REPATRIATES. The batch of returning Filipinos from Sabah happily joined the parlor games prepared by the staff of the DSWD-9 in Zamboanga City during a year-end party on Thursday (Jan. 1, 2026). They were sent home to their respective hometowns on Friday (Jan. 2) with assistance from DSWD. (Photo courtesy of DSWD-9)
TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | DSWD sends home 200 returning Filipinos from Sabah
By: Teofilo Garcia, Jr.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) has sent home Friday 200 returning Filipinos from Sabah to their respective hometowns in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In a statement, the DSWD-9 said the returning Filipinos are residents of Bongao and Sitangkai municipalities in the BARMM province of Tawi-Tawi.
The agency provided transportation assistance and financial support for food and other basic needs of the returning group during their travel.
The DSWD said the batch of repatriated Filipinos from Sabah arrived in this city on Dec. 20, 2025.
They were temporarily housed at the DSWD’s Processing Center for Displaced Persons (PCDP) in Barangay Mampang here.
PCDP head Abdulman Samson said they held a year-end celebration for the returning Filipinos at the center on Thursday.
###
