THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced that a total of 3,653 deportees arrived in Zamboanga City from Malaysia since January of this year.
Abdulmanan Samson, chief of DSWD’s Processing Center for Displaced Persons (PCDP), said the deportees arrived in seven batches in separate occasions.
Samson said the arrivals of the deportees are as follows: 680, January 11; 800, January 25; 228, February 8; 226, May 9; 417, May 30; 652, September 6; y, 650, September 20.
Samson said majority of the deportees are residents of other places like Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Cebu, Pampanga, La Union, Davao, Misamis Occidental, Cagayan de Oro, Palawan, and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Samson said they have extended assistance like food packs, hygiene kits, and transportation assistance upon arrival of the deportees in Zamboanga City.
“After assessment, those from Mapun, Tawi-Tawi and Palawan will be assisted with transportation allowance so they can already go,” he said.
However, he said most of the deportees prefer to stay in Malaysia because they can earn more money there than in the country. (SunStar Zamboanga)