First batch of deportees from Sabah sails into Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga City
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A first batch of 395 Filipino deportees sent back from Sabah by the Malaysian government has arrived in the Philippines.
The Filipino deportees are among the 5,300 to be repatriated for staying in Sabah illegally.
The commercial vessel transporting the deportees arrived in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi on Saturday, where 299 of the repatriates were allowed to disembark, according to Fatima Caminan, officer-in-charge of the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development 9.
Another 36 deportees disembarked in Sulu and the rest, 53 Filipinos, arrived in Zamboanga City on Sunday morning and were immediately processed and given a medical checkup as part of COVID-19 health protocols.
Of those who arrived in Zamboanga City, 13 are city residents. The others are from Basilan (16), Zamboanga del Norte (8), Zamboanga del Sur (5) and Zamboanga Sibugay (3).
Two are from General Santos City, and another two are from La Union. The repatriates also include one from Davao City, one from Bukidnon, one from Bohol, one from Lanao del Sur, one Siquijor, and one from Cavite.
Anwary Akalun of Basilan Provincial Social Welfare Office said the deportees were initially given a COVID-19 rapid test in Malaysia before boarding the ship that sailed to Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga City.
The deportees went through a medical triage to determine if they pose health risk to their home towns and villages.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also deployed social welfare personnel to assist returning constituents.
Zamboanga City has given the deportees from outside the city 12 hours to be assisted and transported back to their places of origin.
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