However, every year, the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines still issues a cheque in the amount of 5,300 ringgit (US$1710 or about 77,000 Philippine pesos) to the legal counsel of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu in keeping with the terms of an 1878 agreement. Malaysia considers the amount an annual cession payment for the disputed state, while the sultan’s descendants consider it as a “rent.”