Malaysia to summon Philippine ambassador over Locsin’s Sabah remark

July 30, 2020

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry will summon Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Charles Jose on Monday to explain a tweet by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr that Sabah is part of the Philippines.

''This is an irresponsible statement that affects bilateral ties. Malaysia MFA will summon the Philippine Ambassador on Monday to explain Sabah is, and will always be part of Malaysia,'' said Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in his Twitter account late Wednesday.

On Monday, Locsin called out the United States Embassy  to correct its statement that referred to Sabah as part of Malaysia in a Twitter post about Filipino repatriates.

“Sabah is not in Malaysia if you want to have anything to do with the Philippines,” Locsin said in his Twitter account.

Retweeting the embassy’s post, Locsin warned: “You better edit that announcement if you know what’s good for you.”

The US Embassy twitted about the US Agency for International Development (USAID) donation of hygiene kits to the Zamboanga Peninsula office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The hygiene kits were meant for use by Filipinos who came from Sabah.

The Philippines' claim is anchored on the Sultanate of Sulu’s assertion of ownership over the northern part of Sabah.

Malaysia said 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 1885. DMS