"KULANG SA PANSIN"

The existing stand-off between the Malaysian government and the armed group now in Sabah and owing allegiance to the self-styled  Sultan Jamahul Kiram III  of the Sultanate of Sulu is truly unfortunate. It cannot but be another black spot in the Philippine's foreign relations, given the still unresolved Phil-China rift in the South China, or West Philippine (take your choice) Sea.

Given that the Philippine's historical claim to Sabah has remained dormant for quite a time now, and just all of a sudden comes to fore,    there is reason to believe the Sultanate of Sulu may just be behaving  KSP  (Kulang sa Pansin).  As a matter of fact, the present government has ostensibly  ignored Sultan Kiram when the Mindanao leaders to compose the transition commission that will work towards the Bansamoro Entity was formed by the President.  Chances are, before that happened,  President Aquino might not even know  a Sultan Kiram  Kiram III existed.  On the other hand, it is equally ostensible that the Malaysian government does not want either to talk to Kiram directly -- though certainly willing and able to deal with the problem militarily when the worse should come to worst -- in turn making it more of PNoy's than anybody else's diplomatic headache.

Perhaps this unfortunate happenstance has suddenly come by in order to answer a number of very curious questions regarding Sabah once and for all.   First, if the Sultanate of Sulu has really no legal personality on Sabah, why does the Malaysian government still continue to pay so-called "lease money" -- however insignificant it is at present-day valuation  -- to the Sultanate of Sulu?  Common sense simply says one may not lease a property not his own.  Second, Is it really "lease money" or "cession money"  that is involved?  Third, if at all, can so-called "cession money" as Malaysia claims, indeed last  forever?  One recalls that there was only a one-time payment made by the United States to Spain when the Philippines was ceded by the latter to the former.  Fourth, what is this country's final position on its historical territorial claim to Sabah, which has remained in hibernation for probably as long as one conveniently remembers?  Isn't it high time we had finally and officially given up that claim considering that the people from Sabah had already voted in a plebiscite sometime in the early sixties against owing citizenship allegiance to the Philippines?  And, who would really wish to, given this country's still unresolved problems in Muslim Mindanao?

Indeed, let not this age-old problem just come and go -- that is, scratched on the surface only whenever it itches -- without any final resolution.  Let there be an objective dialogue between and among the stakeholders.  Let not either or both of Malaysia and the Philippines use sheer band aids, as in the past,  to temporarily quiet down the Sultanate of Sulu, leaving the matter for future generations to handle when the next Sultanate heir probably turned noisy once again.   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has this to  say in one of his most-remembered poems: "Trust no future, howe'er pleasant. Let the dead past bury its dead.  Trust, trust in the living present, heart within and God overhead."