing.

Since the contract says non- transferrable , the act of transferring the Sabah Lease Contract of 1878 is outright violation and breach of contract. This is what exactly happen , the private British Company has ceased to exist but has transferred to the British Government , the probable logic of having both British word cannot substantiate to the two individual entity - the Private British Company and the British government. Nothwithstanding the situation , the British government has transferred the Sabah Lease Contract of 1878, to Malaysia in 1963. We maintained the notion of Lease because Malaysia has continued to pay the rental money initiated by the British Government in 1939.

Deed of Sabah (North Borneo) Lease Agreement Document

The collateral evidence of the Sabah Lease Contract of 1878 is highlighted, by the Ruling of the High Court of North Borneo in 1939 to pay continuously to the heirs . Albeit if it is a Selling contract, the payment has fixed amount and fixed time to complete the payment. In addition , a "Letter of Sabah Administration was awarded to then Datu Punjungan Kiram to audit and inventory the property owned by his father Sultan Mawalil Wasit. The Letter of Administration could be the last nail on Dracula's coffin. The Royal Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo has to do the longtime delay audit and inventory of their property to the whole island of Sabah. the British government has committed grave slander in absorbing Sabah island as well as Malaysia, of whom is clearly an outsider to the contract. It appears that a landgrabber ( British Government) has awarded Sabah to another landgrabber (Malaysia) .

CONCLUSION: REGARDLESS IF THE WORD "PADJAK" MEANS LEASE OR SELL OR CESSION. THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN BREACHED BY THE SECOND PARTY ( PRIVATE BRITISH COMPANY) INTRUDED BY ANOTHER PARTY ( BRITISH GOVERMENT) AND AGAIN INTRUDED BY ANOTHER PARTY ( MALAYSIA) SERVES AS MULTIPLE BREACH OF CONTRACT. THIS MAKES THE CONTRACT NULL AND VOID AND SO SABAH MUST RETURN TO THE OWNER .The case rested.

read some explanation here

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‘Limited force’ could be used to rescue Filipinos in Sabah: judge-elect at the International Criminal Court, Meriam Santiago

The Philippines may use "limited force" against Malaysia if the  lives of Filipinos caught  in the middle  of a violent dispute in Sabah are in danger, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said  on Friday.

While the use of law is prohibited under international law, Santiago said there are certain conditions that allow a state to use a "limited  force"   to protect and save the lives of its nationals.

"International law prohibits the use of force.  But there is an unwritten exception which allows states to protect or rescue their nationals by means of armed forces in the territory of another state,"  she said before the annual convention of the Association of Nursing Service Administrators Philippines held at the Manila Hotel.

"However, this exception should not be invoked, unless the Philippines has to carry out rescue operations," said Santiago, a judge-elect at the International Criminal Court.

Santiago said among the pre-conditions that the  Philippine must first observe before  undertaking rescue operations in Malaysia are the following:

The lives of Filipino nationals should be genuinely in danger

Malaysia is unwilling or unable to ensure the safety of the persons concerned

The Philippines does not pursue any other purpose at the occasion of the operation

The scale and effects of the military force used are adequately measured to the purpose and conditions of the operation.

Asked  later during a press conference if the present  situation  in Sabah  warrants  the  Philippines' use of  a limited force against  Malaysian authorities, Santiago said, " According to the preconditions that are available, then the   Philippines could go to war in a limited sense as long as  these preconditions are met…"

"So as long as we meet these conditions under international law, we can avail of the exemption that allows us to use limited force to rescue Filipinos. We should have rescue operations there if the Filipinos are in danger of losing their lives," she said.

Under international law, Santiago said, the  states in  conflict  with each other must avail  only peaceful means of settlements  of dispute.

"Meaning to say that war is considered illegal under international law for proving that a state has the right of sovereignty over a certain territory…That  of course applies to the dispute in Sabah by the Philippines and Malaysia," she pointed out.

But the senator pointed out   how Malaysia stood  firm in sending first Filipinos out of Sabah before discussing any means  of settlement to end the dispute.

This attitude  by Malaysia, she said, was not approved by the international law.

"That's is not provided for  by international law. If Malaysia insists that first Filipinos should all get out of Sabah then it will be willing to discuss any means of settlement of dispute, I'm afraid that Malaysia will be in danger   of being branded as a rouge state by the international community. That behavior is not anticipated and is not approved of by international law," she said.

But  before  the  Philippines  takes  any action against  Malaysia, Santiago proposed the appointment of a third-party that would investigate  the recent spate of violence  in  Sabah.

When Congress opens in July, the senator said she would file a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that President Benigno Aquino III should invite  Malaysia to agree  to an investigation by a third-party.

Santiago said the third-party could be a former prime minister or president of Southeast Asian Nations.

