Arroyo sending mission to Kuala Lumpur

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo is sending a mission to Kuala Lumpur today to thrash out the details with Malaysian authorities on how best to resolve the issue of illegally staying Filipinos in Malaysia.

The mission will comprise top government officials and investigators who will look into allegations of maltreatment by deported Filipinos against Malaysian authorities.

The president also called for sobriety amid inflamed passions in the Philippines against its neighbour over the deportation issue. "Now is the time for our nation to come together. I call upon each and every one to extend whatever assistance they can give," the President said.

The statement was issued as Malaysia yesterday agreed to a request from Arroyo for a temporary halt to the arrest and deportation of illegally staying Filipinos in its western Sabah state.

About 13,000 Filipinos have been sent back by Malaysia to the Philippines since January this year.

The influx of those deported intensified in recent months as Kuala Lumpur implemented tougher immigration laws that include corporal punishment for offenders and stiff penalties for companies and individuals employing undocumented foreign workers.

During the past two months, Filipinos crammed into fishing boats and navy ships arrived in southern Philippines‚ Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga City by the hundreds, recounting tales of hardships at the hands of Malaysian authorities and difficulties during their detention and during the sea voyage.

At least three Filipino infants have died during the past two weeks due to poor living conditions at the detention centres.

The reports of maltreatment of deported Filipinos inflamed passions in Manila with politicians calling for the revival of the Philippines' claim to Sabah.

Manila, which was caught in a bind due to its close alliance with Kuala Lumpur and demands by rights groups and politicians to seek justice for the maltreated Filipinos, has rejected calls for the revival of the Sabah claim.

The Philippine government's rejection of the Sabah claim revival and its generally cautious diplomatic moves against Malaysia had been criticised by Senator Manuel Villar as cowardice.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, in response to Villar's allegations yesterday, said that the country's foreign policy is not based on fear, "but on the calm and intelligent appreciation of the national interest and a due regard for the comity of nations as ordained by the constitution".

Villar, chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee, has also said that the Philippine foreign policy is beset by "fear of other countries".

Ople noted: "The president and her department of foreign affairs should be credited for decisive action, which has already brought notable improvements in the conditions of the Filipino workers in Sabah.

"This is after all our first and highest priority, the protection of Filipino nationals. The Malaysian government has already acceded to President Arroyo's request for a moratorium on the arrest of illegal Filipino workers pending a joint review of the deportation procedures," he said.

"The president's direct intervention has tapped a sympathetic vein at the highest levels in Malaysia due to the friendship between the two countries who are also close partners in the Association of South-east Asia Nations (Asean).

The moratorium granted by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed is a privilege granted only to the Filipino workers in Malaysia," he added.

"We do not espouse a gung-ho foreign policy that appeases the rabble on the streets but puts at risk the safety and welfare of the entire nation," he stressed.

"Political bravado cannot substitute for an intelligent and workable foreign policy."