By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

AT least a dozen residents on Saturday staged a protest against the proposal to implement a 90-day unpaid holiday for non-essential government agencies.
Greg Cruz Jr. a 42-year-old maintenance worker, was joined by his entire family, including his father Greg Sr., in the protest they held at the intersection of Beach Road and Chalan Msgr. Guerrero Road.
Cruz Jr. and Ely Fejeran staged a similar rally in the same area on April 12.
Cruz Jr. said his wife, who works for the government, was depressed when she broke the news on April 11 about the 90-day unpaid holiday that the government is considering if its revenue collections do not improve this year.
His wife, he said, knows she would be included because the agency she’s working for is considered “non-essential.”
It was her birthday the next day.
“That was the day when I decided to make placards and air my protest against the government,” Cruz Jr. said.
He said he and his family are protesting the austerity measures, the school budget cuts and lawmakers’ “juggling of funds.
Cruz said he has organized a group that will continue to stage protest actions — Taotao Tano, or people of the islands.
He said he’s never been active in any of the political parties, but “I want the people, the indigenous people of the CNMI, to stop our lawmakers from continuing to be just a rubber-stamp. I’m fed up with them.”