Press Release
14 March 2013
Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan today cautioned Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman against calling refugees from Sabah as “balikbayans.”
“Saan ba sila galing? They are not balikbayans. They are seeking refuge from a disputed territory to which the Philippine government has a legitimate claim to. If we are to assert our claim to Sabah, let us not treat them or address them as if they came from another country.”
Ilagan further said, “These attempts to make light and downplay the situation of refugees from Lahad Datu and nearby areas by calling them “balikbayans” do not make their plight any better and undermines our legitimate claim to Sabah. These refugees are in fact victims of the government’s tact to keep the Sabah claim dormant and ignore the legitimate political initiatives by the Sultanate of Sulu.”
Ilagan who was part of a fact-finding mission conducted on the plight of Filipino refugees from Sabah in 2008 said, “This is not the first time that Malaysia has violated and abused Filipinos in Sabah.”
“It is now the Philippine government’s duty to provide them with much needed services including relief as well as assistance in making the Malaysian police and armed forces accountable for the massive abuse on human rights and international humanitarian law. Otherwise Filipinos will repeatedly be at the receiving end of these abuses.”
For Reference:
REP. LUZ C. ILAGAN 0920-9213221
Jang Monte (Public Information Officer) 0917-3221203
