Malaysian employers warned in hiring Filipino, foreign staff

DAVAO CITY – Sabah security officials urged Malaysian employers – especially on the island-state – to be cautious in hiring foreign staff, including Filipinos, as some of them could actually be spies of kidnapping groups.

Hassim Justin, a representative of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), was quoted by the Sabah-based Daily Express as saying on Tuesday that employers, such as tourism operators, should scrutinize people applying for jobs even if they possess Mykad.

Mykad (Kad Pengenalan Malaysia) is an identity document issued to Malaysian citizens from age 12 but other nationalities were also known to have availed of it prior to the Sabah invasion.

“Even though these people possess Malaysian Identity card and other forms of identification you can’t trust them fully,” Hassim was quoted as saying.

He cited the case of the Filipinos involved in the so-called Sabah invasion in 2013.

“Ahmad Malandi, alias Mat Bom, had a Malaysian Identity Card. He was born in Sitangkai and got Malaysian citizenship after entering Sabah,” Hassim said, referring to one of the so-called intruders.

Hassim said recent incidents of kidnapping in Sabah were pulled off with the help of spies, who worked in resorts.

At the same time, Hassim revealed that Filipino kidnappers tried to snatch a group of divers in Semporna district on October 17.

“Two boats of kidnappers were already waiting there but luckily we had personnel stationed on the tourist boats and when they spotted the army personnel they fled,” he said.

Hassim said Esscom was closely cooperating with Philippine authorities to stop the kidnapping activities.

On August 15, he said an operation was conducted in an area of Tawi-Tawi, which resulted in the killing of a suspected kidnapper. CDG

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