The AEC will benefit our country

The Asean was put together in the sixties and grew out of a sense of solidarity among the ethnically related countries in the region led by the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Malays were quite close and have substantial cultural, political and economic ties.

Going back to history Manila was ruled by Rajah Suleiman of the Bolkiah dynasty, now the governing monarchy of that small rich city state at the tip of Borneo. When the Brunei Sultan’s state was threatened by other Malays, his cousin the Sultan of Sulu sent a few thousand Tausug warriors to repel the invaders. In gratitude the Sultan of Brunei gifted his cousin the sprawling territory now known as Sabah. This is the source of the claim of the Kiram family to this disputed territory, a claim that the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo formally ceded to the Philippine government.