Some Pinoys in Sabah seen as 'troublesome' - Wikileaks

Malaysian officials have described as “troublesome" a segment of Filipinos living in Sabah and warned that they could become potential threats to Malaysia’s security if parts of Mindanao are given autonomy, according to a confidential 2006 US cable released by WikiLeaks. The online whistleblower uploaded the cable on its website Wednesday, divulging comments made by Malaysian officials to American diplomats regarding a population boom in Sabah. Sabah is a Malaysian state in the island of Borneo. Its proximity to the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, where many people have engaged in trade with its neighbor for many centuries, has made it the subject of territorial dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia. More and more Filipinos are residing in Sabah, raising concerns among Malaysian officials that the Philippines might regain control of much of the territory’s eastern part. Filipinos and Indonesians already outnumber Malaysians 3 to 1 along Sabah’s east coast from Sandakan to Tawau. Sabah’s Youth and Sports minister Masidi Manjun “singled out Filipino Muslims from Mindanao as especially troublesome." According to the cable, Manjun said the Filipino residents in Sabah, who were granted citizenship and related voting rights in the 1990s under then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, are “not as devout as us." He added that Filipino residents in Sabah are “using our social services and not integrating into society," and blamed them for “vagrancy and violence." However, he admitted that the estimated total of 750,000 illegal immigrants in Sabah contribute much to the state’s economy. “We need them here, or our economy would collapse," Manjun was reported in the cable as saying. Resident Sabah Commissioner Simon Sipaun also told US officials that many Filipinos on Sabah’s east coast were a potential security threat “if they decide to become more politically active, or if parts of Mindanao become more autonomous." Malaysian Assemblyman Samson Chin Chee Tsu expressed apprehension that Mindanao-based Muslim extremists might attack nearby Sabah, considering its “maritime and land borders are ‘very porous." Hundreds of Filipinos enter Sabah illegally every year in search of a better life. Most of the undocumented Filipinos in Sabah come from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and other southern Philippine provinces. — MRT/VS/YA, GMA News Editor's note: This article has been revised to correct the error pointed out by a reader below.