Sabah for Sale? PNoy’s Diplomatic Pawnshop in the Theater of Geopolitics
Sabah for Sale? PNoy’s Diplomatic Pawnshop in the Theater of Geopolitics
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
February 10, 2026
Introduction: A Pawnshop of Sovereignty
In the annals of Philippine diplomacy, one episode stands out as both tragicomic and esoteric: the Aquino administration’s attempt to “downgrade” the Philippine claim to Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support in the arbitration case against China. Imagine sovereignty treated like a pawnshop item—“slightly used, colonial provenance, sentimental value, negotiable price.” The irony? Malaysia never bought it. Worse, Malaysia told the arbitral tribunal that the findings were not binding on them, and the tribunal agreed. So, was it worth pawning a centuries-old claim for a neighbor’s applause that never came? Or was this the geopolitical equivalent of selling your family heirloom to buy a ticket to a concert where the band refuses to play your song?
---
Historical Backdrop: The Ghost of Sabah
Sabah, once leased by the Sultan of Sulu to the British North Borneo Company in 1878, became a colonial football. By 1962, the Sultan of Sulu ceded sovereignty to the Philippine government, and President Diosdado Macapagal filed the claim with the UN. Yet in 1963, Sabah was absorbed into Malaysia without the Sultan’s consent. Since then, the Philippines has maintained its claim, albeit inconsistently—sometimes loudly, sometimes sheepishly, sometimes like a forgotten karaoke song only revived when the neighbors are drunk enough to listen.
---
PNoy’s Gambit: The Note Verbale
In 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs under PNoy sent Malaysia a note verbale, essentially saying: “We are reviewing our 2009 protest against your continental shelf claim. If you help us against China, maybe we’ll soften our stance on Sabah.” This was diplomacy by barter, sovereignty by installment plan. The requests were simple yet loaded: Malaysia should confirm that its extended continental shelf claim was from its mainland, not the Spratlys, and that it would not claim maritime entitlements beyond 12 nautical miles from its reefs. In short, Manila wanted Malaysia to help strengthen its case that China’s nine-dash line was legally void.
But here’s the satirical twist: Malaysia, ever pragmatic, saw no benefit in antagonizing China, its largest trading partner. Why risk economic ties for Manila’s legal crusade? Why buy a pawned heirloom when you can keep your wallet fat and your diplomacy “safe”? Malaysia politely declined, leaving the Philippines holding both the pawn ticket and the empty bag.
---
The Arbitration: A Victory with Caveats
The 2016 arbitral ruling was historic: China’s nine-dash line was declared invalid, and features like rocks could not generate entitlements beyond 12 nautical miles. The Philippines won—on paper. Yet Malaysia, during the hearings, insisted the tribunal’s findings were not binding on them. The tribunal agreed. Thus, the Philippines’ pawnshop diplomacy yielded a paradox: a legal victory undermined by regional ambivalence. Was this a Pyrrhic triumph? A hollow crown? Or perhaps a karaoke contest where the judges clap politely but refuse to score your performance?
---
Satirical Analysis: The Theater of the Absurd
Let us pause and ask rhetorical questions:
- Why would the Philippines offer to downgrade its Sabah claim—a claim stronger in historical title than its Spratly claims—for Malaysia’s support in a case Malaysia never fully endorsed?
- Was PNoy’s administration playing chess, poker, or simply “sungka” with marbles borrowed from neighbors?
- Did anyone in DFA consider that Malaysia’s “safe play” policy meant they would never risk angering China?
This is the theater of the absurd: a sovereign state negotiating away its heritage for a neighbor’s applause, only to discover the neighbor was busy counting trade revenues with Beijing.
---
Anecdotal Humor: The Pawnshop Clerk
Picture this: a pawnshop in Mandaluyong. The clerk (PNoy’s DFA) offers a family heirloom (Sabah claim) to a customer (Malaysia). The clerk says: “Sir, if you buy this, I’ll throw in support for my arbitration case against China.” The customer replies: “Sorry, I don’t need another heirloom. I already have one, and besides, I’m friends with China. But thanks for the offer.” The clerk, embarrassed, mutters: “Well, I’ll just keep it in the backroom. Maybe someone else will want it.”
This anecdote captures the tragicomic essence of PNoy’s gambit: sovereignty treated like a negotiable pawn ticket, only to be rejected by the very neighbor it was meant to entice.
