Thousands of Filipino workers in Saipan risk displacement and worse, deportation due to new laws that affect their stay there, according to the highest-ranking Church official of that commonwealth of the United States.
Aside from this, other challenges being faced by the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan, headed by a Filipino priest, include cases of “sexual abuse” by priests and bishops as well as the plight of illegal Chinese nationals working as construction workers there.
Most Rev. Ryan Jimenez, D.D., the bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan, disclosed Monday at a press conference in Dumaguete City that these are the challenges that the diocese under his leadership is facing.
Following his episcopal ordination last Aug. 14, 2016, the bishop said he thought he would have a short time for a “honeymoon” but instead he was immediately tasked to face ongoing lawsuits filed against priests and bishops, to include his predecessor.
Bishop Jimenez disclosed the Church that he heads there is facing bankruptcy in the even the cases will prosper as each case involves U.S. five million dollars.
Jimenez is the first Filipino bishop of Chalan Kanoa, Saipan and hails from Larena, Siquijor.
He arrived here Monday where he was given a warm welcome by the Diocese of Dumaguete and where he celebrated his first thanksgiving mass here as the bishop of Saipan.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Bishop Jimenez also disclosed that even the archdiocese of Guam, which is an island closest to them in the Marianas, has around 56 similar cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests that somehow indirectly also affect Saipan.
Guam is just about an hour’s flight from Saipan one-way.
“We are really challenged. It is in the hands of the court (now) and we respect the process but at the same time how do we encourage people to carry on?” said Jimenez.
“How do we give them hope they are affected by all this things and how do assure also our parishioners that our church is still a safe place for our children”, he added.
The Filipino prelate stressed, “that is why protection of our children is very much at the front of our ministry”.
The diocese in Saipan has about 40,000 parishioners, or comprising at least 80 percent of the island’s total population of some 50,000.
The predominantly Catholic U.S. territory belonging to the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, meanwhile, is also saddled with human trafficking issues, especially involving Chinese nationals, Bishop Jimenez disclosed.
According to him, numerous Chinese nationals working with a huge construction project of a casino in Saipan were found to be lacking in proper working documents.
They came in as tourists but ended up working for the casino construction, apparently recruited by Chinese recruitment companies, he disclosed.
That was only a front because they require a different visa other than that of being a tourist to be able to work in Saipan, Bishop Jimenez further disclosed.
The worst part is that these Chinese nationals have not been paid and just two weeks ago, the social arm of the Diocese of Saipan, Caridad, (meaning, charity), came to the rescue of about Chinese nationals in this sad plight, Jimenez said.
He went on to say that the Church has housed these Chinese nationals in an undisclosed location for their protection while their papers are being ironed out.
It was discovered that apart from being not paid, their housing conditions were not good and below human standards, Jimenez said.
As for fellow Filipinos or “kababayans” in Saipan, Bishop Jimenez disclosed that there are many of them facing risks of displacement or even deportation.
Labeled as “unlawful presence” by the U.S. immigration authorities, many of these Filipino workers have been in Saipan for many years but do not have the appropriate visa, Jimenez said.
The problem is that their children were born there and are automatically U.S citizens, so the dilemma now is that these children cannot be separated from their parents as “the impacts would be devastating”, he pointed out.
Many Filipino migrant workers could no longer find employment there and do not have the capability to return to the Philippines, too, he said.
Some of them are church volunteers working in different capacities and “the least we can do is to help them”, he added.
There is a cap or limit by 2019 and unless the law is changed, the transitional visa will be eliminated, Jimenez said.
“So we’re really talking about more than 15,000 Filipinos who are about to be displaced”, he further said.
Bishop Jimenez says he continuously asks for God’s strength to lead him to where God wants him to be.
The Filipino bishop asked for prayers from the Catholic faithful here as he continues with his journey of serving God in the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan, which has close ties with the Philippines considering it was part of the Diocese of Cebu in the olden days. (Judy Flores Partlow)
