It's the 45th anniversary of what's known as the "Jabidah massacre", a

previously under-acknowledged yet pivotal point in modern Philippine

history.

Jabidah was the name of a special commando unit reportedly trained by the
government of then-president Ferdinand Marcos to wreak havoc in Sabah in
the 1960s. This was all part of an alleged secret plot to destabilise Sabah so
that Marcos could begin proceedings to officially regain control of it from
Malaysia. (The dispute over ownership of Sabah dates back to a Sultanate
which ruled until the 19th century, from a seat in the southern Philippines.
Malaysia still pays a fee to the descendants of that Sultan.)

When the alleged "Take Back Sabah" plan was brought to light by the late
opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr, the Muslim fighters Marcos reportedly
recruited from the southern Philippines were killed by government forces in
an attempt to bury any evidence of the plot.

The jury is still out on whether all of this is fact, or fiction.

Regardless, the story has sparked deep divisions in the Philippines and led to
one of the world’s longest insurgencies - a Muslim secessionist movement that
has spanned decades.

Forty-five years on, and for the first time, an incumbent Philippine president
led commemorative rites on the island where the massacre is believed to have
taken place. In his speech, President Aquino III (the late opposition senator’s
son), unequivocally stated that the killings "really happened". This is being
seen by many, however, as a strategically timed attempt to pacify a rekindled
ire among (though not exclusive to) Filipino Muslims over Aquino’s perceived
"mishandling" of a more recent, also Sabah-related, event: the stand-off at
Lahad-Datu between a group of Filipino fighters calling themselves the "Royal
Sulu Forces" and Malaysian government troops.
The Aquino administration has been criticised as having sold out or kow-
towing to Malaysia by not doing more to stop the Malaysian security forces'
offensive against some 200 Filipino fighters who tried to reclaim Sabah acting
independently of the Philippine government.

Not to be overlooked in all this is Malaysia. The intricacies of the connections

through time and space on this story are dizzyingly labyrinthine. Malaysia has
been brokering the peace between the Philippine government and Muslim
rebels – which is now in its final stages. But – as reported on Al Jazeera last
week - both Muslim rebel leaders and a former Malaysian prime minister
admit that the Philippine Muslim rebellion got much of its backing from
Malaysia itself, in the hopes that this would quell and distract the Philippines
from its claim to Sabah. Unfortunately, the over 40 year insurgency also
meant over million people tried to escape the fighting through the years by
fleeing to Sabah - which then created a whole slew of other problems for the
Malaysians.

So now what? Sabah is a sore subject domestically for, and between, the two
countries. Malaysia has to deal with the migrant Filipinos who have long felt
ignored on Sabah, and the Aquino administration treads a fragile diplomatic
line, not only with neighbouring Malaysia, but also its own disgruntled
nationals.