MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy intercepted yesterday 121 Filipino refugees from Sabah on board two motorboats loaded with hundreds of sacks of rice that fled to Tawi-Tawi, the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) reported.
The Navy said the boats that came from Sandakan, Sabah were spotted at about 6:30 a.m off Taganak Island, also known as Turtle Island.
The Naval Task Force 62 reported that one of the boats was ferrying 80 passengers with 1,500 sacks of rice and assorted food items while the other vessel was carrying 41 people and 1,600 sacks of rice.
The two motorboats were spotted heading towards Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi.
Navy boats escorted the two vessels and the refugees to Bongao where they were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Navy spokesman Lt. Commander Gregory Fabic said they have deployed 10 patrol boats in the area to prevent undocumented Filipinos from going to Sabah to reinforce the sultanate forces now fighting Malaysian security forces.
The fighting in Lahad Datu and Semporna in Sabah had already affected the cost of living in Tawi-Tawi, where prices of basic commodities have increased significantly.
A sack of rice from Sabah was earlier sold in Tawi-Tawi for only P600 but the current price increased to P1,000 per sack.
It takes over an hour to reach the coast of Sabah from Sitangkay, an island town of Tawi-Tawi.
Filipino residents in the area purchase rice, kerosene, gasoline, sugar, coffee, cooking oil, and medicine from Sabah. Instead of going to buy goods in faraway Zambaonga City, the residents in Tawi-Tawi instead cross the Cebeles Sea to buy products in Sabah. – With Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe