DSWD helps about 2,000 undocumented Pinoys deported from Sabah

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said they have assisted about 2,000 undocumented Filipinos deported from Sabah, Malaysia.

A report from the DSWD Field Office (FO) Region IX indicated an increasing number of Filipinos being deported due to the lack of documentation every year. 

As of March 22, DSWD said that 1,987 Filipino deportees since January were already assisted.

The DSWD said it has extended assistance worth P1,541,997 that was used for the deported Filipinos' food, transportation, cash allowance, and other necessities. 

Meanwhile, there are still 281 deportees being housed in the DSWD-FO IX Processing Center for Displaced Persons (PCDP), while the rest have already returned home. 

The repatriates from Sabah were also given hot meals and clothing while the Department of Health (DOH) provided medical services.

DSWD personnel also interviewed the deportees to address their plight and gave them the necessary interventions including transportation assistance, shelter, counseling, trauma management, legal or medical services, and livelihood skills training.

“It is essential for us to understand the reason why the number of deportees continue to increase every year despite the many efforts of the government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)," DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said in a statement released on Friday.

"If we don't, we only diagnose the symptoms and end up implementing incorrect or even when they are correct, they are at best temporary solutions,” she added.

According to the DSWD, the Filipinos who were deported were having a hard time looking for employment opportunities in the country due to their low educational attainment and lack of employable skills. 

Meanwhile, others chose to return since they have their families in Sabah.

“We should not ignore the main reasons why Filipinos go to Sabah — they are mostly economic in nature. There are many undocumented Filipinos in Sabah because they think they are better off there than in the Philippines. They believe that they have better livelihood opportunities in Sabah,” Taguiwalo said. — Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/GMA News