Boat of Pinoys sneaking into Sabah capsizes; 4 dead, 3 missing

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - A boat carrying 12 Filipinos trying to sneak into Sabah capsized on January 13, leaving at least four dead and three missing. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin told GMANews.TV on Monday that only five passengers of the ill-fated boat survived. But since the Filipinos were undocumented, Mangibin said the immediate identification of the survivors and the casualties is difficult. The New Straits Times earlier reported that the bodies of four Filipinos – three children and a woman – had been recovered off a beach in Kampung Tinosa, Malaysia. The victims were identified as Madeline Ahamal, 19; three-year-olds Bibi Lain Mokhtar and Nagd Faikal Bastri; and Nagd's two-month-old brother Rajimal Bastri. According to the report, authorities have sent the recovered bodies to the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Malaysia and will continue to look for the three who are still missing. Citing reports from Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency, Mangibin said the Filipinos were on their way to Pulau in Sabah when tragedy struck. Mangibin said they are still looking for the three other Filipinos reported missing in the incident. Hundreds of undocumented Filipinos, mostly originating from Mindanao in southern Philippines, are deported every month as part of Malaysia’s massive campaign to rid its shores of unwanted immigrants. The crackdown on illegal migrants in Malaysia has started in 2002, with the searches extending from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to Sabah 's oil palm plantations. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, in an earlier interview, said it is very likely that the deported Filipinos would keep returning to Sabah, which they consider more as their home. "They go back to Sabah because our ties [there] is so strong. They don’t understand why they need a Philippine passport and a visa to enter Sabah," Conejos said. Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents. The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV