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SABAH CESSION
ON INTERNATIONAL LAW THE SABAH CESSION OF 12 SEPTEMBER 1962 TO
THE PHILIPPINES AS THE PROOF ABSOLUTE OF SOVEREIGN STATUS
OF THE SULTAN OF SULU & THE ROYAL HASHEMITE SULTANATE OF SULU
& SABAH

Meaning of Sultanate: Islamic law dictates that the Royal Sultanate is a monarchical
sovereign state ruled by the Sultan whose powers and sovereign rights are derived from
Islamic faith, customs, traditions and practices which enshrines one Sultan for one sultanate.

The Sultan is the Head of State, Head of Islam, Head of the Royal Sultanate and Commander-
in-Chief of the armed services, police, law enforcement agencies and security services, as
well as the Supreme Lawmaker, Supreme Judge, and Protector of Islam and Protector of the
Faithful. Above all, He renders justice and mercy with benevolence, generosity and
magnanimity as pater patriae of the Royal Sultanate.

In a Sultanate, the executive, legislative and judicial powers are exercised by the highest
authority of the Sultan. He has the sovereign authority, and all powers and sovereignty
emanate from Him.
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In a republic, the people are the sovereign and all powers and authority emanate from the
people which are exercised by their agents from time to time such as the president and other
officials elected and appointed for a specified period.

Sovereignty as defined by Dictionary.com reads: The status, dominion, power, or authority

of a sovereign; royalty (as the Sultan in a sultanate). Another succinct meaning: Supreme
and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or
community.

Cession is an attribute and power of sovereignty. Cession in international conventions is

generally referred to as treaty. Treaty is written agreement between States that are governed
by international law. Treaty is referred to by different names, including agreement,
convention, covenant, protocol and exchange of notes. If States want to enter into a written
agreement that is not intended to be a treaty, they often refer to it as a Memorandum of
Understanding and provide that it is not governed by international law. Treaty can be
bilateral, multilateral, regional and global.

The “cession or transfer of sovereignty of North Borneo/Sabah” to the Philippines by His

Majesty Sultan Esmail E. Kiram I (Sultan 1947-173) of the Royal Hashemite Sultanate of
Sulu & Sabah (“Royal Sultanate”), on 12 September 1962, was proof absolute of the
sovereign powers and royal sovereignty of the Sultan.

It “showed and proved the existence of sovereignty of His Majesty Sultan Esmail E. Kiram I,
of the Royal Sultanate as sovereign monarch, and the sultanate as a sovereign kingdom nation
state,” which was accepted by President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962, and thereafter by the
next President Ferdinand E. Marcos and other Philippine presidents afterwards.

The official signing of the Sabah Cession/ Transfer of Sabah Sovereignty to the Philippines
on 12 September 1962, and its acceptance by the Philippine government, Congress, Supreme
Court, Philippine presidents and the continuity and existence of the aforesaid Sabah Cession
lends credence to the “existence and continuity of sovereignty” of the Sultan and the Royal
Sultanate today, and renders such sovereignty in full force vested in the true and legitimate
Sultan His Majesty Sultan Fuad A. Kiram I, the last son of His Majesty Sultan Esmail E.
Kiram I, who inherited the ranks, titles, positions and “sovereign rights” of His father as
Sultan of Sulu and Sabah.

True enough, the Royal Sultanate ceded the Sabah territory to the Philippines on 12
September 1962 (during the term of former President Diosdado Macapagal). The cession
agreement is titled: “Cession and Transfer of the Territory of North Borneo by Sultan
Muhammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, Acting with the Consent and Approval of the
Ruma Bechara, in Council Assembled, to the Republic of the Philippines.”

Part of the cession states:

“The Territory of North Borneo, and the title of sovereignty and dominion over the said
Territory are hereby ceded and transferred by Sultan Muhammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of
Sulu, acting with the consent and approval of the Ruma Bechara, to the Republic of the
Philippines.”
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 First, what is cession? Cession is defined as “the transfer of sovereignty over state
territory by the owner state to another state” (Verma, 2004, p.119). Cession is known
in international law as an important attribute of sovereignty. This means that only a
sovereign state can have the power to acquire territory or cede a part of its territory
in favour of another sovereign state.

Here are other definitions of cession:

1. Cession is a transfer of sovereignty over state territory by agreement, normally a

treaty, from one state to another, and in this sense constitutes a “derivative” mode of
acquisition of territory by a state through a formal agreement for changing the title to
territorial sovereignty” (Boczek, 2005, p.209).
2. Cession of state territory is the transfer of sovereignty over state territory by the
owner-state to another state” (Oppenheim & Roxburgh, 1920, p.376).
3. By cession is meant the relinquishing by a state of its sovereignty over some of its
territory to another state through an agreement between both (Al Abed & Hellyer,
2001, p.188).

For an act of cession to be valid, or to be considered an official, governmental act of

transferring sovereignty, the following requisites must be present (Al Abed & Hellyer, 2001,
p.188):

a) The owner state must actually exercise legal and full sovereignty over the territory to
be ceded.

b) The act of cession or agreement must not have been induced by threat of force. It must
take place willingly and peacefully.

c) Its object must be sovereignty over the territory to be ceded.

d) On the other hand, sovereignty is defined as “the absolute and perpetual power of a
commonwealth” (Bodin & Franklin, 1992, p. 345).

For to repeat, these profound words have salient implications today: “This means that only a
sovereign state can have the power to acquire territory or cede a part of its territory in
favour of another sovereign state,”

strongly supports the existence and continuity of sovereignty of the Sultan of Sulu and the
Royal Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah.

Thus, the Cession of North Borneo/Sabah to the Philippines in 1962 and the acceptance of the
Philippines of the same Cession proved beyond doubt the existence of the sovereign status of
the Sultan of Sulu as sovereign monarch, and the Royal Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah
as a sovereign kingdom nation state today.

His Majesty Sultan Fuad A. Kiram I exercises that sovereignty as the 35th Reigning Sultan
and as The Sultan of Sulu & The Sultan of Sabah.

Cited sources:
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Al Abed, I & Hellyer, P. (2002). United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective.Trident Press
Ltd.

Bodin, J. & Franklin, J. (1992). Bodin: On Sovereignty. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Boczek, B. (2005). International Law: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press.

Oppenheim, L. & Roxburgh, R. (1920). International law: A Treatise. The Lawbook

Exchange Ltd.

Verma, S.K. (2004). Introduction to Public International Law. PHI learning.