DFA To Put Up Philippine Consular Office In Sabah, Malaysia Under President Duterte
Mindanao Development Authority Chairperson Secretary Datu
Hj. Abul Khayr Alonto disclosed in Habi at Kape media forum that the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will establish a Philippine consular office at Kota
Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.
He said this came as offshoot of the decision of the Minister
of Sabah to lift the ban on the conduct of economic activities among Filipino
Muslim traders of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and Malaysian traders which also re-opens
the Philippine’s access to Sabah, Malaysia.
At present, Philippines has a mobile consular office in Kota
Kinabalu but it has no physical office to tend to the needs of Filipinos in the
city, particularly the processing of documents such as passports.
Secretary Alonto pointed out the importance of putting up a
consular office in Kota Kinabalu as a sizeable Filipino population in the city.
“Nobody is attending to our people. They need the consular
support and concern of the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Secretary Alonto mentioned that the primary hindrance before
was the issue of Sabah claim.
However, he stressed that Kota Kinabalu is not part of the
area covered by the Sabah claim.
The Secretary stressed that without the prejudice of such
issue, the Philippine government would like to urgently respond to the needs of
the Filipino community in Sabah.
“The children cannot go to school because they are
undocumented. Now we will work it out and negotiate that the Philippine
government through the Department of Education (DepEd) and other private
entities that have so much concern about the human developments of the children
of these migrants can put up schools.” Secretary Alonto explained.
Aside from the establishment of a consular office, the
government is also making arrangements with the country’s counterparts in
Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area
(BIMP-EAGA) for the acceleration and operation of the BIMP-EAGA Facilitation
Center at Kota Kinabalu by February this year.
Source: Newswatch PH
DFA To Put Up Philippine Consular Office In Sabah, Malaysia Under President Duterte
Reviewed by Yen
on
January 27, 2017
Rating:
Post a Comment