THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Zamboanga Peninsula, in coordination with partner agencies, has provided assistance to 844 returning Filipinos from Sabah upon arrival at the port of Zamboanga.
Riduan Hadjimuddin, DSWD-Zamboanga Peninsula director, said the returnees were composed of 518 adult males, 210 adult females, 59 male children, and 57 female children.
Hadjimuddin said they arrived around 3 a.m. Saturday, January 17, aboard a commercial vessel plying the Zamboanga–Malaysia route via the city of Sandakan in Sabah.
“Upon arrival at the port, they were immediately provided with hot meals and essential personal items by DSWD personnel,” Hadjimuddin said in a statement.
The Filipino returnees were brought to the DSWD’s Processing Center for Displaced Persons (PCDP) in Barangay Talon-Talon, where they will be profiled and assessed while the DSWD facilitates their travel to their respective places of origin.
Hadjimuddin noted that most of the returning Filipinos are from the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi, while the rest are from other parts of the country.
The 844 returning Filipinos are the first batch to return home this year.
The coordinated efforts in providing assistance to the returning Filipinos involved the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Migrant Workers, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Quarantine, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Ministry of Social Services and Development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Office of Civil Defense, and the City Government of Zamboanga, among others, ensuring the orderly and safe reception of the returnees. (SunStar Zamboanga)