Philippine Embassy in KL Completes its First Series of Special Consular Missions to Sabah Palm Oil Plantations

Kuala Lumpur, 02 November 2022 - The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia completed its first series of Special Consular Missions to the palm oil plantations in Sabah. Three (3) special consular missions were conducted in the following districts: (1) Tawau on 05-09 June 2022; (2) Sandakan on 21-30 August 2022; and (3) Lahad Datu on 21-30 October 2022.

The special consular missions were conducted to facilitate the issuance of birth certificates, passports, and Philippine National IDs to undocumented Filipinos in Sabah in order to regularize their employment status in the palm oil plantations. 

The special consular missions were conducted by teams comprising of personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). During the missions, they were able to register the births of more than 4,100 Filipino plantation workers and their dependents. The team also processed more than 4,600 applications for Philippine passports and more than 2,700 applications for Philippine National IDs.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) joined the Special Consular Mission to Sabah. POLO conducted exploratory talks with the management and workers of palm oil plantations to verify employment contracts and promoted the POLO-OWWA programs to Filipino workers. POLO also conducted worksite visits at various plantations.

The Embassy is set to conduct another special consular mission to Sandakan in November 2022 to start the second series of special consular missions to provide similar services to Filipino plantation workers and their dependents in Sabah. END