By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

MANILA, Sept 3 (IslamOnline) - Law Makers in Manila, Philippine claim Malaysia last Friday paid a lease worth U.S.$ 1500.00 to the Sultanate of Sulu, sparking debates on Malaysia’s territorial integrity on Sabah in the Borneo Island, news agencies reported on Tuesday.

Lawmakers (from the Senate and the Congress) are now pressing the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government to revive its claim over the island.

Two lawmakers filed separate resolutions urging the government to initiate the claim on Sabah and other islands north of Borneo before the United Nations International Court of Justice.

House foreign relations chairman Apolinario Lozada said the Malaysian government paid the amount to the Sultanate of Sulu for the former’s lease of Sabah, the Manila Times reported.

Lozada and many others call the Malaysian presence in Sabah an “occupation” of the Island and said the lease was being paid since their wealthy neighbor took control of the state.

The Malaysian Premier on Sunday scoffed at reports that senators and other influential figures in Manila were forcing the Arroyo government to stake a claim on Sabah.

President Arroyo herself dismissed the possibility that her country will eventually claim the island arguing that the tragic events that followed the expulsion of Philippine illegals from Sabah would not create a rift between the two nations.

Some Congressmen are also campaigning “a rightful compensation to the Sultanate of Sulu as well,” believing that Malaysia can pay more for the lease.

Malaysia annexed the territory of Sabah and Sarawak after the citizens of the states voted to join the Malaysian federation during a UN sponsored referendum.

On the other hand, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) asked the government on Monday to go easy on reviving the Sabah claim.

"The Sabah claim is a bombshell and the repercussions on both states could be disastrous," said Muhammad Ameen, secretary to the Office of the Chairman of the Central Committee of the MILF.

Ameen said the Sabah claim nearly sent the Philippines and Malaysia into war on several occasions from 1962, when the claim was initiated, to 1968, when the Philippines organized a force to start a rebellion in the disputed territory.

Asked about the position of the MILF on the issue, Ameen said the MILF Central Committee has not formally discussed the Sabah claim.

He, however, said the MILF “does not want the Sabahans (people of Sabah) to suffer like the Bangsamoro people from the hands of the changing oppressive regimes in Manila,” abs-cbnNEWS.com wrote on Tuesday.

Sabah is majority Muslim with a diverse racial topography. Parties allied to the ruling National Front (NF) in Malaysia govern the state.

In Manila, several legislators said they were mandating the Philippine claim over Sabah or North Borneo be aggressively and diplomatically pursued and prosecuted to final conclusion.