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PETALING JAYA: The Philippines confirmed yesterday that it is reactivating its North Borneo Office “after realizing that the rest of the world has forgotten our claim to Sabah.”
Inquirer.net reported that the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Teodoro Locsin Jr, made the announcement during the hearing of the House appropriations commission on the budget project of the Department of Foreign Relations (DFA).
He quoted Locsin as saying “we have not forgotten” and that “our honor is involved here.”
“While we fiercely guard our waters, we do not forget our terrestrial dominion. In seeking to secure what is ours, I have decided to reactivate the North Borneo Office after realizing that the rest of the world has forgotten our claim to Sabah, casually designating it as another country’s territory. Well, we haven’t forgotten, ”Locsin said.
“This is one of several international disagreements that we can afford to carry out in our best interest without any risk of loss of any kind to our country. Our honor is involved here.
“Now we are going to revive that office and make sure that no one can challenge that claim without a challenge from us.”
Malaysia has said that it does not recognize and will never admit any claim by either party about Sabah.
Locsin had rekindled the controversy by saying in July that Sabah “is not in Malaysia.”
Then, on August 31, he tweeted that he would reactivate the North Borneo Office at the DFA dedicated to efforts to take back Sabah.
Inquirer.net said that during yesterday’s hearing, Locsin was also asked about the status of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) established in 1994 to stimulate development in areas remote and less developed in the four members of the Asean.
“It’s been inactive for a while, but now we agree to revive it more or less, like, I guess, even some of our special concerns like Sabah. That was also left in the background, which I never accepted, ”he said.
