Palace assures assistance to OFWs allegedly abused in Malaysia

By: Nestor Corrales - 10 years ago

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday assured the public it will call the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to check the alleged abuses committed against Filipinos in Malaysia.

This was after a Palace reporter recounted the experience of his brother being maltreated by Malaysian authorities in line with the nationwide crackdown on illegal migrants.

“We will call the priority attention of the DFA on this. We need to get the particulars because if we will just present about the general situation, we would not be able to trace this,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Thursday in a press briefing.

Coloma said the government could not tolerate violation of basic human rights committed against Filipino citizens.

He, however, pointed out the Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to receive reports from the Philippine embassy in Malaysia on the said incident reports.

He cited they need details of the incident reports of maltreatment before filing any case against Malaysian authorities.

“These allegations are serious that is why we need to have enough evidence of the maltreatment and violence to our citizens,” he said.

He assured the public especially our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in Malaysia the government is doing the necessary steps to give justice to the maltreated OFWs.

He said our government is respecting the rights of foreigners in our country so he expects that other countries should do the same.

A nationwide crackdown for illegal migrant workers on Tuesday began in Malaysia among workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand where they were required to show necessary documentations.