US distances itself from Sabah

April 1, 2013
Now, it can be told: The United States does not want to be drawn to the Sabah crisis and is distancing itself from the conflict. No less than US Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry Thomas Jr., made the revelation during the maiden “Kapihan sa Embahada” inside the US Embassy compound in Manila.
In the media forum, Thomas said the US was leaving it up to both Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to resolve the issue as he expressed hope that the matter would be resolved peacefully. the Sabah problem was “not a matter for the United States,” the US envoy stressed, adding: “We do not see this as a security matter that affects us or the Mutual Defense Treaty we have with the Philippines.”
Obviously, the American envoy was reacting to a statement by the Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram III, who said that the sultanate plans to invoke a Philippine-American pact called the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter agreement which would give the sultanate American protection. The agreement states that the Americans “assured the sultan of Sulu of (its) full protection should a problem arise in Sabah between the sultan of Sulu and other foreign countries. Simply put, the US could be called to help the Sulu sultanate in case of any aggression if the pact is invoked.
While this US turnaround is a sad development, the Department of Foreign Affairs is standing pat on a Presidential order under the previous administration stating that Sabah is part of the Philippine territory. The directive also barred all agencies of government from referring to Sabah as a Malaysian territory. This should be a strong message to all that the Philippine government should not set aside the Sabah claim and the issue with Malaysia should be resolved peacefully through negotiations and dialogue.