Introduction

The dispute over the ownership of the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan developed between Indonesia and Malaysia in 1969. The Philippines has an ongoing claim over Sabah since 1962. In order to understand how these three nations became embroiled in these territorial disputes, it is imperative to understand the process of how they became legal successor states to the colonial regimes in the region; how they inherited some of the unresolved territorial problems of the colonial era; and how expansionist nationalisms clashed over British Borneo.

The Emergence of the Philippines as Legal Successsor to Spain and the United States

When Spain occupied the Philippines in the late sixteenth century, it inherited a territory which was fragmented and lacked any experience of an organized central government. Although Spanish rule was often harsh and oppressive, Spain unified the islands under a relatively organized central administration, introduced Western education and more importantly brought Christianity to the Filipinos. Consequently, the three hundred years of Spanish rule from 1571 to 1898 made the Philippines the only Asian country with a Christian majority and the highest degree of Western influence. The Philippines also became the first country in Southeast Asia to launch an anticolonial movement against its colonial masters and achieve independence. The spark of nationalism was ignited in the 1880s and 1890s by a middle-class Filipino intellectual and medical doctor named Jose Rizal who agitated for reforms by calling upon the Spanish authorities to give the Filipinos their just rights, liberty, and representation in the Spanish Parliament. His very moderate demands were unheeded by the government which in fact deported him to Mindanao in 1892 to curtail his influence. Whereupon, the nationalist movement passed into the hands of revolutionaries and went underground. In 1892, these revolutionaries, headed by Andres Bonifacio formed a secret society called Katipunan which sought to achieve independence from Spanish rule through armed rebellion. The Katipunan gained widespread support from Filipinos to the extent that it was able to arouse a nationwide insurrection in 1896. The Spaniards reacted with severe repression. Jose Rizal was executed on charges of rebellion and sedition, and the insurrection was mercilessly crushed.