SAIPAN, Northern Marianas — Independent gubernatorial candidate Blas Jonathan “BJ” Attao paid tribute to generations of Filipinos who helped build Saipan's infrastructure and cared for local families, saying their contributions to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands go far beyond their status as foreign workers.
Speaking at the Attao-Villagomez CNMI Filipino Community Gathering last Oct. 11, Attao recalled how Filipino workers built schools, hotels, courthouses, and homes while Filipino caregivers helped raise generations of island residents.
“We had our yayas that took care of us, our caretakers, our elders, you guys were around,” he said. “You guys are not CW workers in our eyes, you guys are family,” he added.
CW workers stand for CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program workers.
Attao, who is running alongside House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez in the Nov. 3 general elections, said the Filipino community has been an integral part of the Commonwealth's development since the 1960s.
“A lot of your blood, sweat, and tears have built our infrastructure here in the CNMI,” he said.
He said Filipino workers helped make possible the dreams of many local families and should be given the opportunity to continue building their own futures in the Commonwealth.
Attao pledged to address the controversial touchback requirement under the CW-1 program, which allows qualified foreign nationals, many of them Filipinos, to work legally in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Under the federal requirement, certain CW-1 workers must leave the United States for at least 30 consecutive days after three consecutive petition renewals before their employers can petition for them again. Some long-term workers are exempt.
Attao said the requirement has disrupted businesses and separated families, particularly those who have lived in the Commonwealth for decades.
“This touchback program, it's been hampering a lot of businesses here in the CNMI. But more importantly, it's been separating a lot of families from each other,” he said.
He acknowledged that changing the federal requirement would require action in Washington, D.C., and said his administration would work with independent delegate candidate Galvin Deleon Guerrero if both win in November.
“We need to make sure that our workers remain here, our businesses stay alive and they thrive,” Attao said.
The gathering also drew other independent candidates aligned with the Attao-Villagomez campaign, including Carlos Santos, Reps. John Paul Sablan, Ralph Yumul, and Marissa Flores, as well as Joel Camacho, Diego Camacho, Daniel Aquino, and Deleon Guerrero.
Rudy Pua, a member of the Committee-to-Elect Attao and Villagomez, said the gathering was organized to allow Filipino residents to raise their concerns directly with the candidates.
“Today is not a day for you to sit down and listen to these guys speak. Today is the day that these guys up here will come up to each table and listen to you,” Pua said.
He said cooperation among elected officials would be necessary to address the Commonwealth's economic and immigration challenges.
United Filipino Organizations president Carlito Jimenez Marquez, who attended in his personal capacity and not on behalf of the organization, said the touchback requirement is one of the most pressing concerns of the Filipino community.
Marquez, who has lived in the Northern Marianas for 30 years, said the requirement has caused hardship and family separations.
“If these candidates can do something about it, to scrap the touchback provisions, because there's a lot of family separations, we experience hardship,” he said.
He said political candidates are also increasingly reaching out to Filipinos because many have established permanent roots in the islands.
Another Filipino community member, Josie Camacho, welcomed the Attao-Villagomez campaign's immigration proposals but said more lasting solutions are needed beyond repeatedly extending the CW-1 program.
She suggested addressing immigration issues through Section 902 consultations between the federal and CNMI governments under the Covenant that established the Commonwealth's political relationship with the United States.
Camacho said lengthy immigration processing times and touchback requirements can prevent Filipino workers from returning home during family emergencies or leave them separated from their children for months.
