Elpidio Macaraeg, 60, is scheduled to leave Saipan before Dec. 28 after Honolulu Immigration Judge Clarence M. Wagner granted him voluntary departure.
In a text message, Gutierrez, who is in Pangasinan, the Philippines, said they are glad that their “long lost father” will finally come home.
“Our family will be one again,” she said. Her father has been working in the CNMI as a maintenance worker for 26 years now. Because he is unemployed, he no longer has legal immigration status in the CNMI.
Gutierrez said she was glad to hear his voice over the phone, adding that, at first, she couldn’t believe she was actually talk with her father.
Yesterday, Macaraeg’s lawyer, Janet King, along with Senior Citizens Advisory Council president Teresita Sorroza, United Workers Movement board chairman Ronnie Doca and Adela Pelin Igros, Soroza’s daughter, helped facilitate the long-distance phone call between father and daughter.
Igros said she was authorized by Macaraeg to pack his belongings, including his truck and power tools.
She said they will sell some of them to raise funds for Macaraeg’s airfare.
Igros said Macaraeg had already expressed willingness to go home.
It was Rene Reyes, Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd, or MAHAL, founding president, who helped Macaraeg get legal and other forms of assistance.
Igros, who has been communicating with Gutierrez, said she will meet with Reyes to start retrieving Macaraeg’s belongings.
Rabby Syed, United Workers Movement, NMI president, said his group is willing to help find ways to generate funds for Macaraeg’s airfare.
