Group offers up to $1K reward for missing Pinoy on Saipan Island

SUSUPE, Saipan - A non-profit community-based group in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is offering cash reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who can lead authorities to the whereabouts of a Filipino worker who was reported missing since July 29.

Jim Arenovski, president of the NMI Crime Stoppers on Monday told GMANews.TV that his group would use its resources to help locate 47-year-old Alex Matubis, who had been working on Saipan Island as a draftsman and surveyor for almost 23 years.

Crime Stoppers uses a 24-hour tip line for informants who are not required to identify themselves or give any personal information. Calls cannot be traced. Tip lines do not have caller IDs.

People can also pass information anonymously via a secure online information form.

“They can call 234-7272 or visit our Web site, to provide us with information. We offer up to $1,000 reward depending on the provided information that will lead us to his (Matubis’) whereabouts," said Arenovski.

According to Irene Tantiado, a labor rights activist in the CNMI, and president of the United Workers Movement NMI, police still face a blank wall on the Matubis case.

“Ngayong confirmed na may cash reward na, we hope magkaroon na ng strong lead para malaman kung nasaan na si Alex (Now that it has been confirmed that there is cash reward, we hope there’s going to be a strong lead to Alex’s whereabouts)," said Tantiado.

Tantiado has been helping Matubis’s wife, Malou, in getting information about the case.

Since she flew to Saipan on September 7, Matubis’ wife has not yet received reliable information on the whereabouts of her husband of 15 years.


"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," said Malou, as she appealed for those who might know Matubis to come forward.

Malou last saw her husband last June 28, before he returned to Saipan after a 45-day vacation in the Philippines.

The blue pickup truck that Matubis had been driving until the day of his disappearance was found by authorities 18 days later on Aug. 16.

Tantiado said members of the Filipino community on Saipan were willing to raise funds to help Matubis’ family especially his daughters — a 16-year-old nursing student and a 14-year-old high school student — who live in San Pedro town in Laguna province.

One of the groups is the Marianas Association of Filipino Engineers and Architects (MAFEA), which handed $389 to Malou during the group’s induction ceremony last Saturday. Matubis is a member of MAFEA.

The disappearance of Matubis remains a puzzle to the Filipino community in the CNMI. An estimated 10,000 Filipinos work and reside in the territory. Those who know Matubis describe him as a kind and religious man. - HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV

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