TAWAU: The Philippine claim on the state of Sabah is not proper, irrelevant and will never be accepted by the people of Sabah, said Sabah Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan.
The people of Sabah had unanimously decided on their future through a referendum recognised by the United Nations (UN) to be together in the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 which covered Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya.
“The people of Sabah had made a decision through a survey by the Cobbold Commission where the Sabahans then had decided. The majority of the people of Sabah had agreed to merge with Sarawak and Malaya to form a new nation named Malaysia.
“The decision was final and could not be disputed, could not be replaced and the decision would continue to be defended by the people of Malaysia, particularly the Sabahans,” he told Bernama when asked to comment on the statement by Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday that the Philippines would continue to pursue its claim on Sabah.
Tawfiq, who is also the State Assemblyman for Apas and the Tawau UMNO division head, said this when approached at the Tawau Airport when welcoming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak last night, who arrived for a two-day working visit to Sabah.
Thus, Tawfiq said, the focus of the people of Sabah was to develop Sabah in a sovereign country named Malaysia.
Yesterday, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, in his statement, pointed out that Sabah had never and would not recognise any claim by the Philippines and any other quarters on the state and Sabah had chosen to remain in the federation of Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Sabah’s Special Functions Minister, Datuk Teo Chee Kang who also shared Tawfiq’s view, said the Philippine’s claim on Sabah was a non-issue because Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and the Federation of Malaya had carried out their rights to determine their own future by deciding to form the federation of Malaysia in 1963. — Bernama