Binay appeal: PH group to aid OFWs in Sabah

THERE should be a special group in Sabah to directly assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the tensions there.

Vice President Jejomar Binay made this appeal to the Malaysian government during last Friday’s press briefing in Cebu.

Binay, presidential adviser of OFW concerns,  said that a special group be allowed to directly contact Filipinos in Sabah.

“I just hope that we will be allowed. As it happened in the past where we had that problem in Mindanao, there were Filipinos who went to Sabah. We were allowed to put up a special group assisting, right there in Sabah,” he said.

Binay also asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to set up a processing center in Tawi-Tawi province anticipating the mass exodus of OFWs due to the continuing tensions in Sabah.

Binay said his office could facilitate the reintegration of the OFWs providing them with new skills for their livelihood.

He also said that he could facilitate in bringing the OFWs home by providing fare and transportation.

“Not all Filipinos from Sabah have come only from Tawi-Tawi particularly. There are those who are coming from Basilan and others,” he said. /Correspondent Carmel L. Matus