evidence: Sabah, located in the northern half of the island of Borneo has been at the centre of a diplomatic row between Malaysia and the Philippines – which claims much of its eastern half – since the early 1960s. Currently, Sabah remains under the sovereignty of Malaysia and the matter has laid dormant for many years. [...] In drawing up proposals for this new model, member of the consultative committee, Aquilino Pimentel, included Sabah as part of Philippine territory. Pimentel’s proposals included 12 states and he suggested that Sabah be added on as the nation’s 13th state. [...] The Manila Accord has been used multiple times by the Sulu Sultanate as a basis to pressure the Filipino government to assert its claim to the northern part of Sabah as the Sultanate still wields significant influence amongst Sulu residents. Even Duterte himself vowed to pursue the claim during his presidential campaign in 2016 which garnered him political support from locals.