Filipinos here demand Duterte replace their envoy and staff
Published on: Thursday, February 22, 2018
Penampang: Hundreds of Filipinos here fear being stranded in Sabah if their embassy refuses to extend the unannounced but ongoing consular mission service for a week or so. They would otherwise not be able to update their respective travel and work permit documents as required under Malaysian law. and vented anger at their Ambassador and his staff."We don't want to stay and work illegally in Sabah and are taking advantage of the ongoing consular mission.ADVERTISEMENT "But the problem is that the embassy again never announced their arrival here earlier and what is worse is that it again announced that the team will only entertain 120 applications each day until Friday," said a group of angry Filipinos."This quota of 120 applications a day has been implemented for several years...their reason (embassy) is because they do not have enough consular staff to come to Sabah."The embassy is aware of the shortage of staff and the volume of applicants, yet they didn't bother to find a solution to the problem. If we don't update our documents, we risk stringent penalties by the Malaysian authorities," they said."We hope somebody will inform President Rodrigo Duterte about our agony. We hope the President will immediately replace them, including the Ambassador," they said.ADVERTISEMENT They also appealed to the embassy to simplify the requirements for applying Philippine passports without jeopardising national security. "We note that the embassy require additional documents for new passport applications and other documents," said one Filipino who wished anonymity. They questioned also why Ambassador Charles Jose failed to officially meet the Filipino community in Sabah during his recent visit to Sabah.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The Ambassador unofficially came to Sabah several times yet he did not bother to meet the Filipino community. We hope the expenses for his trips to Sabah were not borne by us Filipino tax payers," they said.They also claimed not only the Ambassador but also some other senior embassy staff were arrogant.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
"We find it very difficult to contact our embassy in Kuala Lumpur. We have a lot of problems in Sabah yet the ambassador continues to ignore our plight here," they said and wanted the Department Of Foreign Affairs under Secretary Allan Cayetano to step in. Many of the Filipinos needing consular assistance came to the Penampang Cultural Centre as early as 3am in order not to miss the opportunity.