Taganak Island was returned to the Philippines after the Second World War. Since then it has become part of the Philippines turtle islands. On a clear day, Taganak can be seen in the distance from the Buli Sim Sim area of Sandakan. Seen in this photo is Taganak Island in the distance and Berhala Island (Malaysia) in the foreground. This is how near the Philippines is to Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.
Taganak Island was one of the Philippine Turtle Islands that had the historical distinction of being a territory that was not under the Philippine administration at the time of her independence in 1946. The State of North Borneo, a United Kingdom protectorate, administered this Philippine island.
The Republic of the Philippines took over the administration of this island from the United Kingdom on 16 October 1947 and the first Filipino district officer and police force to administer the Philippine Turtle Islands assumed their duties in Taganak on 22 October 1947.
The island is near the entrance to Sandakan Bay and a lighthouse was built on the island, which was of practical importance to nearby North Borneo that became the subject of an international dispute known as the Taganak Lighthouse Dispute.
The 1930 international treaty dealing with the transfer of administration of the Turtle Islands including Taganak from the British administration to the Philippine administration contained the following provision:
In the event of (the administration) of the Island of Taganak…being transferred, the United States Government will give favourable consideration to the question of the compensation to be paid to the (British North Borneo Company) in respect of the capital expenditure incurred by the company in connection with the lighthouse situated on the island, and that the United States Government will provide for the future maintenance of the lighthouse.
At the time of the island’s transfer, the Philippine government rejected the UK request that the Philippines pay for the cost of the lighthouse and that they provide for its maintenance in the future.
The Manila government asserted that the lighthouse had been severely damaged in the war, that it had not been in operation since its destruction, and that the Philippines did not need its service. The government was willing to lease the site for the lighthouse to North Borneo for one peso per annum, as long as the British needed and used the facility.
The United Kingdom’s view was that the Philippines was required under the terms of the 1930 treaty concerning the Turtle Islands to maintain it in the future. Today, the abandoned lighthouse tower remains at the summit of the island.
At a time of increased tension between the Philippines and Malaysia, the presence of Philippine troops on Taganak Island was cited as threatening in a 1968 speech made in the Malaysian parliament by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman. In the aftermath of strained relations between the Philippines and Malaysia in 2013 when many Filipinos were being deported from Sabah, approximately 400 Filipinos from Sabah became briefly stranded on the island.
