Ship with Sabah evacuees waited for Mar

TAWi-TAWI, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) – The navy ship that fetched about 500 Filipinos from Taganak Island in Tawi-tawi arrived in Bongao early Wednesday morning, March 13.

But the BRP Sultan Kudarat docked and passengers disembarked only between 930-10 am, after the ship waited for the arrival of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who arrived in Bongao at around 8 am.

Roxas, who is in the province to oversee the operations of the crisis management committee handling the Sabah evacuees, greeted the evacuees as they disembarked from the ship.

BRP Sultan Kudarat left for Taganak Monday, March 11, and embarked on a 15-hour travel to fetch Filipinos stranded in the area and distribute food and medicines. Health officers from the military and other government agencies also boarded the ship to assist the evacuees.

A Navy officer who was part of the team said that when they arrived in Taganak, they saw the Filipinos “hungry and exhausted.” They were temporarily given shelter at a local school in taganak, he said.

On Tuesday, March 12, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Acting Gov Mujiv Hataman also visited Bongao and finally consolidated the crisis management team in the area. During the meeting, the provincial DILG was assigned as the secretariat.

1,500 evacuees so far

The group of evacuees from Taganak was supposed to include a pregnant Filipina, who was rushed back to Sandakan in Sabah where she died undergoing cesarian delivery Monday.

Niharaja Jailani, 31, a Zamboanga resident who worked in Sandakan, died at a hospital giving birth to twins. The twins are in serious condition in Sandakan, officials from the Philippine Department of Health said.

Taganak is part of Turtle Islands, which is under the jurisdiction of the province of Tawi-Tawi. The island is about 45 minutes away from Sandakan, Sabah via speedboat.

At least 1,500 Filipinos have so far returned from Sabah since the 4-week standoff instigated by armed followers of the sultanate of Sulu. – With reports from Karlos Manlupig/Rappler.com