2 Coast Guard ships readied for evacuation of Filipinos in Sabah

MANILA, Philippines—Two search-and-rescue vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard have been pre-positioned in Zamboanga City for possible dispatch to the Philippine-Malaysian border to render humanitarian assistance to Filipinos adversely affected by the ongoing hostilities in Sabah, a Coast Guard spokesman said Tuesday.

The PCG BRP Edsa (SARV 002) and BRP Davao del Norte (SARV 3504) are “awaiting orders from the Department of Foreign Affairs to be deployed to the border” of the two Southeast Asian countries, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said on Tuesday.

“Since their mission will be humanitarian in purpose, the PCG is hoping that Malaysian authorities will allow them to fetch those Filipinos who want to leave Sabah as tensions between the Malaysian police and the Royal (Sulu) Sultanate Army continues,” he said.

Balilo said the two PCG ships were prepared to assist in the evacuation or repatriation of Philippine nationals based in northeastern Sabah.

In a statement, Balilo said he believed the Philippines and Malaysia were “borderless if we are talking of humanitarian assistance especially that the Philippine government just wants to ensure the safety of our fellow countrymen living or working in Sabah.”

In April 2012, the 54-meter BRP Edsa was deployed to the Scarborough Shoal, replacing the BRP Pampanga, another PCG ship on watch duty in the area that is claimed by both the Philippines and China.

Early this month, the 35-meter BRP Davao del Norte sailed to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, to check on a reported oil spill caused by the sinking of the ro-ro vessel MV Baleno 168.

In November 2011, the ship’s crew rescued some 100 passengers of a motor boat that capsized off Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu.