LETTER TO THE EDITOR - January 30, 2005
References: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson, 259-1145 & 0927-2157392
Vince Borneo, Information Officer, 0927-7968198

Will Pres. Arroyo step in to prevent brutal crackdown on Pinoys in Malaysia?

While the Palace alleges that it wants the Malaysian government to commute the death sentence on 50 year-old seaman Nelson Tanoja Diana, it does not say a word on the the rest of the undocumented Filipinos who are all targets of the most brutal crackdown that will start on February 1.

Diana was found guilty of trafficking in 508.6 grams of cocaine last week after being arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on August 22, 2002 while on his way from Amsterdam to Bangkok.

But it is clear that the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur is only "exhausting all legal remedies" to help Diana after the sentence was announced. It is not clear if Diana was given internationally accepted standards of due process in court.

This case should not overshadow the Macapagal-Arroyo government's deafening silence on the upcoming humanitarian crisis when the Malaysian government starts its crackdown on undocumented migrants on Tuesday.

Obviously, the Philippine government has thrown concern and caution to the wind as it is not prepared to rescue and attend to the needs of undocumented Filipino nationals from Malaysia, wherein a large bulk are in the state of Sabah. The arrest and deportation of an estimated 500,000 undocumented Filipino migrants in Malaysia will lead to bigger humanitarian crisis for the Philippines.

Philippine officials in Sabah have already admitted that "it is impossible for the government to handle the situation if the 170,000 undocumented Filipinos in the state are deported and made to return to the Philippines almost at once."

We reiterate that the government should not allow a repeat of the July 2002 Malaysian crackdown wherein Filipinos - including month-old babies and the elderly - were stuffed into both Philippine Navy and commercial ships that resulted in the cumulative total of about 17,000 deported Filipinos and at least six deaths of children less than a year old.

The government is courting international outrage on the likely human rights violations that will be inflicted by the Malaysian government's 560,000-strong Peoples Volunteer Corps that will implement the crackdown against undocumented migrants on February 1, 2005.

The Macapagal-Arroyo government lacks any appropriate and responsive preparations to aid the plight of undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia. The upcoming crackdown on undocumented migrants in our neighboring country will be more widespread and ruthless with more to be arrested, detained, fined tortured with rattan cane whipping.

We call on the Malaysian government to stop the crackdown and respect the human rights of Filipino migrants in Sabah and all of Malaysia. The Macapagal-Arroyo government must take appropriate policy and practical measures to attend to the upcoming crackdown that will victimize hundreds of thousands of undocumented Filipinos in the plantations, construction, entertainment and restaurant industries. #