COMMENT In 1967, Operation Merdeka was initiated by then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. The main objective was to annex Sabah for the Philippines. The legal basis of the operation was the claim of the sultan of Sulu and his heirs to Sabah.

The sultan’s heirs insist that the resource-rich land still belonged to them. They believe that it was simply leased (pajak) to the British East India Company in 1878 and was illegally transferred by the British in 1963, when it became part of the Federation of Malaysia.

The heirs of the Sulu sultan, being citizens of the Philippines, gave President Marcos the mandate to reclaim Sabah as part of the country.