MANILA - Dozens of demonstrators thronged the Malaysian embassy here today for the third consecutive day to protest alleged mistreatment of Filipino illegal immigrants in Malaysia.

The demonstrators from various activist and local Muslim groups stomped on Malaysian flags, burned them and shouted slogans condemning the purported harsh treatment of the mostly-Muslim Filipino illegal migrants in holding centres in Malaysia's Sabah state.

Policemen prevented the demonstrators from entering the embassy compound in the Makati financial district. The rallyists held placards declaring "Stop injustice and oppression" and "We condemn Malaysian authorities."

Manila earlier this week filed a diplomatic protest with Kuala Lumpur over the alleged mistreatment of illegals but legislators and politicians wanted the government to downgrade ties with the neighbour.

Thousands of illegal immigrants have arrived in the southern Philippines in recent days following the August 1 implementation of tough Malaysian laws against illegals, including a mandatory six-month jail term and up to six strokes of the cane for those convicted.

Three babies dead

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman has said three babies had died of diseases or exposure to the elements during the mass deportation.

Some of those sent back also suffered from dehydration and respiratory infections, social workers said.

Manila newspapers attacked Malaysia, with the widely-circulated Philippine Daily Inquirer likening the deportation to "herding by the Nazis of Jews in their ghettoes prior to their being transported to concentration camps."

A picture of one deportee, a man named Majib Daji, was splashed across the paper's front page today, with his bare back showing alleged whip marks which he said were left by Malaysian authorities.

President Gloria Arroyo said she had asked one of her predecessors, Fidel Ramos, to go to Kuala Lumpur for talks with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to try to resolve the issue.

However, Ramos told reporters today that "I'll go there at the right time but some homework must be done first."

He said Arroyo should first call a meeting of top cabinet members and congressional leaders from both the administration and opposition to discuss a joint approach to the issue.

He also suggested Arroyo call Mahathir directly.

Ramos said the Philippines should seek a "cooling off period" with Kuala Lumpur.

'Knee-jerk reactions

He warned against "knee-jerk reactions," saying it was within the Philippines' national interest to have good relations with Malaysia.

He cited the growing economic relations between the two neighbors, Malaysia's role in fostering peace talks with local Muslim separatist rebels and a recently-forged, Philippine-Malaysian-Indonesian accord against terrorism.

Up to half a million Filipinos live in Sabah, which Manila claims once belonged to the Philippine archipelago through the Sultanate of Jolo in the south.

Some legislators are now urging President Arroyo to revive the claim to Sabah in retaliation for the alleged maltreatment of the Filipinos.