An outspoken Sabah ruling party leader has warned that the ballooning illegal immigrant population, mostly from neighbouring Philippines, will result in a "reverse takeover" of the state.

According to ex-senator Dr Chong Eng Leong, Filipinos in Sabah consider the state as part of the Philippines.

He alluded to the possibility of a "reverse takeover" by the Filipino immigrants in view of Manila's claim on Sabah.

"Should anyone think Sabah's sovereignty within Malaysia is safe and sound under the prevailing situation should think twice," the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) supreme council member told members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity at a public hearing in Kota Kinabalu last Thursday.

Chong, who is Sabah Medical Centre consultant surgeon, was referring to the 'extraordinary' increase in Sabah population in recent years to about 3.3 million, of which more than half comprise foreigners.

The politician dropped a bombshell at the hearing where he told the committee about a secret plan - codenamed Project Mahathir - to pad the electoral rolls with foreigners who were fraudulently given identity cards.

In a lengthy submission at the public inquiry held at the Sabah Legislative Assembly building, the PBS leader said the state's "future generations will not forgive us for allowing this to happen."

Set up royal commission

Chong called for the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry to probe the matter despite Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reportedly not in favour of it.

"The prime minister is well-informed of what I have said today. We must bravely face the truth as what the PM wants is (for us) to tell the truth."

He said the royal commission would clarify former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's role in Project Mahathir (sometimes referred to as Project IC), "otherwise history would not be kind to those in power for not guarding our sovereignty and be branded as 'half-past six with no guts'."

The idea of a royal commission has been mooted by PBS and other BN component parties as well as the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and Sabah-based consumer organisation, Cash.

"It (the situation) is critical. We need drastic action...," he added.

Chong reminded federal leaders that Sabahans had opted to join Malaysia in two previous referendums because it would protect its security and sovereignty.

He said when PBS was in the opposition, the lack of action against the large number of foreigners in Sabah was blamed on the strained state-federal relationship.

"Now that PBS is back in BN since January 2003, the problem has instead become worse - (it has gone) from serious to critical."

Describing foreigners in Sabah as "a terror liability", Chong feared that bloodshed could one day happen in the state as in Indonesia's West Kalimantan a few years ago.

Laws not enforced

Chong argued that many existing policies in dealing with the foreigners were "not comprehensively enforced".

"Why look for new policies?" he asked.

"Even those publicly debated policies and numerous police reports lodged received no pro-active action."

He cited the example of the "fantastic" evidence produced during his Likas election petition hearing, which was published in MD Mutalib's book IC Palsu: Merampas Hak Anak Sabah . (False IC: Robbing the Rights of local Sabahans).

The PBS leader won the court case where the election of former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee was declared 'null and void' after foreign-born voters with fraudulent ICs were found in the constituency.

Chong also said that the Election Commission should take steps to clean up the Sabah electoral rolls before the next general election.

In his submission to the parliamentary select committee, Chong quoted a letter from a reader in the local newspaper Daily Express in January 2005 who wrote: "It is up to the prime minister now (to act decisively against the presence of large number of illegals in Sabah)."

The letter writer described Sabah as an "ailing patient".

"The current critical medical problem needs you (members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity led by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Bernard Dompok), who are 'expert specialist doctors' to take measure to save this 'patient's life'."

Dompok, who is also Sabah's United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) president, said that the select committee will reveal its findings after it has completed its work in two years.