http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=125930
Home / Sabah Local News
Sabah as 13th Filipino state
Published on: Friday, July 20, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Former Philippine Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr said he will propose the inclusion of Sabah in Philippine territory as part of the country's shift to a federal system of government.
In a live media interview Tuesday morning in Manila, Pimentel said Sabah could be the 13th federal state of that nation.
"There should be a way that is acceptable under international laws to assert our claim to Sabah," Pimentel, who is a member of the consultative committee that President Rodrigo Duterte appointed to review the 1987 Constitution, said.
"I think we can defer it a little bit more but to say that we stop doing it is not in the context of my proposal," he said.
Under Pimentel's proposal, the Philippines will be divided into 12 federal states: Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Minparom, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Bangsamoro.
Metro Manila will be the "federal capital," Pimentel said, adding that Sabah could be the 13th federal state.
"Once we have asserted our sovereignty and rights over Sabah, we should include Sabah.
Not only Sabah, but also Scarborough, Benham Rise, and Spratlys," he said.
The switch to a federal system was one of the key planks of Duterte's election campaign.
The country currently employs a unitary form of government with much of the power emerging from the central government.
The Sulu sultanate used to claim parts of southern Philippines and Sabah.
However, being a republic, the sultanate faded into oblivion and discord over who should be the rightful heirs made pursuit of the claim academic.
In 1963, the British government transferred Sabah to the Federation of Malaysia.
The Philippines claims that Sabah was only leased, not ceded, to the British North Borneo Co.
The heirs of the sultan of Sulu continue to receive lease payments for Sabah but this was also stopped.
Malaysia maintains that Sabah is and would forever be an integral part of the nation.
Home / Sabah Local News
Sabah as 13th Filipino state
Published on: Friday, July 20, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Former Philippine Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr said he will propose the inclusion of Sabah in Philippine territory as part of the country's shift to a federal system of government.
In a live media interview Tuesday morning in Manila, Pimentel said Sabah could be the 13th federal state of that nation.
"There should be a way that is acceptable under international laws to assert our claim to Sabah," Pimentel, who is a member of the consultative committee that President Rodrigo Duterte appointed to review the 1987 Constitution, said.
"I think we can defer it a little bit more but to say that we stop doing it is not in the context of my proposal," he said.
Under Pimentel's proposal, the Philippines will be divided into 12 federal states: Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Minparom, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Bangsamoro.
Metro Manila will be the "federal capital," Pimentel said, adding that Sabah could be the 13th federal state.
"Once we have asserted our sovereignty and rights over Sabah, we should include Sabah.
Not only Sabah, but also Scarborough, Benham Rise, and Spratlys," he said.
The switch to a federal system was one of the key planks of Duterte's election campaign.
The country currently employs a unitary form of government with much of the power emerging from the central government.
The Sulu sultanate used to claim parts of southern Philippines and Sabah.
However, being a republic, the sultanate faded into oblivion and discord over who should be the rightful heirs made pursuit of the claim academic.
In 1963, the British government transferred Sabah to the Federation of Malaysia.
The Philippines claims that Sabah was only leased, not ceded, to the British North Borneo Co.
The heirs of the sultan of Sulu continue to receive lease payments for Sabah but this was also stopped.
Malaysia maintains that Sabah is and would forever be an integral part of the nation.
off the world map. 
