ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced that 353 deportees arrived on Wednesday night in this city from nearby Malaysia.
Ivan Eric Salvador, DSWD regional information officer, told the Philippine News Agency the deportees consisted of 172 adult males, 89 adult females, 55 male children and 37 female children.
They arrived at the local port aboard a commercial boat that plies the Zamboanga-Malaysia route via Sandakan City in Sabah.
Salvador said most of the deportees are from Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu Tawi-Tawi, Visayas and Luzon area.
He said the deportees were medically assessed by the Department of Health (DOH) and were presently housed at the Processing Center for Displaced Persons (PCDP) of the DSWD.
He said they were also provided food and other personal needs.
He said the deportees would remain PCDP while their travel needs back to their respective places of origins were being processed by the DSWD.
The deportees who arrived here on Wednesday consisted of the first batch of Filipinos deported by Malaysia this year. (R.G. Antonet Go/PNA)
