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

Follow the official FACEBOOK PAGE for Sultanate of Sulu & North Borneo 

Continue reading

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

Continue reading