KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — The Philippine government will not pursue its highly-sensitive claim over Sabah when President Benigno Aquino III visits his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Razak here next week, a local daily reported today.

According to The Philippine Star, Aquino said the matter is not part of the agenda as discussing the Sabah claim would only expose his government’s “weaknesses and strengths” and put it at a disadvantage later.

“If I’m going to give a blueprint of how we want to handle this then that would produce a disadvantage for the country,” he was quoted as saying by Philstar.

He later reportedly expressed optimism that Manila’s Sabah claim will be filed during his term as president, which expires in 2016.

It was reported last October that the Philippine government may seek further compensation from Malaysia for Sabah, a north Borneo state that has been the subject of a longstanding territorial dispute between the two nations.

According to one report, Aquino said that asking for more compensation was one of the avenues being studied by his government’s Department of Justice (DoJ), as a peaceful solution to prevent future takeover attempts by militant groups.

In February last year, some 200 armed militants sailed over from South Philippines to Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, where they set up camp for a month to stake their claim on Sabah in the name of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of the Sulu Sultanate.

The Sulu Sultanate has for decades been pursuing its claim over Sabah, arguing that the region had been part of the sultanate’s empire and was only leased to the British prior to the creation of Malaysia.

Malaysia still pays an annual stipend of RM5,300, a rate that was paid by the British North Borneo Company since 1903 for the “lease”.

The incident ended with several days of armed conflict with Malaysian security forces, with over 70 filipino gunmen and 10 Malaysian security officers reportedly killed in the fighting.

The Malaysian authorities have since launched legal proceedings for various acts of terrorism against 30 individuals linked to the deadly insurgency.

President Aquino had in March ordered a review of the sultanate’s claim to Sabah.

According to the Foreign Ministry today, Aquino will visit Malaysia for the first time next week and is scheduled to meet with Najib on a number of bilteral issues, as well as regional and international matters.