4 - Delimitation of the North Borneo–Philippines Sea Boundary and the Transfer of Sovereignty over Certain Islands to North Borneo, 1903–30

Summary

Introduction

In 1898, the United States became the new owner of the Philippine Islands. The territorial boundaries of the Philippines under its former master, Spain, were not accurately defined. Unlike Spain however, the United States was more meticulous, assertive and legalistic concerning the limits of its territorial control. The process of accurately identifying and confirming the territorial limits of its jurisdiction over the Philippines, especially in areas adjoining North Borneo, began in 1903. It was soon discovered that the State of North Borneo, under the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was illegally administering twenty-six islands off the east coast of the state which in fact belonged to the Sultan of Sulu, and therefore rightly came under the US jurisdiction. From 1903 to 1930, the two sovereign powers in the region, Britain and the United States, were involved in resolving this issue of occupation and sovereignty. The United States was also keen to draw a permanent international boundary between possessions of North Borneo and the Philippine Islands, an endeavour which was completed in 1930. These two issues resulted in the forging of the Agreement of 1907 and the Boundary Convention of 1930 between Britain and the United States, which in turn decided the fate of a number of islands in the area, including Sipadan and Ligitan. This chapter explores the tangled nature of the issues involved and the resulting implications.

Contested Jurisdiction Over Certain Islands off the East Coast of North Borneo

As has been discussed in Chapter 2, the BNBC acquired jurisdiction over the east coast of Sabah till the Sibuku River based on the Sulu Grants of 22 January 1878. According to the text of the documents, the extent of the Company's jurisdiction over the territorial waters was limited to nine nautical miles or three marine leagues from the coast.1 In the vicinity of the sea near Sandakan and Tawau however, there were a group of islands numbering about twenty-six beyond the three marine leagues limit, but which the Company mistakenly thought belonged to it and thus brought them under its administration. See Figure 4.1. These islands2 which included Sipadan and Ligitan, as well, became the centre of a dispute first as a result of the Sultan of Sulu claiming ownership over them beginning in 1899; and later as a result of the United States claiming sovereignty over the islands beginning in 1903.