evidence: The Philippines’ claim that Sabah was derived from the Sulu sultanate traces its history back 1704. It is said the sultanate acquired Sabah as a reward for helping the sultan of Brunei quell a rebellion. [...] The Philippines may have got it right. But its claim only came after the civil war. It is in the weakened state of the Brunei kingdom that the Sulus were bold enough to assert its claim over North Borneo. The claim also includes the Sulus' ability able to coax the North Borneo Chartered Company into signing a treaty with them in 1878, when the kingdom was barely surviving after the Spanish attack.