The alternative is poverty

Some returnees still want to return to Sabah

by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO (Institute on Church and Social Issues)
OFW Journalism Consortium

ZAMBOANGA CITY-It was early in the morning on September 26 and 35-year-old Imelda Bacod couldn't stop crying. She pleaded with Region 9 officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to help her and her daughter of Malaysian-Chinese descent, to return to Sabah.

"Gusto ng bata umuwi doon kasi nag-aaral siya. Eh kaso wala kaming pera, at ni hindi pa nga kami kumakain mula pa kagabi (My daughter wants to go home to Malaysia because she studies there. But we don't have any money, and we haven't eaten anything since last night)," cried Bacod.

Bacod is only one of a significant number of Filipino deportees who prefer to return to Malaysia despite the crackdown of the government on undocumented foreign workers, than live in poverty in Zamboanga City. DSWD Region 9 officials admit that it is situation they have no control over.

"It is their choice, so what can we do? In the past, we have had cases of Filipinos who were deported, then went back to Malaysia, but were deported again and sent to DSWD for assistance. We recognized them since we have their records," said DSWD assistant regional director Geraldine Valbuena.

Task Force Deportees

The DSWD and other government agencies have been operating Task Force Deportees, an inter-agency group assisting Filipino deportees from Sabah, since 1986.

According to DSWD Region 9 operations director Zenaida Arevalo, previously, the number of returnees was low, which made assistance manageable. There were 99 deportees assisted in 1995, with the number rising to 2,286 in 1997.

Since 2000, DSWD Region 9 has assisted over 16,000 deportees - 8,332 in 2000 and 8,061 in 2001. As of June 2002, or two months before the massive return of thousands to Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Zamboanga City, some 6,616 returnees had been assisted by DSWD.

From 1995 to June 2002, DSWD Region 9 assisted 33,896 returnees. However, in 2002, as of September 12, it has registered over 14,000 deportees. Officials describe the recent massive repatriation from Sabah as "still manageable, though difficult."

Arevalo said that based on information about 1,587 deportees that has already been taken, 16 per cent of the deportees want to return to Malaysia.

The saga of Imelda Bacod

Imelda Bacod and her daughter are among this persistent 16 per cent.

Bacod, who was arrested in Sabah for being an illegal alien last February, arrived in Zamboanga City last March 7, long before the forced repatriation of Filipino irregulars from Malaysia in August. She has been waiting for six months to return to Malaysia with her Chinese-Malaysian daughter, Lao Lung Kwan.

"Hindi kami puwede dito dahil walang trabaho, at iyung bata gustong makapagtapos sa Sandakan (We cannot last here because there are no jobs, and the child wants to finish her studies in Sandakan)," explained Bacod. The frail-looking Bacod added that since she was jailed with two other Filipino irregulars last February, she has had no more money for the daily sustenance of her child.

Bacod sailed for Sabah in 1978, entering Malaysia without documentation via the southern backdoor. She married a Malaysian-Chinese businessman and bore him a daughter, Lao, in September 1988. However, her husband died a few years later, forcing Imelda to support her daughter on only 450 ringgit (approximately P6200) a month, cooking and doing laundry for Malaysian nationals until her arrest.

Although she was married to a Malaysian national, Bacod's stay in Sabah was never made legal.

Bacod was arrested when Malaysian operatives conducted house-to-house operations in search of illegal workers last February. She arrived in Zamobanga City in March. Her child, a Malaysian citizen, was reunited with her in August.

Bacod said she had to borrow money from relatives and friends in the town of Tawao in Sabah to apply for a passport, her first. Her passport cost P950, including a P200 fine for the swift processing of a "lost passport."

"Alam mo naman dito sa atin, kailangan ng birth certificate, tapos pera para may passport ka. Wala na tuloy kaming makain (You know how it is here, you need a birth certificate and money to have a passport. After spending on a passport, we do not have anything to spend on food)," she said tearfully.

Bacod insists on going back to Malaysia with Lao where there is work for her. It is also her daughter's preference to continue her studies in Sandakan. Bacod also has relatives in Tawao, all of whom, she said, are undocumented. Although she was born in Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental, Bacod said she has no more family left there.