Pinoys returning from Sabah are 'balikbayan,' not 'refugees,' DSWD chief says

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Dinky Soliman on Wednesday got technical when she appealed to the media to quit calling returning Filipinos from Sabah “refugees.” “Can I also request the media not to call them refugees because they are not. They’re returning citizens. They are not refugees,” Soliman said, explaining that refugees flee their home country, when in the current situation, the Filipinos displaced by the fighting in Sabah are actually returning to their motherland. “Kasi iba ‘yung refugee. It’s as if you’re fleeing your country and you don’t have a country; they do. They are Filipino citizens, working in Sabah [who are] unfortunately not documented,” Soliman said. The Filipinos should not be called "evacuees," either, Soliman said. “Hindi rin sila evacuees because they are not fleeing from a situation. [Instead] they are doing a preventive action for themselves,” she said. So what to call them? Soliman proposed the term “balikbayan.” “Ako ang tawag ko sa kanila, balikbayan. Bumabalik sila sa bayan nila,” she said. Soliman, however, admitted that there were still several complications to the returning Filipinos’ situation, saying that they were returning in the face of deportation fears. She said of the close to 2,000 returnees, all were undocumented workers. “Ang actual situation nila, sila ay undocumented, ang umuuwi. Lahat nang umuwi, undocumented. So far, ‘yon ‘yung aming monitoring sa aming pag-interview. Bakit sila umuwi? Alam nila na maaaring maghigpit ang Malaysian authorities dahil sa nangyari sa Lahad Datu [at pwede silang makulong,]” Soliman said.   “Kaya bago ‘yon mangyari, sila ay umiiwas sa ganoong sitwasyon, which I think is a very rational and correct thing to do, at this point in their lives,” she added. Soliman also stressed that the government will continue to support the ”balikbayans,” whether they want to stay in the country, or return to Sabah to work. “Kung gusto nilang manatili na lang dito sa Pilipinas, meron pong livelihood options na ino-offer ang DOLE at  saka ang Department of Agriculture. Kung gusto naman po nilang bumalik, tutulungan po namin silang kumuha ng ligal na dokumento,” she said. — KBK, GMA News