By By Nazario Rodriguez Jr.
Horizon news staff

Peleliu Delegate Jonathan Isechal said yesterday that members of the House of Delegates are being paid despite the lack of sessions that they hold.
Earlier, Isechal requested the opinion of the Assistant Legal Counsel on this matter because, he said, he wanted to raise the issue even before the reorganization of the HOD happened.
Isechal explained that based on the law, each OEK member should receive $1,000 in compensation for each stay in an official session and since Jan 1, 2007 and as of April 3, the HOD held only four sessions but "when we got our pay two weeks ago, which was March 29, we have not enough sessions."
The HOD members are being paid every two weeks adding that yesterday’s payroll was their eighth.
"The Main reason is I wanted to raise the issue because I do not want to be sued in court in the future," he said.
He said that since they have already received their pay, then that might just be considered as advanced payment.
"Hopefully we can make up to complete the required 16 sessions with 25 more days to go until last day on May 25," he said.
But he said that they must not just hold a session for the sake of completing the required days to be eligible for payment based on the law, but they must work and committed to discussed important issues and for the different committees to accomplish something," he said.
The next scheduled regular session is to be held today.
Isechal earlier requested the HOD Assistant Legal Counsel to examine RPPL 7-2 and Charter Initiative No. 5 concerning the compensation of the OEK.
This is specifically the issue of whether or not it is a violation of RPPL 7-2 for the OEK members to receive compensation for session days that did not take place during the payroll period.
The Assistant Legal Counsel explained that RPPL 7-2 clearly states that each OEK member should receive $1,000 in compensation for each day of an official session that such member attends, up to a maximum of $50,00 per year.
"Within this Act’s definitions section, attendance is defined as "actual, physical presence at a day of an Official Session as certified by a presiding officer of the appropriate house of the OEK."
The Assistant Legal Counsel said that the delegates should only receive compensation for those session days actually attended adding that a biweekly salary for the amount of $50,000 is not what was expressly stated in the statue.
"Rather, $50,000 is the maximum amount of compensation allowed for each delegate. So a delegate receiving $50,00 per year should, in theory, have attended fifty session days that year."
The Assistant Legal Counsel also said that "according to RPPL 7-2, the Minister of Finance should reconcile each delegate’s attendance record with his compensation, ensuring that his attendance corresponds correctly with the amount of days attended."
"These reconciliations should occur each quarter, within 10 days of the close of the quarter."