Marina readies permits for vessels to bring home Pinoys fleeing Sabah

Small vessels plying routes near Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi may be allowed to pick up more than 1,000 Filipinos who fled Sabah and docked in Tawi-Tawi in the past several days. The Maritime Industry Authority said it will issue emergency deployment permits to owners of such vessels, radio dzBB's Mao dela Cruz reported Sunday. Marina officials were quoted in the report as saying the vessels will help the refugees return to their homes in Mindanao. But the report did not immediately say how many vessels will be given such permits. In the past several days, Filipinos fleeing clashes in Sabah had fled to Tawi-Tawi and want to return to their homes in Zamboanga and Basilan. Since March 5, Malaysian security forces had pounded Lahad Datu town in Sabah, where armed Filipinos led by Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram are believed hiding. Agbimuddin is the brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. — LBG, GMA News