INQUIRER Global Nation

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Bloomberg: Philippines Beats Indonesia as Aquino III Finds Favor: ASEAN Credit

The yield on the junk dollar bonds of the Philippines is at a record discount to higher-rated Indonesian notes as confidence in the nations' leaders diverges.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, 53, halfway through a six-year term, increased taxes and ousted the country's top judge last year for illegally concealing his wealth, impressing Pictet Asset Management and Kokusai Asset Management Co. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, 63, who is in his final year in office, failed to cut fuel subsidies in 2012 as the annual shortfall in the current account rose to a record.

"In terms of fundamental reforms, the Philippines is improving while Indonesia is not," Wee-Ming Ting, the Singapore-based head of Asian fixed income at Pictet Asset, which oversees $29 billion of emerging-market debt globally, said in an interview last week. "The yield gap between their hard-currency bonds is likely to stay or widen until Indonesia starts to implement real reforms."

Philippine debt due 2037 yielded 3.97 percent on March 5, 91 basis points less than similar-maturity securities from Indonesia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The spread, which was 72 as of 1:12 p.m. in Manila, increased from 26 basis points a year ago. The outperformance raises question marks over why Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have left the Philippines' rating unchanged after raising Indonesia from junk status more than a year ago.

Dollar Sales

The Philippines may shun the global bond market this year, breaking a run of sales that stretches back a decade as it boosts domestic borrowing, Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said this month. Indonesia said in February it would sell dollar debt in the first half of 2013.

Aquino's government recorded a current-account surplus of $7.2 billion for the first nine months of last year as remittances from overseas workers increased 6.3 percent in 2012 and revenue from foreign companies outsourcing functions, including call centers, to the Philippines rose 18 percent.

In Indonesia, the broadest measure of trade swung to a deficit of $24.2 billion in 2012, the biggest annual shortfall since Bloomberg began compiling the data in 1989, from an excess of $1.7 billion in 2011. The government spent 211.9 trillion rupiah ($22 billion) on fuel subsidies last year, discouraging the energy saving required to reduce its import bill.

It has been cheaper to insure Philippine debt against non- payment than Indonesia's since July 2011. Five-year credit- default swaps on the former's bonds dropped 40 basis points to 96 basis points in the year through yesterday, according to data provider CMA, which is owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. and compiles prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market. Those on Indonesia's notes fell 20 basis points to 131.

'Policy Slippages'

Standard & Poor's said in April 2012 it refrained from awarding Indonesia investment-grade status as the country's push to lure investment was at risk from "policy slippages" such as the failed attempt to cut fuel subsidies earlier that year. President Yudhoyono said this week that his government is weighing the pros and cons of raising fuel prices or choosing another method that would more effectively target the subsidies at poorer consumers in a nation where almost one in five people lives on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.

Both countries have the highest junk rating of BB+ from S&P, which raised the outlook on the Philippines rating to positive in December, saying a revision is possible this year as public finances and governance improve. Aquino said in January the nation "is on the cusp" of winning an investment-grade rating. Moody's rates Indonesia at its lowest investment grade of Baa3, while it assesses the Philippines one level below that at Ba1.

Corruption Perceptions

"The Philippines' credit has been improving while there are some short-term concerns about Indonesia's macroeconomic management," Takahide Irimura, Tokyo-based head of emerging- market research at Kokusai Asset, which runs Japan's biggest mutual fund, said in a March 5 interview. "Political situations in both countries have been stable, but Yudhoyono's term ends soon" raising concern about what will happen next, he said.

Yudhoyono, who campaigned on promises to reduce corruption in 2009, has been beset by recent scandals within his own Democrat Party. Last year, Muhammad Nazaruddin, the former treasurer of the party, was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison for taking 4.68 billion rupiah in bribes.

The Philippines is now seen as less corrupt than Indonesia, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. It improved to 105th place in 2012 from 139th in 2009, a year before Aquino became president. Indonesia was ranked 118th last year, slipping from 111th three years earlier, according to the Berlin-based watchdog's website.

Priced In

Indonesia's dollar bonds are "slightly more attractive" than its neighbor from a valuation perspective because Philippine bonds have already priced in an investment-grade status, Jonathan Liang, a Hong Kong-based senior portfolio manager for fixed income at AllianceBernstein LP, which oversees $437 billion globally, said in a March 7 e-mail interview.

Gross domestic product in Indonesia will increase 6.3 percent in 2013, while the Philippine economy will expand 5.9 percent, according to the median estimates of economists in Bloomberg News surveys. Authorities in Jakarta plan to invest more than $300 billion by the end of next year on infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said in December.

"Indonesia continues to devote a meaningful amount of capital towards fixed-asset investment, helping to alleviate bottlenecks in its economy, which we believe will help them sustain long-term economic growth and lower inflation," Liang said.

'Weak Momentum'

Pioneer Investments said it prefers the Philippine's local- currency debt due to the "weak momentum" for the rupiah notes. The Philippine 10-year peso bond yield slumped 87 basis points this year to 3.53 percent today, while the Indonesian rate added 26 basis points to 5.45 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indonesia's securities returned 0.6 percent this year, compared with 7.8 percent for the peso-denominated notes, according to indexes compiled by HSBC Holdings Plc.

