Eco-cultural office in Sabah soon

DAVAO CITY — The government will put up an economic and cultural office in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah to protect the welfare of over half a million Filipinos, mostly undocumented, who have sought employment there.

"It is time to stop the sufferings of our brothers in Sabah," President Arroyo told Mindanao business leaders and officials of foreign chambers at the Marco Polo Hotel here, upon her arrival from a three-day state visit to Malaysia Thursday afternoon.

She instructed Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona to immediately put up the office, either in Sandakan or Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Mrs. Arroyo said the Philippine economy will continue to be dependent on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), thus, the need to protect their welfare.

The President said the Sabah economic and cultural office will be similar to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan.

She said the plight of close to 600,000 OFWs has become a big irritant in Philippine-Malaysian relations. — Edith Regalado