MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 14, 2012) – Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak is set to visit Manila on the invitation of President Benigno Aquino to witness the signing of the historic peace deal between the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels on Monday.
Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, played a key role in the negotiations between the Philippines and the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in the southern region of Mindanao.
“This is the first visit of Prime Minister Najib to the Philippines since he assumed office in 2009. He will be accompanied by his spouse, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, and the Malaysian ministers of foreign affairs, defense and international trade and industry,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
During the Official Visit, Prime Minister Najib will have a bilateral meeting with President Aquino in the morning of October 15 to discuss the political, economic and defense and security cooperation between the Philippines and Malaysia, it said, adding President Aquino will also host a luncheon in honor of Prime Minister Najib and Datin Rosmah Mansor.
Prime Minister Najib, accompanied by a business delegation – headed by AlloyMTD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dato Azmil Khalid, the pro-tempore chair of the Kuala Lumpur based Malaysia-Philippines Business Council – will also meet leading Philippine business executives under the auspices of the Philippines-Malaysia Business Council.
Relations between the Philippines and Malaysia are deep and longstanding, as the two countries are neighbors and partners in ASEAN. The Philippines and Malaysia are experiencing a renaissance in bilateral relations, including in the political, economic and cultural spheres.
Formal diplomatic relations have been nurtured through the years ever since a Philippine legation was established in Kuala Lumpur in 1959. The Philippines-Malaysia Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, which was established in 1993 and later renamed as the Joint Commission Meeting, and other mechanisms further enhance cooperation in the political, economic, security, tourism, cultural and other fields.
But the Philippines’ claim to the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah remains an irritant between the two countries. The Sultanate of Sulu originally obtained Sabah from Brunei as a gift for helping put down a rebellion on Borneo Island.
The Sultanate of Sulu was a Muslim state that ruled over much of the islands off the Sulu Sea. It stretches from a part of the island of Mindanao in the east, to North Borneo, now known as Sabah, in the west and south, and to Palawan, in the north. The Sultanate of Sulu was founded in 1457 and is believed to exist as a sovereign nation for at least 442 years.
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