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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-8/aquino-makapili-sm.webp" alt="Modern day makapili"/>
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(The modern day Makapili)
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Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile vividly recalled Operation Merdeka, which was a military operation to retake Sabah sometime in 1963, that was scuttled by an exposé of Ninoy that greatly favored Malaysia.
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Even before Spanish colonization, Sabah was under the Sultan of Brunei and even Sarawak, Enrile went to say.
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The Brunei Sultanate a long time ago sought the help of the Sulu monarch in a conflict in Borneo. After being victorious, as a sign of gratitude, the Sultan of Brunei bequeathed Sabah to the Kirams who rule the kingdom of Sulu, Enrile recounted.
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Then it was rented by the British government in an agreement with the Sulu Sultanate.
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What happened in effect was that Britain colonized the territory since the lease was indefinite, according to Enrile.
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During the term of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, there was a group in Cagayan de Sulu, now Tawi-Tawi, who penetrated Sandakan and tested the capability of Malaysia to defend Sabah. Enrile, who became Marcos' Defense secretary said:
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"They occupied Sandakan for seven days unchallenged since Malaysia then did not have a strong military force." 
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He recounted that after that military experiment, "President Marcos decided to push through with the Sabah claim."
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<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-8/justiniano-montano.webp" alt="JSenator ustiniano Montano" />
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(Senator Justiniano Montano)
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The retaking of Sabah was tacit policy then, not only of Marcos, who was elected in 1962, but also of his predecessor, President Diosdado Macapagal.
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Macapagal assigned then Presidential Executive Assistant Eleuterio Adevoso to relocate about 10,000 Filipinos to reside in Sabah, which was apparently a prelude to recover the territory.
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According to Enrile:
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"They are still up to now Sabah residents." 
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"When the plan was drafted to take Sabah from Malaysia, there was a training held in Corregidor, where the so-called Jabidah massacre happened."
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"And the one who concocted the narrative was Ninoy and Senator Justiniano Montano of Cavite." 
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The incident, however, never happened. According to Enrile:
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"A court martial found that it was a mutiny that happened from Tawi-Tawi recruits and not a massacre, so there was some 14 who died." 
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Enrile said Project Merdeka, which was planned to then take over Sabah involved some 180 trainees who were supposed to incite an uprising among the mostly Filipino residents in Sabah.
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After Ninoy exposed it, Congress started an investigation that ended the mission. According to Enrile:
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"If Ninoy did not blow the lid off the military operations, Sabah would have been returned to the Philippines. Malaysia was then a newly-formed republic that did not have the military strength to match the Philippines." 
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From then on, the country's claim became weaker:
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"There was no question that the Philippines would have retaken Sabah had Ninoy not intervened. Malaysia did not have a military in place but only police forces then." 
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Merdeka should have long returned Sabah to Philippines if not for Ninoy's treacherous ambitions