Garment factory's shutdown causes couple's 'separation'

Garment factory’s shutdown causes couple’s ‘separation’
Saipan Tribune, Micronesia

The shutdown of a garment factory in 2005 has caused a local employee to be “separated” from his wife and child due to his failure to pay utility billings. And for two years now without electricity and water supply, he is surviving alone in his wooden house in Afetnas using candles and rainwater.

Joaquin Sablan Palacios, 49, and his wife Catalina, 30, used to live a comfortable life with their son while they were both working at Neo Fashion.

With the factory’s closure in July 2005, it took Palacios one year to find another job at a supermarket. Catalina couldn’t get another job since then.

After four months with no job, the couple couldn’t afford to pay their power and water bills. As a result, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. cut their electricity and water supply

Catalina, a native of Villasis, Pangasinan, Philippines, told Saipan Tribune that it was so hard for them to stay in the house with no power and water because their son, John Jacob, was then just one year old.

“We decided to stick together. It was very hard,” Catalina recalled.

Mosquitoes are the main problem because the place where their wooden house is located is in a swampy area. When it rains hard or there is a typhoon the house would be surrounded with water.

After four months, the couple made a decision for the sake of their baby. Catalina and the baby had to leave their home that actually belongs to Palacios’ parents.

Catalina and John Jacob decided to stay in her sister’s house in San Vicente.

But Palacios remained in their home. He would fight mosquitoes using coils and catch rainwater to have water for bathing and other needs.

He would see his wife and son when they visit him during his day-off. Recently, his old car broke down which gave him another problem in picking up his family from San Vicente or in going to work in Susupe.

Palacios and Catalina said they want their family together again everyday.

“I missed them although they are still on the island,” said Palacios. “ I missed them all the time.”

Palacios said their problem is they could not afford to pay the reconnection and other fees to CUC in order to have power and water again.

“My salary is not enough at $3.25 an hour. Our hours are even reduced to 64,” he said.

“I cannot afford the luxury of life. The house needs to be fixed too. The utility rate of CUC is skyrocketing,” he said.

Sometimes, Palacios said, he would go to his brothers’ and sisters’ houses just to get a shower. He said it’s difficult to get help from family members because they have obligations too.

Palacios said he needs $400 to $500 just to get their power and water back on.

He also said their house is very old and that it’s falling apart and is full of termites.

Palacios disclosed that he has a B.A. degree in Sociology at Brescia University in Kentucky and that at first he really wanted to become a teacher.

“But I was never given an opportunity perhaps because of politics,” he said.

He said if given a chance to work in the government, he wants to serve at the Department of Labor or at the Division of Immigration.

Palacios is eligible for any job at the agencies because he was once a police officer.

Palacios and Catalina said they are hoping that somebody in the community would help them “stay everyday as a family again” at their dilapidated house.

“We are praying that somebody would help us. I am very depressed with our situation. I care so much for my husband and my son who is now going three years old,” said the teary-eyed Catalina.