IN the Pacific Sunday News (April 8), head line reads, “Agency under scrutiny.” The agency in question, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs.
This agency has no office (should be commended), no staff (should be praised) and no funding (excellent, I say) save for the salary of one Telo Taitague, the director. If only more agencies would follow the format of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs. Or was this agency created just for show-and-tell? You really expect people to believe that Republicans believe in women’s equality? Now that Jennifer Cruz is the nursing director, does this mean that nurses will have more of a vote or this move to quash “dissent” because it is “no use complaining.”
Consider a story that ran in the Marianas Variety-Guam Edition (April 6, Page 20) which read, “Women’s equality measure faces long odds.” And why such long odds? Republicans in the Senate, not one of them, has signed on to the ‘Women’s Equality Amendment’ while only eight GOP House members have their names on as co-sponsors. Terry O’Neill, executive director of the National Council of Women’s Organization, said, “I would love for the American people to see who votes against women’s equality.”
Which is along the lines of what Telo Taitague remarked in the Sunday News (Page 3) when she said, “For anyone to say that women’s issues are not important, shame on you. Ask your mother if it’s not important.” This is not what the PDN was trying to get at, which was during these austere/bleak times, why spend $50,000 when that money could be spent on a/c’s, medicines and better equipment for the firemen. Where is the prioritization? Non-existent. (And if you say women should get more jobs because there are more women that men, does this mean that natives should get fewer jobs within GovGuam since natives are a minority now?)
Women on Guam don’t get discriminated against because they are women. Women on Guam get discriminated against because they are not politically connected not of the same ethnic group and not well versed in English (for example). But that is just like men who have to go through the same hurdles.
And, I am glad that Telo Taitague made that quip, ‘Ask your mother.’ This is sort of the in-your-face brashness that Republicans tend to bring to the table. Example: Patti Arroyo of Newstalk K-57 made mention that when she was at AOLG, Telo was at GWHS and she, Telo, was someone “you didn’t want to cross paths with.”

MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam