Group raises fund for kin of murdered Pinoy guard on Saipan
SUSUPE, Saipan – A group of foreign workers in the US island of Saipan is raising funds for the family of a Filipino security guard who was murdered while on night duty at the Marianas High School (MHS) on Nov. 17.
The United Workers Movement NMI, which consists mainly of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), issued an open letter on Monday morning condemning the killing of Efren L. Ballesteros and launched a fundraising for the victim’s family, specifically his two youngest children who are on Saipan.
"Our group condemns the killing of our fellow guest worker and the manner he was killed. The worker community of the CNMI mourns his untimely passing," United Workers Movement NMI president Irene Tantiado, of Cebu, said.
Ballesteros, 45, left behind a wife and five children. The youngest is five months old who was christened on Saipan days after his father’s murder.
A portion of the proceeds of the fundraising will pay for the transportation of Ballesteros’ body this week from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila to his province of Isabela in northern Philippines where he will be laid to rest.
Three teen students at MHS were arrested separately on Wednesday in connection with Ballesteros’ murder.
The three suspects admitted beating Ballesteros to death with a PVC pipe, an iron rebar and a 2x2 wood so they could steal laptops at the biggest high school campus on Saipan.
Ballesteros, who had been an OFW on Saipan since 1992, was found lying face down in a pool of blood in a hallway on MHS campus on Tuesday morning.
Arrested were Eric Rabauliman, 18, and two juveniles who will be tried as adults. They are Randy Igisomar, 16, and Edward Blas, 16. The three are students at MHS.
The murder suspects will return to court on Nov. 26 for their preliminary hearing. They will be arraigned on Dec. 1.
They will also face burglary, robbery and theft charges in relation to the Nov. 17 burglary that led to the death of Ballesteros, an employee of Global Security Agency.
Ballesteros’s widow, Adelaida Abella, was waiting for her husband to come home on the morning he was found dead because they were supposed to process the papers for their youngest child’s christening.
It was only at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18 when a friend called her on the phone that her husband had been found dead at MHS.
Ballesteros’s wallet containing $300 cash and a wristwatch were also stolen.
His body was found barely a few days after three fellow OFWs died in a car crash also on Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where some 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans live and work. Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila. - GMANews.TV
The United Workers Movement NMI, which consists mainly of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), issued an open letter on Monday morning condemning the killing of Efren L. Ballesteros and launched a fundraising for the victim’s family, specifically his two youngest children who are on Saipan.
"Our group condemns the killing of our fellow guest worker and the manner he was killed. The worker community of the CNMI mourns his untimely passing," United Workers Movement NMI president Irene Tantiado, of Cebu, said.
Ballesteros, 45, left behind a wife and five children. The youngest is five months old who was christened on Saipan days after his father’s murder.
A portion of the proceeds of the fundraising will pay for the transportation of Ballesteros’ body this week from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila to his province of Isabela in northern Philippines where he will be laid to rest.
Three teen students at MHS were arrested separately on Wednesday in connection with Ballesteros’ murder.
The three suspects admitted beating Ballesteros to death with a PVC pipe, an iron rebar and a 2x2 wood so they could steal laptops at the biggest high school campus on Saipan.
Ballesteros, who had been an OFW on Saipan since 1992, was found lying face down in a pool of blood in a hallway on MHS campus on Tuesday morning.
Arrested were Eric Rabauliman, 18, and two juveniles who will be tried as adults. They are Randy Igisomar, 16, and Edward Blas, 16. The three are students at MHS.
The murder suspects will return to court on Nov. 26 for their preliminary hearing. They will be arraigned on Dec. 1.
They will also face burglary, robbery and theft charges in relation to the Nov. 17 burglary that led to the death of Ballesteros, an employee of Global Security Agency.
Ballesteros’s widow, Adelaida Abella, was waiting for her husband to come home on the morning he was found dead because they were supposed to process the papers for their youngest child’s christening.
It was only at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18 when a friend called her on the phone that her husband had been found dead at MHS.
Ballesteros’s wallet containing $300 cash and a wristwatch were also stolen.
His body was found barely a few days after three fellow OFWs died in a car crash also on Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where some 10,000 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans live and work. Saipan is only about three hours away from Manila. - GMANews.TV
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