---
Esoteric Layer: Sovereignty as Ritual Performance
From an esoteric lens, sovereignty is not merely legal—it is ritual. The Sabah claim is a ritual invocation of ancestral authority, a performance of continuity from the Sultan of Sulu to the modern Republic. To “downgrade” the claim is to interrupt the ritual, to silence the chant mid-verse. In offering Sabah for Malaysia’s support, PNoy disrupted the ritual, transforming sovereignty into transactional diplomacy. The esoteric tragedy lies in the broken incantation: the ancestral spirits invoked for Sabah were left unheard, drowned by the pragmatic hum of Malaysia’s economic ties with China.
---
Academic Critique: Policy Miscalculation
From a policy analysis perspective, PNoy’s gambit was a miscalculation. Malaysia’s foreign policy has long been characterized by cautious pragmatism—balancing ASEAN solidarity with economic dependence on China. Expecting Malaysia to side with Manila against Beijing was naïve. Moreover, downgrading the Sabah claim risked prejudicing the Philippines’ stronger territorial case, as former UN representative Lauro Baja warned. Even if not formally dropped, the withdrawal of the protest could be used as evidence against the claim.
Thus, the gambit weakened the Philippines’ position on Sabah without securing Malaysia’s support. It was a lose-lose scenario, a diplomatic pawnshop where the item was devalued and the customer uninterested.
---
Comparative Irony: Timber vs. Rocks
Economically, Sabah is timber- and mineral-rich, far more valuable than the Spratlys’ rocks. Yet PNoy’s administration prioritized the Spratlys arbitration over Sabah. Was this rational? Perhaps. The arbitration targeted China’s nine-dash line, a global legal precedent. But the irony remains: the Philippines risked its stronger claim (Sabah) for a weaker one (Spratlys), only to secure a victory undermined by regional dissent. It is like trading a gold heirloom for a plastic trophy—shiny, symbolic, but fragile.
---
Rhetorical Crescendo: Questions Without Answers
- Was PNoy’s Sabah gambit a necessary sacrifice for a larger legal victory, or a reckless pawnshop deal that devalued sovereignty?
- Did Malaysia ever intend to support Manila, or was the Philippines merely a convenient pawn in Malaysia’s balancing act with China?
--
If you like my any of my concept research, writing explorations, art works and/or simple writings please support me by sending me a coffee treat at my paypal amielgeraldroldan.paypal.me or GXI 09163112211. Much appreciate and thank you in advance.
Just featured at https://www.pressenza.com/2026/01/the-asian-cultural-council-global-alumni-network-amiel-gerald-a-roldan/
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™ curatorial writing practice exemplifies this path: transforming grief into infrastructure, evidence into agency, and memory into resistance. As the Philippines enters a new economic decade, such work is not peripheral—it is foundational.
I'm trying to complement my writings with helpful inputs from AI through writing. Bear with me as I am treating this blog as repositories and drafts.
Please comment and tag if you like my compilations visit www.amielroldan.blogspot.com or www.amielroldan.wordpress.com
and comments at
amiel_roldan@outlook.com
amielgeraldroldan@gmail.com
A multidisciplinary Filipino artist, poet, researcher, and cultural worker whose practice spans painting, printmaking, photography, installation, and writing. He is deeply rooted in cultural memory, postcolonial critique, and in bridging creative practice with scholarly infrastructure—building counter-archives, annotating speculative poetry like Southeast Asian manuscripts, and fostering regional solidarity through ethical art collaboration.
Recent show at ILOMOCA
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16qUTDdEMD
https://www.linkedin.com/safety/go?messageThreadUrn=urn%3Ali%3AmessageThreadUrn%3A&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressenza.com%2F2025%2F05%2Fcultural-workers-not-creative-ilomoca-may-16-2025%2F&trk=flagship-messaging-android
https://alumni.asianculturalcouncil.org/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAPlR6NjbGNrA-VG_2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHoy6hXUptbaQi5LdFAHcNWqhwblxYv_wRDZyf06-O7Yjv73hEGOOlphX0cPZ_aem_sK6989WBcpBEFLsQqr0kdg
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™ started Independent Curatorial Manila™ as a nonprofit philantrophy while working for institutions simultaneosly early on.
The Independent Curatorial Manila™ or ICM™ is a curatorial services and guide for emerging artists in the Philippines. It is an independent/ voluntary services entity and aims to remains so. Selection is through proposal and a prerogative temporarily. Contact above for inquiries.
-
Comments