Wife of missing OFW in Saipan: ‘I feel he’s alive’
HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV
GARAPAN, Saipan – Maria Luisa Fatima Matubis could not hold back her tears as she recounts happy moments with her husband, Alex Matubis, who has been reported missing for 39 days in the US territory of Saipan where he works as a draftsman and surveyor.
Mrs. Matubis, who is fondly called “Marilou" by her family and friends, arrived in Saipan early Sunday morning to personally appeal for help in finding her husband of 15 years.
“I feel that he’s alive. Every one of us in the family is hoping he’s alive," Mrs. Matubis told GMANews.TV in an interview Sunday afternoon.
She is appealing for her husband to “come out" if he has gone into hiding.
The mother of two is also asking anyone who is helping her husband in hiding to advice him to return to his family.
“Alex, please come out. Please come out for your family, for your children, for me," she appealed.
"My husband is a good person. He has not done anything wrong. He’s been working hard for his family and we hope to see him alive," Mrs. Matubis said, adding that Alex should not be ashamed of coming out.
Anyone who knows Matubis’s whereabouts is asked to contact Mrs. Matubis at cellular phone number 483 6867 on Saipan, the police at 664-9042/45, or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 234-7272.
Missing
Alex Matubis has been reported missing since July 29 in Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The blue pickup truck he had been driving until the day of his disappearance was found 18 days later on August 16, but police have yet to locate him.
Mrs. Matubis and Irene Tantiado, a worker rights advocate in the CNMI, were set to meet Monday with the Philippine Consulate General in the CNMI and CNMI Department of Public Safety officials and investigator assigned to Matubis’s case.
“Bakit hanggang ngayon wala pa ring resulta yung fingerprinting? Si Alex nga ba ang nag-drive nung sasakyan papunta doon? (How come there’s still no result on the fingerprinting? Was it really Alex who drove the vehicle to the area where it was found?)," Mrs. Matubis said.
Mrs. Matubis and her daughters - a 16-year-old nursing student and a 14-year-old high school student - live in San Pedro, Laguna.
She last saw her husband on June 28, the day when Matubis returned to Saipan after a 45-day vacation in the Philippines.
While she was composed at the beginning of the interview, Mrs. Matubis later couldn’t hold back her tears as she recounted her conversation with her husband the night before his return to Saipan.
“Tinanong niya ako kung galit ba ako sa kanya kasi hindi niya kami naipasyal sa Baguio. Sabi ko ‘hindi’. Nalulungkot siya kasi hindi niya nabilhan ng mga gamit yung mga bata. Niyakap niya ako at sabi niya mahal na mahal niya ako at ang mga bata (He asked me if I was mad that he wasn’t able to take us to Baguio. I said ‘no’. He was sad that he wasn’t able to buy things for the children. He embraced me and told me he loves me and the children so much)," said Mrs. Matubis.
As of Sunday, police have no strong lead on Matubis’s case.
The chief of the CNMI Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Division, Major Edward H. Manalili, told local media that there have been indications that Matubis is still alive and is wandering around Saipan.
The police official said investigators have so far found no traces of foul play behind the disappearance of Matubis, who has been working as a draftsman/surveyor with Castro & Associates.
Mrs. Matubis, 39, said she and family members have been praying that Alex Matubis is safe and that he would come out if he has gone hiding.
One of Alex Matubis’s brothers, a priest in Aruba, has been offering prayers for the missing OFW.
Those who know Matubis describe him as a kind and religious man.
Mrs. Matubis said she noticed that her husband was sad and seemed depressed when he went on vacation in the Philippines from May 14 to June 28.
She said Matubis was telling her about his irregular salaries, and his obligations to his family.
Alex Matubis had been working as a draftsman/surveyor with Castro & Associates for almost 23 years.
Later in the interview, Mrs. Matubis recalled how she and Alex met for the first time in Saipan in 1990.
At the time, she was also an OFW on Saipan and was introduced to Alex Matubis by friends. They became lovers and got married in the Philippines. She went on to stay in the Philippines, while her husband continued to work in Saipan.
“Hindi ko mapigilang umiyak nung una kong nalaman na nawawala siya. Apat na araw akong iyak ng iyak. Nanghihina na ako noon pero sabi ko dapat lakasan ko ang loob ko. Ayaw kong makita ako ng mga anak ko na umiiyak,/i> (I couldn’t stop myself from crying when I first learned that he’s missing. I was always crying for four days. I was already becoming weak at the time but I told myself I should be strong. I didn’t want my daughters to see my crying)," Mrs. Matubis said.
While on Saipan, Mrs. Matubis is being assisted by Tantiado and friends and relatives of Alex Matubis, including one of his brothers who is also an OFW.
Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila by plane.
This is the fist time in recent years that a Filipino contract worker has been reported missing for over a month in the CNMI where about 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans currently work and live.
