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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-8/sulu-sultans-sm.webp" alt="Sulu Sultan" />
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(The Sultan of Sulu)
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This was expressed by Abraham Idjirani who is acting as the spokesman for the Sultanate of Sulu.
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Sultanate of Sulu's Prime Minister or Wazir Amroussi Rasul, speaking in behalf of Sultan Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram, chief of the Royal House of Sulu, early this week called for the revival of the ONBA to pursue the country's claim on the island now occupied by Malaysia.
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The ONBA has long been dormant since its last activation during the long term of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
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The DFA arm on Sabah was created by Marcos' predecessor former President Diosdado
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Macapagal to support the Philippine claim in 1962.
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It was also Macapagal who first raised the claim on Sabah in the Philippine Congress in 1950, long before Malaysia's federation in 1963, along with fellow lawmakers Arturo Tolentino, Arsenio Lacson and Hadji Gulamu Rasul — uncle of the present Wazir Rasul.
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Idjirani said  that an earlier representation with then acting Foreign Affairs secretary Delia Albert had almost successfully revived the Sabah desk in 2004.
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In mid-July the same year, Albert and then Malaysia Foreign minister Sayed Albar even held talks on the issue. It was there where Datu Aliuddin Kiram, vice-chairman of the sultanate, demanded the return of Sabah. 
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He also demanded the payment of $25 billion for the exploitation of Sabah's natural resources. Idjirani said
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"A day after the meeting, a fire broke out at the Sabah affairs office and that was the last time the Sabah issue was discussed by Malaysia and the Philippines." 
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Idjirani expressed optimism that vital Sabah documents were not destroyed during the fire.
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Rasul, however, said that even if the ONBA had been razed to the ground along with the documents, copies of these historic papers still exist in the United Nations and other offices which may have placed interest on the Philippine claim to the island.  He said:
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"Even the Sultanate of Sulu has copies of the documents. We are ready to pursue our claim to Sabah in any forum." 
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The Sultanate also expressed hopes that President Rodrigo Duterte would revive the talks and bring the government of Malaysia and the Sultanate of Sulu in one table:
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"We are counting on him because he was clear in his campaign promise that he will take up the Sabah cause if he became president. He did and we are waiting."
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Duterte had vowed to defend Sabah's sovereignty. There are about 600,000 Filipinos in the oil-rich island.  The president said then:
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"We are allowing proprietary heirs to talk. Since it is part of our claim, it will be there as our land. What has been the policy will always be the policy of the government especially those for the interest of the country. We have to stake our claim."
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An incursion by some 200 Tausug delegation from Sulu in Sabah resulted in a firefight between them and the Malaysian Army. Sixty Filipinos died in those encounters in 2013.
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Former President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III, however, adopted Malaysia's official position and ordered the Filipinos to return to Mindanao.
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Then in 2016, then Malaysian, Prime Minister Datu Seri Najib Tun Razak vowed to quash efforts to reclaim the island from Malaysia, citing Sabah had gained independence through Malaysia as recognized by the United Nations in 1963.

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In July this year, newly-appointed Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein confirmed that Malaysia has stopped paying the cession money of RM5,300 ($1,255.92) a year through lawyers representing the nine heirs of the Sulu Sultanate since 2013.
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Hussein said the payments were made based on a treaty signed on 22 January 1878 between the then Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Alam and Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent of the British North Borneo Company.
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Sabah eventually became part of the Malaysian Federation as one of its 13 states in 1963, although the Malaysian government recognized the British North Borneo Company's pact.
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The payment of lease, the Sultanate had claimed, was proof of Malaysia's recognition of the Sulu sultanate's sovereignty.
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The Philippines has been seeking to reclaim Sabah since 1950, still 13 years before the Federation of Malaysia was formed.
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Another heir to the Sultanate, Phugdalun Kiram II, on Friday welcomed the call of the heirs to revive of the ONBA, the repository original documents on the Sabah claim hit by fire in 2004.
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Idjirani also welcomed the support of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to pursue the Sabah claim peacefully by integrating the disputed territory into proposed Bangsa Moro Federal state.
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He said ranking leaders of the MNLF already coordinated with Sultan Phugdalun Kiram II, the 35th Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo.
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"Sultan Phugdalun welcomes the help of the MNLF, particularly during the Lahad Datu stand off when Misuari sent fighters to help the sultanate army in Sabah," he said.
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Lawyer Rexie Bugaring, MNLF senior legal adviser, earlier said the MNLF central committee is coordinating with Sultan Phugdalun to synchronize the legal and political moves to recover Sabah.  He added:
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"MNLF chairman Nur Misuari has put on hold independence and supported federalism, the advocacy of President (Rodrigo) Duterte, as the new form government to pursue the Sultanate of Sulu's proprietary and historic right over Sabah." 
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Sultan Phugdalun Kiram II ascended the throne after the death of the 34th Sultan, Esmail Kiram II, and was installed on 6 February 2016 at the Sulu Capitol in Patikul, Sulu.
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After assuming the throne, Sultan Phugdalun led a delegation to meet with ancestral relatives in China and commemorate the 600th death anniversary of Sulu Sultan Pahara Batara who died and was buried in Dezhou City, Shandong Province in 1405 after signing an accord of alliance between the Celestial Empire of China (Ming Dynasty) and the Eastern Kingdom of Sulu.
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After the China sentimental journey, Phugdalun paid a courtesy call to President Duterte to express full support of the development program of the government and the revival of the Sabah claim.
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ONBA fire in 2004 just after PH-Malayia meeting may have destroyed vital Sabah documents