The territorial dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia over the state of Sabah (formerly North Borneo) stems from the 1878 Agreement: the Sultanate of Sulu leased or ceded the territory of North Borneo to the British North Borneo Company.
Obviously, it was an unfair agreement made under the bayonets and guns of British colonialists.
From a legal angle, the Spanish central government, which was governing the Philippines at that time, had no say in this agreement.
We can say this agreement is illegal by international law standards.
British colonialists simply invaded and grabbed the Philippine territory of Sabah. The Philippines has historical sovereignty and ownership of Sabah.
In a published article titled “We don’t want US-style anti-migrant movement: Saifuddin urges govt to engage Parliament on Rohingya crisis” in Malaysiakini on June 23, 2026, writers Qistina Nadia Dzuiqarmain and Ng Ling Fong stated that “the Philippines’ continental margin was projected from the baselines of Sabah, a territory over which Malaysia asserts indisputable sovereignty.”
They further stated that “While the Philippines had recently raised the issue on several international and ASEAN platforms again, Saifuddin agreed that the Philippines’ action has fueled geopolitical friction and escalated regional tension, inviting foreign power intervention.”
According to these writers, when the Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963, Malaysia automatically inherited all lands from the hands of British colonialists, including Sabah, which British colonialists took from the Sultanate of Sulu.
Malaysia followed in their colonial predecessors’ footsteps; they even removed the cloak of civilization—in 2013, Malaysia stopped making the token yearly proprietary payments to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu after the so-called “Lahad Datu standoff.”
Both Malaysia and the Philippines are victims of colonialism; we know the untold sufferings colonialists brought to us.
Both countries have no reason to bully each other.
However, both countries can settle the Sabah dispute through bilateral dialogue or the ASEAN platform.