After a long absence, Sabah has resurfaced in the news after a United States Embassy tweet referred to the disputed territory as part of Malaysia. Secretary Locsin followed up with a statement reiterating that the Philippines will not abandon its claim to Sabah. The diplomatic row signals that now is the time to address the Sabah issue that has been a problem for Asean and for Philippine-Malaysia relations since 1962. But in 1966, Mr. Marcos recognized Malaysia, which, Malaysians say, was tantamount to accepting that Sabah was part of its federation. Like the official policy adopted since the time of Mr. Marcos, we believe that the Sabah issue should be settled peacefully — certainly neither through Twitter nor through a diplomatic tit-for-tat.

Source: Manila Times August 08, 2020 17:33 UTC