The peso will strengthen 2 percent against the dollar in 2013 after rallying 6.8 percent last year, according to the media estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It strengthened 0.1 percent today to 40.597. The rupiah will advance 0.7 percent this year after weakening 5.9 percent in 2012. It was little changed at 9,701 today.

Hakan Aksoy, a fund manager at Pioneer in London, which oversees 156 billion euros ($203 billion) of assets, said his company was short against its benchmark for rupiah bonds, meaning the firm holds less than the index it follows.

'Inflow Bandwagon'

"After the election in Indonesia, we may increase our position," he said in a March 5 interview. "We also expect to see lower rupiah levels in the meantime."

Developing-nation bond funds have attracted inflows of $15.3 billion in the first two months of this year, compared with $10.1 billion in the same period in 2012, according to EPFR Global. Overseas investors raised their holdings of Indonesian local-currency government notes by 46.1 trillion rupiah in the six months through March 13 to 284.8 trillion rupiah, according to finance ministry data. There are no equivalent figures available for the Philippines.

"We are still more positive on the Philippines than on Indonesia," Pictet's Ting said. "Indonesia is riding on the emerging-debt inflow bandwagon and benefiting from that. If they do not take the opportunity to address their structural problems, it will not be nice when outflows start."

As published in Bloomberg read more here

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DFA: NINOY AQUINO BETRAYED the Philippines- SOLD SABAH to Malaysia for POWER Ambition

Former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.

'Ninoy vowed to drop Sabah claim to get KL support vs Marcos'

 Former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. had promised Malaysia in 1983 that the Philippines would drop its claim over Sabah in exchange for its support in the move to oust strongman Ferdinand Marcos, a former foreign affairs official revealed yesterday.

Hermes Dorado, former national territory division head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said Aquino met with then Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir before he went back to the Philippines and was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983.

Dorado said there were no official records of the supposed meeting between Aquino and Mahathir, but said he "became privy to this bit of intelligence" from former ambassador and retired general Rafael Ileto.

"General Ileto indirectly confirmed that Ninoy Aquino asked for help from Mahathir in exchange for dropping the Sabah claim when he gains power," Dorado told a forum at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.

Dorado said Ileto was the person assigned to monitor Aquino's movement on his journey back to Manila.

"There was a commitment to help oust Marcos," he added. "That is the reason why the government today is somehow reluctant to support the Sabah claim."

"Our hands are tied today because the leadership up to this day is committed to drop the Philippine claim of Sabah," he said.

According to Dorado, the clearest proof of Ninoy's supposed pledge to Malaysia will be found in the 1987 Constitution, which was written during the presidency of his widow Corazon Aquino.

Dorado said the 1987 Constitution amended the first article of the 1973 Constitution and removed the phrase, "and all other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title."

The 1987 Constitution revised the definition of Philippine territory and "deleted Sabah as a historic claim backed up by the legal title pertaining to the sultanate of Sulu," he added.

Dorado said Mrs. Aquino had no choice but to honor Ninoy's commitment to Mahathir because she needed support from ASEAN nations to legitimize her ascendancy to the presidency through the people power revolution.

"Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir adamantly refused to attend the ASEAN Summit in Manila until President Cory made a firm commitment to amend Article 1 of the 1973 Constitution," Dorado pointed out.

"Malaysian hard-ball diplomatic and guerrilla war maneuverings, backed by shrewd use of economic leverage, sourced from huge revenues from oil extracted in Sabah, were completed by 1987," he added.

"They succeeded in forcing the Constitutional Commission to drop the Philippine Sabah claim, hands down."

Dorado said the amended Baselines Law approved in March 2009 resulted in the exclusion of Sabah from the Philippine territory.

He said the amended law removed Section 2 of the 1968 law that included the phrase, "…the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty."

"Removal of the specific reference to Sabah represented a disastrous outcome to the claims of the sultanate of Sulu," Dorado said.

He claimed the results of the supposed "Ninoy-Mahathir pact" have destroyed all peaceful possibilities of pursuing the country's claims.

Proprietary rights

Reacting to Dorado's presentation, Princess Jacel Kiram – daughter of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III – maintained that Filipinos have proprietary rights in Sabah.

"We have so much wealth in Sabah na dapat tayo ang nakikinabang (we should be the ones benefitting)," Jacel said.

She said the lease agreement over North Borneo expired in 1978.

She accused the Aquino administration of protecting the interests of the Malaysian prime minister rather than the interest of the Filipino people.

"I would prefer to be another (nationality) rather than a Filipino citizen under our current set of leaders," she said.

During the forum, Jacel confirmed the meeting between her uncle Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II.

"This is the first official talk from our side and from the side of the government," she said, declining to provide additional information as she was not privy to what was discussed in the meeting.

Jacel said the development was a "good gesture" on the part of the government, and that its intention was for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Citing latest information from Sabah, Jacel said Agbimuddin Kiram and his people are safe but a lot of Filipinos have become victims of excessive force by Malaysian security forces. – With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy.

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