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Final day to sign up for CW survey on Saturday
The ongoing survey for longtime nonresidents in the CW program will have its final day on Saturday. July 9. Members of the United Filipino Organization will be at the ground floor of the Marianas Business Plaza starting at 8am and will be there until there are CW workers coming in to sign up.
Lito Marquez, the one in charge of getting the details, said it was Department of Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regional director David Gulick who asked for the details.
“We’re not doing this because we want to but it was Ms. Kia’ina and Mr. Gulick who asked that we gather data and details of all guest workers. This was discussed during their [separate] meetings last month at the House of Representatives and the Governor’s Office,” said Marquez.
UFO president Bong Malasarte was among those invited in both meetings along with other business and community leaders.
As of last Saturday, July 2, they already collected 28 pages of information from more than 1,000 guest workers here in the CNMI. Majority of those who signed in their survey are guest workers who have been working in the Commonwealth for more than 10 years.
Marquez added that they are assigned to gather the information from the Filipino community. Other nationalities have been doing their own surveys. “Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Nepalese, and Bangladeshis have their own information gathering campaigns.”
He said that despite each having their own respective signups, they also accommodate other nationalities who arrive at the former Nauru Building. “But we get their information and they sign up in a separate form.”
It was the third Saturday that Marquez and other UFO volunteers have been conducting the survey and information gathering. They will have to transfer all the data collected to an electronic file on or before the July 10 deadline.
All workers—whether in hotels, construction, etc.—are welcome to sign up and take the survey. There were also other individuals who helped them by taking survey forms and sign up sheets to their friends and acquaintances.
“We expect those individuals to give us the information either this Saturday or before,” said Marquez.
