22 October 2004 – The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur with the assistance of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and in coordination with the Malaysian Bar Council conducted a Paralegal Training Seminar on Malaysian Laws on 25 September 2004 at the Embassy’s Filipino Workers Resource Center.   More than 50 Filipino community leaders, representing 20 different Filipino community organizations in Kuala Lumpur and Penang attended the training despite the inclement weather.

Speakers invited from the Malaysian Bar Council were prominent Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian lawyers Sreekat Pillai and Amir Bahari, who gave very informative and lively briefings on the various aspects of Malaysian legislation on Criminal Law and Police Procedures, as well as Islamic family Law and Wills.

Atty. Pillai has been practicing law for six years in the area of civil law that includes family law and criminal law while Atty. Amir, who is the Managing Director of Amanah Hibah Sdn. Bhd., discussed Islamic family law and wills.  Atty. Amir is one of the pioneers in Syariah based estate planning and is frequently invited to deliver lectures and present seminar papers in the area of Islamic will and Islamic property planning.

During the program’s opening remarks, Labor Attaché Brenda L. Villafuerte said that the seminar was held in line with the Philippine Embassy's commitment to provide paralegal training to Filipino community leaders in Malaysia so that Filipino community associations could become more familiar with, and be updated on, important aspects of Malaysian law.

Consul-General Luis T. Cruz, who represented Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Romualdo A. Ong, delivered the welcome remarks and requested the Filipino community leaders present to relay to their members what they have learned during the seminar.  Consul-General Cruz informed them that the paralegal training seminar consists of a series of lectures and briefings on various laws including, Malaysian immigration and labor laws.  He likewise thanked the two distinguished lawyers for accepting the invitation of the Embassy to give free lectures to the Filipino community leaders despite their busy schedule.

Following the lecture was a spirited discussion on domestic violence, divorce procedures, and the various aspects of the Islamic law on wills as well as on criminal law and police procedures in Malaysia.  Various questions were raised such as: will a person detained by the police for committing an offense be allowed to avail of a lawyer during the 14-day investigation period?  Where do victims of domestic violence go for assistance?  How will the property of a Muslim husband who dies intestate be distributed to his surviving spouse/s and children?

The next orientation/briefing will feature a discussion on immigration laws, labor laws, contracts, and employment provident fund, among other legal issues.  END.