Filipinos on Tinian are shoring up efforts to keep the Philippine Consulate General on Saipan, with at least 160 of them signing the signature campaign at the 8th Annual Hot Pepper Festival over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The petition, spearheaded by the Saipan-based United Filipino Organization, was passed around at the two-day festival that saw hundreds of Filipinos who took part in the yearly pika celebration at the Tachogna Beach.<\/p>\n
Hundreds more are expected to sign the petition on Tinian in hopes that the Philippine government reconsiders its plan to close down several foreign service posts, including the Philippine Consulate General on Saipan which has served the Filipino community in the CNMI for almost 23 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe emphasize the need to keep the Philippine Consulate General on Saipan which provides services to the Filipinos in the whole Commonwealth,\u201d said Francis Esguerra, who was in charge of circulating the petition on Tinian, in an interview at the festival grounds.<\/p>\n
Esguerra, who has been living on Tinian for 15 years, questioned the Philippine government\u2019s decision to shut down the consulate at a time when Filipino workers continue to face uncertainties in their status due to the federalization transition period.<\/p>\n
The Saipan consulate announced on Feb. 9 that it will transfer its responsibilities to the Guam Consulate General as part of a wider effort to consolidate foreign service posts in the Pacific due to funding cuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is not the best time to pull out the consular services for the Filipinos in the CNMI,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune. \u201cHow can we get assistance from the Guam Consulate if we can\u2019t even travel freely to Guam? What happens if there\u2019s an emergency in the CNMI?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Saipan Consulate General estimates the number of Filipinos in the CNMI at 8,000 to 9,000, with about 20 percent of them based on Tinian and Rota.<\/p>\n
Bartolome Valiente, a carpenter who arrived on Tinian in 1987, said Filipino workers in the Commonwealth need the Saipan consulate for services such as passport renewals and assistance in labor cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are going to be under the jurisdiction of [the] Guam consulate, it would be really problematic for Filipinos on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. It\u2019s okay if we are U.S. visa holders or even citizens, but we\u2019re not. Our status is only CW,\u201d said Valiente, 71.<\/p>\n
Norlo Jacosalem, a Mobil gas station terminal operator, said he signed the petition because he believes the Saipan consulate is the first party to give Filipino workers the assistance or advice they need. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not guaranteed how fast we can access the same help when our consulate is in Guam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jacosalem, who has been working on Tinian for 23 years, said Filipinos on Tinian and Rota benefit from the Saipan consulate through their mobile consular services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey visit us regularly so we don\u2019t have to travel to Saipan anymore, helping us cut down costs such as airfare and accommodations. What is our assurance that the Guam consulate will be of the same service to us?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Edgar Soliva, a maintenance worker on Tinian for 13 years, echoed Jacosalem\u2019s sentiments, saying that the Saipan consulate\u2019s closure will be acceptable if the Guam diplomatic post can travel to the CNMI every three months. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should support the Filipino community in the CNMI since they do have a budget for this part of the world. If they can allocate funding for other projects or foreign service posts, I hope they value the Filipinos here the same way,\u201d added Soliva.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of Filipinos in the Commonwealth is still significant. We\u2019re still contract workers so we really need the services of our consulate,\u201d said May Moral, a nurse at the Tinian Health Center for 16 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Filipinos on Tinian are shoring up efforts to keep the Philippine Consulate General on Saipan, with at least 160 of them signing the signature campaign at the 8th Annual Hot Pepper Festival over the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}