“If nothing would happen to our clamor for improved status we have no other recourse but to go home,” one of them told the Variety.
He arrived on Saipan in 1988 and worked as a security guard.
At present, he gets paid for part-time job as a painter and construction worker.
Another former soldier still has his umbrella permit but his work contract is about to expire.
“If I don’t get renewed I have no other option but to go home,” he said.
An ex-Marine said if they are forced to leave the CNMI, they may ask for assistance from the Philippine government.
“We need help so we can start a livelihood project when we go home,” he said.
Variety learned that most of these soldiers were either dismissed with a cause or were absent without official leave due to their involvement in the coup attempts against the then-Aquino administration.
They said they may request the Philippine government to send a plane that can bring them home if they will not be given improved status in the CNMI.
“We have no money for our airfare,” they said. Their last employers are either bankrupt or no longer in the CNMI.
