MANILA: A crisis management committee activated by President Aquino when the Sabah stand-off began has drawn up contingency plans in case of forced deportation or mass evacuation of an estimated 500,000 Filipinos from the disputed territory.
Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz meanwhile said that the government was “unlikely to require Filipinos staying and working in Sabah and Malaysia to immediately return home.”
“While we are hoping that the crisis will soon be resolved, we still are preparing for the worst case scenario,” Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Mujiv Hataman said during a roundtable discussion on the Sabah issue yesterday.
Baldoz, on the other hand, said that the Department of Labour and Employment will depend on the assessment of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“But at this time there is no deployment ban and no mandatory repatriation,” he added.
Hataman, who heads the crisis management committee, said the worst-case scenario is the massive exodus of Filipinos from Sabah if the hostilities dragged on.
He said food packs, relief goods and medicine for 500,000 people are now ready for the displaced Filipinos coming back to their places of origin in Mindanao and Sulu.
Hataman said he is now in close contact with his Malaysian counterparts, who are also assisting displaced Malaysians in the affected areas.
He said although Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak promised President Aquino that there will be no forced deportation, they are expecting mass evacuation if the fighting spreads to other parts of Sabah.
The crisis management committee has established contact with the group of Agbimuddin Kiram and his more than 200 followers who are now holed up in the hinterlands of Lahad Datu.
Hataman said the crisis management committee is now providing medical and other assistance to the families left behind by the members of the royal sultanate army who joined the Lahad Datu expedition.
He said the main priority of the government is to save the lives of the remaining members of the sultanate who had relayed their intentions to return to their families.
The crisis management committee is also drawing up plans to address the rising prices of basic commodities.
Officials said trading in the area had stopped due to the ongoing military operation in Sabah.
Hataman said people in the area are dependent on the supply of basic commodities from Sabah because of their proximity to the island.
The Philippine Star
