43 Malaysians stranded in Sulu due to quarantine rescued

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police on Thursday ferried to Zamboanga City 43 Malaysians who got stranded in different towns in Sulu due to the nationwide COVID-19 quarantine.

Police Col. Jacob Macabali, chief of the Regional Maritime Unit-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Friday they fetched the 43 Malaysian nationals in groups from the towns of Jolo, Pangutaran and Indanan in Sulu province and were, subsequently, brought to Zamboanga City by boat.

He said the RMU’s rescue operation was carried out on the behest of the Malaysian consulate in Davao City, via a request channeled through the interagency Sulu anti-COVID-19 task force.

“The 43 Malaysians were turned over to health officials in Zamboanga City for proper screening based on our government’s anti-COVID-19 guidelines. Our operation was assisted fully by the Regional Police Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region,” Macabali said.

The Zamboanga City local government unit shall turn them over to the Malaysian consulate, according to Macabali.

The RMU has personnel in all five Bangsamoro component-provinces, backed by fast watercrafts they use for rescue and law-enforcement operations in the region’s territorial seas.

Malaysia acted as a “third party facilitator” of the tedious peace talks between Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that paved the way for the creation last year of the Bangsamoro region covering Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces.

Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, both near Sabah in Malaysia, are together touted as the country’s “southern backdoor,” a convenient, almost unguarded route for Filipinos going out and for Malaysians coming in via sea conveyances.

Brig. Gen. Manuel Abu, director of the Regional Police Office in the Bangsamoro region, said he is thankful to Macabali and his subordinates for helping in the repatriation of the Malaysian citizens.

The RMU is not administratively under Abu’s office but he has ministerial authority over the unit as police director for the Bangsamoro region.