Group scores Palace ‘cover-up’ on Sabah crackdown

MANILA, Philippines — Migrante International on Friday accused Malacaňang of a “cover-up" on the crackdown against undocumented Filipinos in Sabah, Malaysia.

The group rejected Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita's claim on Thursday that the Philippine and Malaysian governments had laid down ground rules for the "orderly" repatriation of Filipinos living or working in Malaysia.

"News stories have been rife with numerous accounts of human rights violations. And all (the) government can say is that they have laid down the groundwork? What hogwash!" said Connie Bragas-Regalado, chairperson of Migrante International in a statement on Friday.

"How typical of this inutile and dense government to announce that they are still 'laying down the groundwork' even as the rights of our kababayans have already been violated," she added.

Regalado also refused to accept Ermita’s assertion that the Philippines, in dealing with the issue, must be careful as it needs to consider its relations with Malaysia.

"This government has always prioritized its relations with other countries over its citizens, and always at the expense of its 'New Heroes (mga Bagong Bayani)'," she said, referring to the government’s term for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Reports said that an average of 150 to 200 Filipino men, women, and children found to be illegally staying in Sabah have been deported weekly on a regular basis since 2002. Many have gone back to Sabah since then, unmindful of what could befall them once discovered.

Migrante said a fact-finding mission it conducted had documented horrific experiences suffered by Filipino deportees from Sabah in 2002 and 2005. Attack dogs were used to round up Filipinos, communities were burned to flush them out and houses were chain sawed. Many were raped and tortured, it said.

With Malaysia's recent refusal to grant permanent residency status for Filipino undocumented workers, the group feared a repeat of the 2002 and 2005 "nightmares" and demanded the statement from the Arroyo regime on how they intend to deal with the impending massive crackdown and deportation of an estimated 500,000 undocumented Filipinos in Sabah.

"Arroyo's inaction will definitely serve as another failing mark in the coming state of the nation address," Regalado said. "A big fat Zero or a Completely Failed grade is what millions of OFWs will give her on July 28." - GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more