There has been no immigration record of Matubis exiting the CNMI. His personal belongings – including his passport and blank checks – were found in his employer-provided housing in Saipan. - GMANews.TV
GARAPAN, Saipan – Maria Luisa Fatima Matubis could not hold back her tears as she recounts happy moments with her husband, Alex Matubis, who has been reported missing for 39 days in the US territory of Saipan where he works as a draftsman and surveyor.
Mrs. Matubis, who is fondly called “Marilou" by her family and friends, arrived in Saipan early Sunday morning to personally appeal for help in finding her husband of 15 years.
“I feel that he’s alive. Every one of us in the family is hoping he’s alive," Mrs. Matubis told GMANews.TV in an interview Sunday afternoon.
She is appealing for her husband to “come out" if he has gone into hiding.
The mother of two is also asking anyone who is helping her husband in hiding to advice him to return to his family.
“Alex, please come out. Please come out for your family, for your children, for me," she appealed.
"My husband is a good person. He has not done anything wrong. He’s been working hard for his family and we hope to see him alive," Mrs. Matubis said, adding that Alex should not be ashamed of coming out.
Anyone who knows Matubis’s whereabouts is asked to contact Mrs. Matubis at cellular phone number 483 6867 on Saipan, the police at 664-9042/45, or the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 234-7272.
Missing
Alex Matubis has been reported missing since July 29 in Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The blue pickup truck he had been driving until the day of his disappearance was found 18 days later on August 16, but police have yet to locate him.
Mrs. Matubis and Irene Tantiado, a worker rights advocate in the CNMI, were set to meet Monday with the Philippine Consulate General in the CNMI and CNMI Department of Public Safety officials and investigator assigned to Matubis’s case.
“Bakit hanggang ngayon wala pa ring resulta yung fingerprinting? Si Alex nga ba ang nag-drive nung sasakyan papunta doon? (How come there’s still no result on the fingerprinting? Was it really Alex who drove the vehicle to the area where it was found?)," Mrs. Matubis said.
Mrs. Matubis and her daughters - a 16-year-old nursing student and a 14-year-old high school student - live in San Pedro, Laguna.
She last saw her husband on June 28, the day when Matubis returned to Saipan after a 45-day vacation in the Philippines.
While she was composed at the beginning of the interview, Mrs. Matubis later couldn’t hold back her tears as she recounted her conversation with her husband the night before his return to Saipan.
“Tinanong niya ako kung galit ba ako sa kanya kasi hindi niya kami naipasyal sa Baguio. Sabi ko ‘hindi’. Nalulungkot siya kasi hindi niya nabilhan ng mga gamit yung mga bata. Niyakap niya ako at sabi niya mahal na mahal niya ako at ang mga bata (He asked me if I was mad that he wasn’t able to take us to Baguio. I said ‘no’. He was sad that he wasn’t able to buy things for the children. He embraced me and told me he loves me and the children so much)," said Mrs. Matubis.
As of Sunday, police have no strong lead on Matubis’s case.
The chief of the CNMI Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Division, Major Edward H. Manalili, told local media that there have been indications that Matubis is still alive and is wandering around Saipan.
The police official said investigators have so far found no traces of foul play behind the disappearance of Matubis, who has been working as a draftsman/surveyor with Castro & Associates.
Mrs. Matubis, 39, said she and family members have been praying that Alex Matubis is safe and that he would come out if he has gone hiding.
One of Alex Matubis’s brothers, a priest in Aruba, has been offering prayers for the missing OFW.
Those who know Matubis describe him as a kind and religious man.
Mrs. Matubis said she noticed that her husband was sad and seemed depressed when he went on vacation in the Philippines from May 14 to June 28.
She said Matubis was telling her about his irregular salaries, and his obligations to his family.
Alex Matubis had been working as a draftsman/surveyor with Castro & Associates for almost 23 years.
Later in the interview, Mrs. Matubis recalled how she and Alex met for the first time in Saipan in 1990.
At the time, she was also an OFW on Saipan and was introduced to Alex Matubis by friends. They became lovers and got married in the Philippines. She went on to stay in the Philippines, while her husband continued to work in Saipan.
“Hindi ko mapigilang umiyak nung una kong nalaman na nawawala siya. Apat na araw akong iyak ng iyak. Nanghihina na ako noon pero sabi ko dapat lakasan ko ang loob ko. Ayaw kong makita ako ng mga anak ko na umiiyak,/i> (I couldn’t stop myself from crying when I first learned that he’s missing. I was always crying for four days. I was already becoming weak at the time but I told myself I should be strong. I didn’t want my daughters to see my crying)," Mrs. Matubis said.
While on Saipan, Mrs. Matubis is being assisted by Tantiado and friends and relatives of Alex Matubis, including one of his brothers who is also an OFW.
Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila by plane.
This is the fist time in recent years that a Filipino contract worker has been reported missing for over a month in the CNMI where about 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans currently work and live.
There has been no immigration record of Matubis exiting the CNMI. His personal belongings – including his passport and blank checks – were found in his employer-provided housing in Saipan. - GMANews.TV
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