Truck driven by missing Pinoy in Saipan found after 18 days
HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV
MARPI, Saipan – A Filipino drafter remains missing for 21 days in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) but the pickup truck he was last seen driving on July 29 was found abandoned on Aug. 16 near a cave in the northern part of Saipan.
Alex Matubis, 47, is from Camarines Sur province in the eastern region of Bicol. He is a husband and a father to two children now living in Laguna province, south of Manila.
This is the fist time in recent years that a Filipino contract worker has been reported missing for weeks in the CNMI where about 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans currently work and live.
The blue Toyota pickup truck he had been driving until the day of his disappearance is owned by the son of his employer for almost 23 years, Castro & Associates, one of the oldest existing surveying firms on Saipan.
Filipinos who were part of a trekking group saw the pickup truck on Saturday morning near the Kalabera Cave in Marpi in the northern part of Saipan.
Saipan is the capital of the CNMI.
They contacted the police about the vehicle bearing the license plate number ABS 683, whose engine was still hot and the key still in the ignition when discovered.
Detectives from the CNMI Department of Public Safety searched the area but didn’t see any trace of Matubis or anything suspicious in the area where the muddy pickup truck with white doors was found.
The following day, members of the Filipino community in Saipan helped in the search of the same area for any clue about Matubis.
Veminda Castro, president of the Marianas Filipino Women’s Association (Mafilwa) and wife of Matubis’ employer, told GMANews.TV on Tuesday that police have yet to release the results of their initial fingerprinting on the pickup truck.
“Nobody knows for sure if he’s the one who brought the vehicle there, or someone else drove it to the place. Mainit pa daw yung makina ng sasakyan nung makita nila (The vehicle’s engine was still hot when it was found)," Castro said.
Police still have the vehicle in their custody. The case is still under investigation.
“The response from the community is good. I thank those who helped search the area near the Kalabera Cave – Irene Tantiado, Bong Malasarte and the MDX group, and representatives from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration," she added.
The Castros, friends, the Filipino community and the police are appealing for the community’s help in finding Matubis.
Anyone with information about Matubis is being asked to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau of DPS at 664-9042 or 664-9047.
His younger brother, Arnold Matubis, who is also an OFW in Saipan, also gave his contact numbers for any information about his brother: 234-5419 or 484-0226.
According to Castro, Matubis went to Tinian Island on July 27 for a project. He went back to Saipan on July 29 to take care of a separate project.
Castro said she picked up Matubis from the Saipan airport when he got back from Tinian.
“I noticed when I picked him up at the airport that he’s sad. In the afternoon of that same day, he was supposed to call me up but never did. And that’s the last time I saw him. We never heard from him since then," Castro said.
When two days had gone without seeing and hearing from Matubis, Castro said she called Matubis’ family in the Philippines to tell them of his disappearance.
Castro said Matubis is an intelligent person, cheerful, always goes to church, God-fearing and always tells stories that’s why it was strange that he started being withdrawn, seemed sad and depressed for days until his disappearance.
Matubis disappeared about a month after he arrived on Saipan from a vacation in the Philippines.
His younger brother, Arnold Matubis, said he also noticed that his brother had been depressed since returning from the Philippines.
Castro said Matubis even remitted to the Philippines on the day he was last seen.
Matubis’ personal belongings, including his passport, are still in his barracks.
His younger brother said there’s no immigration record indicating that the older Matubis left the CNMI. - GMANews.TV
MARPI, Saipan – A Filipino drafter remains missing for 21 days in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) but the pickup truck he was last seen driving on July 29 was found abandoned on Aug. 16 near a cave in the northern part of Saipan.
Alex Matubis, 47, is from Camarines Sur province in the eastern region of Bicol. He is a husband and a father to two children now living in Laguna province, south of Manila.
This is the fist time in recent years that a Filipino contract worker has been reported missing for weeks in the CNMI where about 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans currently work and live.
The blue Toyota pickup truck he had been driving until the day of his disappearance is owned by the son of his employer for almost 23 years, Castro & Associates, one of the oldest existing surveying firms on Saipan.
Filipinos who were part of a trekking group saw the pickup truck on Saturday morning near the Kalabera Cave in Marpi in the northern part of Saipan.
Saipan is the capital of the CNMI.
They contacted the police about the vehicle bearing the license plate number ABS 683, whose engine was still hot and the key still in the ignition when discovered.
Detectives from the CNMI Department of Public Safety searched the area but didn’t see any trace of Matubis or anything suspicious in the area where the muddy pickup truck with white doors was found.
The following day, members of the Filipino community in Saipan helped in the search of the same area for any clue about Matubis.
Veminda Castro, president of the Marianas Filipino Women’s Association (Mafilwa) and wife of Matubis’ employer, told GMANews.TV on Tuesday that police have yet to release the results of their initial fingerprinting on the pickup truck.
“Nobody knows for sure if he’s the one who brought the vehicle there, or someone else drove it to the place. Mainit pa daw yung makina ng sasakyan nung makita nila (The vehicle’s engine was still hot when it was found)," Castro said.
Police still have the vehicle in their custody. The case is still under investigation.
“The response from the community is good. I thank those who helped search the area near the Kalabera Cave – Irene Tantiado, Bong Malasarte and the MDX group, and representatives from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration," she added.
The Castros, friends, the Filipino community and the police are appealing for the community’s help in finding Matubis.
Anyone with information about Matubis is being asked to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau of DPS at 664-9042 or 664-9047.
His younger brother, Arnold Matubis, who is also an OFW in Saipan, also gave his contact numbers for any information about his brother: 234-5419 or 484-0226.
According to Castro, Matubis went to Tinian Island on July 27 for a project. He went back to Saipan on July 29 to take care of a separate project.
Castro said she picked up Matubis from the Saipan airport when he got back from Tinian.
“I noticed when I picked him up at the airport that he’s sad. In the afternoon of that same day, he was supposed to call me up but never did. And that’s the last time I saw him. We never heard from him since then," Castro said.
When two days had gone without seeing and hearing from Matubis, Castro said she called Matubis’ family in the Philippines to tell them of his disappearance.
Castro said Matubis is an intelligent person, cheerful, always goes to church, God-fearing and always tells stories that’s why it was strange that he started being withdrawn, seemed sad and depressed for days until his disappearance.
Matubis disappeared about a month after he arrived on Saipan from a vacation in the Philippines.
His younger brother, Arnold Matubis, said he also noticed that his brother had been depressed since returning from the Philippines.
Castro said Matubis even remitted to the Philippines on the day he was last seen.
Matubis’ personal belongings, including his passport, are still in his barracks.
His younger brother said there’s no immigration record indicating that the older Matubis left the CNMI. - GMANews.TV
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