KOTA KINABALU, 10 Feb 2018:
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Philippine foreign affairs secretary Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano has clarified that Manila is not involved in statements on issues pertaining to the claim on Sabah.
He said during the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Singapore recently, he did not raise the matter on the Sabah claim – saying such claims were never recognised by Malaysia and the Sabah state government.
But he said Cayetano had approached him to clarify that “because of politics, someone is trying to promote himself”, adding that the Philippines foreign secretary did not mention any name.
“He (Cayetano) was saying Malaysia and the Philippines enjoy a good bilateral relation, so we do not want one statement to make our relationship go sour.
“I just said thank you very much and we fully appreciate the clarification,” he said when met by reporters at a programme with the Chinese community of the Kimanis parliamentary constituency here last night.
Last month, Philippines Consultative Committee member Aquilino Pimentel Jr – who had been appointed to review the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution – said he would propose the inclusion of Sabah in the Philippines as part of the country’s shift to a federal system of government.
Anifah also said details on Sabah rights in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 were being discussed with Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.
“There have been discussions on some details and we are talking about the deliverables.
“It is an ongoing process…but it is very encouraging (with the AG), so I have requested that we must be able to present something to the Prime Minister and the cabinet by end of this month,” he said.
During the UMNO general assembly in December last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government was prepared to return the rights of Sabah and Sarawak that were not delivered as stated in the Federal Constitution.
– Bernama