ZAMBOANGA CITY – A Vietnamese father and his toddler daughter were rescued by crewmen of a commercial ferry plying the Zamboanga-Malaysia route after jumping off the vessel here due to deportation orders, a top police official said Monday.
Col. Alexander Lorenzo, city police director, said Nguyen Thanh Truc, 37, and his three-year-old daughter, were rescued around 5:40 a.m. Sunday between Sta. Cruz Island and this city’s mainland.
Lorenzo said Nguyen jumped into the sea holding his daughter to avoid deportation by authorities back to their origin of travel.
Police investigation showed that the two, who are from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, arrived here aboard a commercial ferry via Sandakan City, Malaysia.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) ordered the deportation of Nguyen and his daughter via the same ferry boat they rode from Malaysia due to incomplete travel documents.
Lorenzo said the two were taken to the Zamboanga City Medical Center for a checkup and were turned over to the BI. (PNA)
