WI: José Rizal's North Borneo project push through

In 1892, José Rizal envisioned a Filipino colony in North Borneo, and managed to secure a deal with the British North Borneo Company for a 999-year lease of land.

However the plan was scrapped when the then Governor General of the Philippines Eulogio Despujol refused Rizal's proposition, calling it "unpatriotic".

But what if Despujol agreed? How could this change Rizal's fate? And how could this affect Philippine history?
 
It'd probably just end-up some as one of those historical oddities that don't mean anything, like countries legally being at war for centuries because of some technicality during the peace process in the past at most and probably more akin to the OTL historical note that alot of places got offered North Borneo, including the United States and IIRC Italy; I say this because the PoD is frankly not early enough to change things, there's little reason for it to butterfly the Spanish-American War and the U.S. and Britain would probably just agree that it did'nt mean squat and void it.
 
It'd probably just end-up some as one of those historical oddities that don't mean anything, like countries legally being at war for centuries because of some technicality during the peace process in the past at most and probably more akin to the OTL historical note that alot of places got offered North Borneo, including the United States and IIRC Italy; I say this because the PoD is frankly not early enough to change things, there's little reason for it to butterfly the Spanish-American War and the U.S. and Britain would probably just agree that it did'nt mean squat and void it.

Not necessarily. All of what you mentioned can change philippines history. The Spanish American war isn't even assured to happen in the Philippines if the philippins hadn't rebelled, been loyal or was independent years before 1898.

Philippines had more eager people to transfer than any of the great powers you mentioned due to spanish treatment of the locals. Had these disgruntled filipinos transfered, you would have more loyal locals with a possibility of changing the outcome of the Spanish American war in Asia.

There is also a possibility that north borneo would be heavily populated and heavily catholic. It is quite possible to have 4m in that colony within a decade or so.

It would be quite interesting how this goes had the filipino population spilled over Sarawak and dutch Borneo ATL.
 
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