First batch of Filipino deportees arrive

THE Malaysian Government deported on Friday a total of 109 Filipinos illegally staying in Malaysia.

Conrado Cabaquit of the Zamboanga Regional Consular Office said the Filipino deportees arrived at Zamboanga port on Saturday aboard M/V Danica Joy 2 of the locally-owned Aleson Shipping Lines that plies the Zamboanga-Malaysia route twice a week via Sandakan in the State of Sabah.

Cabaquit said the 109 deportees comprised of the first batch of Filipinos deported back to the country this year since the Malaysian Government resumed the crackdown against illegal migrants.

The Filipinos who are illegal migrants in Malaysia went to that country purposely to seek good-paying jobs.

Cabaquit said the deportees, after cleared to disembarked, were taken to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Processing Center for Displaced Person.

He said they will be temporarily housed at the center until their eventual return to their respective home provinces.

The DSWD has allocated funds and is spending millions of pesos in sending home deportees coming from Malaysia to their respective places of origin.

Thousands of Filipinos have already been deported since the Malaysian Government launches crackdown against illegal migrants and workers in that country. (Bong Garcia)