MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III will go to Malaysia for a state visit by the end of February, first foreign trip for 2014.
Aquino’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation, upon the invitation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, comes a year after the bloody Sabah standoff between Malaysian forces and the followers of the Sultanate of Sulu who trooped to Lahad Datu, Sabah, to assert the sultanate’s claim over the islands.
Razak was in Manila in October, where he witnessed the historic signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, a product of negotiations between the Philippines and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Malaysia is the facilitator of GPH-MILF talks. Both sides recently signed a firearms pact that would pave the way for the completion of the final peace agreement in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
A Palace source, meanwhile, said Razak might be invited to visit Manila again for the signing of the final comprehensive agreement.
The comprehensive agreement could be signed in March.
The Philippines and Malaysia have a long-standing dispute over Sabah. Both countries lay claim to the resource-rich northern tip of Borneo island; however, it is currently under Malaysian rule.
In 2013, feeling left out of the peace talks between the government and the MILF, a small armed group, under the orders of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, landed in Lahad Datu, Sabah, and staged a siege on what they said was territory under the Sulu sultanate.
This led to a standoff between the armed group and the Malaysian security forces.
The Philippines said the incident did not affect its relations with Malaysia.
Back then, peace talks between the government and the MILF in Malaysia resumed despite the hostilities, with the government saying that the territorial claim over Sabah was a matter of foreign policy and could not be addressed by the talks. – Rappler.com
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