Thanks to satellite phones, deportees reconnect with kin

TAWI-TAWI – Weeks have passed since they set foot on the island of Tawi-Tawi after a long boat trip form Malaysia, but it was only in late September that 46 deportees finally got in touch with the employers and families they had to leave behind.

For the likes of Malau Aiyob and Roger Marmohada, the free international calls provided by Smart Communications Inc. were crucial to ensuring they would still get their old jobs upon returning to Malaysia and knowing about their families’ well-being.

A native of Zamboanga del Norte, Marmohada is keen on going back to Sabah, Malaysia where he was earning 15 ringgits a day as a driver. One ringgit is equivalent to about P14. He had been there for two years before he was deported for lack of papers.

Sabah, which is just four to five hours from Tawi-Tawi by a fastcraft, has likewise been home to Aiyob, his wife and six kids in the last four years. Aiyob and his wife are both laborers in the same company in Sabah, where they earn 10 and six ringgits daily, respectively. Aiyob and his family left their home in Isabela, Basilan to eke out a living in nearby Sahah, where wages are relatively higher, he said.

"I plan to go back to Malaysia after I process my papers. My employer said he would get me back. My wife has documents and she and my children are there. Our eldest child is 12 years old," Aiyob said in his native tongue.

Following a series of consultations with the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DSWD-ARMM) headed by Bainon Karon, a Smart team recently flew to Bongao Island in Tawi-Tawi to address the urgent communications needs of deportees and government agencies processing their papers there.

"We are expediting the issuance of passports," said Karon.

DSWD-ARMM recommended free international calls as well as grocery items for the deportees to balance out the "overflow" in canned goods received from other donors. "The deportees need fresh produce too," said Juniada Bagis, technical officer for DSWD in Western Mindanao.

Using the Smart Link satellite phone, Smart gave free three-minute call for each deportee under its Alay Halaw (Malaysian word for deportee) program. The company also opened an account with a grocery store and allowed DSWD to choose the items needed, such as chicken, oil, vegetables and other items.

"The free airtime Smart provided made the deportees happy. Many wanted to make international calls to Malaysia to ask their families how they are. We also have a satellite phone in our office here given by the governor," said Karon.

"The free phone calls are a big help to the deportees," added Tawi-Tawi Gov. Rashidin Matba.

With its unique satellite telephony, Smart is the only local telecommunications company capable of servicing the communications needs of the deportees and government agencies in the country’s southernmost province.

Smart is also the only mobile phone operator with a Wireless Center and a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cellsite in Tawi-Tawi, which provides cellular signal to a significant part of the provincial capital of Bongao.

The Smart Link satellite phone provides telecommunications access to all remote areas nationwide. It utilizes the ACeS satellite technology, which has coverage spanning the Asia-Pacific region.