MANILA, Philippines — The United States Embassy in the Philippines came under fire from Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. after it referred to Sabah as part of Malaysia n a Twitter post about Filipino repatriates.
“Sabah is not in Malaysia if you want to have anything to do with the Philippines,” Locsin said, retweeting the embassy’s tweet.
“You better edit that announcement if you know what’s good for you,” he added.
The US Embassy tweet was about the US Agency for International Development (USAID) donation of hygiene kits to the Zamboanga Peninsula office (Region 9) of the Department of Social Welfare and Developmen. The hygiene kits were meant for use by Filipinos who came from Sabah.
You better edit that announcement if you know what's good for you. https://t.co/dWZs1gsndE
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) July 27, 2020
You better edit that announcement if you know what's good for you. https://t.co/dWZs1gsndE
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) July 27, 2020
Reporters sought the side of the US Embassy on the issue, but they have not received a response as of posting time.
The Philippines has a long-standing claim over the northern part of Borneo, stretching since the term of President Diosdado Macapagal.
The claim stems from assertions that the Sultanate of Sulu rightfully owns the northern part of Sabah, as several historians believe the former Sultan of Sulu was gifted with the land in exchange for helping the Sultan of Brunei defeat his adversaries.
However, Malaysia insists that the land, then occupied by the British empire, was rightfully ceded to them as Spain transferred part of the property of the Sultanate of Sulu to the British under the Madrid Protocol in the 1880s.
Malaysia currently has control over the said portion of the land.
Recently, Malacañang insisted that the Philippines had a claim on the resource-rich region, despite Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad’s saying that the Philippines had no claim in the area.
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