OVER the past few years, many island residents have left the CNMI for the U.S. in search of a better life.
Three of those who have decided to head to the states this year said the same thing: Life is getting harder here.
Nenette Gatdula, a store supervisor, left the island on July 30, 2024, with her husband Joseph, a salesman, and their four children. They’re now in Ohio where Gatdula plans to work in a factory.
“Many of our friends on Saipan are in the U.S. already,” she said, adding that they all left for the same reason — the bad economy. She said they didn’t want to leave the island where life is simple, but now, “the way things are happening — things are not improving, so we decided to leave the island.”
Gatdula, who has been a resident of Saipan since 1995, said she and her husband are “not getting younger” so they would like to have a more stable source of income and save money. On island, she added, their finances were not improving,
In the states, she said, “you don’t have to worry about expenses all the time because there are a lot of jobs and the income is good. On Saipan, you have to wait at least a year before you can save enough money for a short vacation.”
Couple John and Debby Ong pose for a photo during the New Year 2023 countdown at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
Another long-time island resident, John Ong, said he, his wife Debby and their son are leaving soon because “the economic situation here is declining.” He said they made the decision after Hyatt Regency Saipan, where his wife worked for 27 years, announced that it was shutting down in June.
Ong said his work hours were cut to 35 a week. “There’s no more good income here,” he added.
A former co-worker who left Saipan with his family before the pandemic now owns a house in Las Vegas, Ong said. “If they can, I think we can, too,” he said, adding that he and his family are moving to Sacramento, California.
Jewel Cubangbang, a marketing coordinator, said she’s leaving the island for two reasons. First, she was promoted by her employer and reassigned to Guam. But even if she wasn’t promoted, she said she would still leave because of the “bad economy.”
“The NMI is no longer the same after the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added.
Because of the declining economy, she said “there is no more sense of community here.” No more big events like the street market in Garapan. Many years ago, she said, there were “happenings” on island almost every day.
“Now, you don’t see those things,” she said. “There is no sense of community, really. People don’t go out anymore.”
Cubangbang said the CNMI has to become a community again, and should do more to attract tourists. “There should be more happenings, more events, more people going out,” she added.
She said that although she and her family are blessed with a great life, “I am very affected by what I see around here. People are struggling. It’s hard. If the people you see around are struggling, no one’s going to be happy. It’s really sad,” she said.
Other local residents who have left the island or are planning to do so declined to be interviewed.
