God in His infinite wisdom gave the people of Guam everything they need.
Given: Under all is the land and “Liberty and Justice for All” is America. Guam has been flying the U.S. flag since 1898. We the people of Guam have repeatedly fought in defense of America even before we were called Americans.
Before WWII, before we were Americans, every landowner had access to their land and the land yielded abundantly. There was pride, there was honesty, there was gratitude, there were good neighbors, and at the end of each work day, there was thankfulness for good health, capable family members, and anticipation for the future. But greed made it politically correct to violate God’s law. The mere idea of government food stamps, free to low-cost housing, and welfare was embarrassing, despicable, and dishonorable. The acceptance of any sort of welfare goes against the grain of what we were taught by our forefathers: Work (sweat if you have to) for your living, do not sit on your duff and depend on others, most particularly handouts.
During the three years of WWII, Guam’s vibrant productivity fed the people.
Because the brutal Japanese Army must have their fill first, there was hunger, but no one died from starvation. The hard-working people of Guam faced, among other cruelty, such treatment as torture, rape, and gruesome death. After the war, never mind the atrocities dealt, never mind the consideration and feelings of this island people, never mind the compensation, as if the people’s suffering did not happen, nor did it count.
Were we not worthy of reparation, of getting back our land to provide for ourselves and our families, of just compensation for the permanency of the bases on what once were thriving communities? Communities that took care of their own, independent of outside help and the war proved it. Where is the just compensation to land owners whose lands are permanently being used by the Departments of Defense and the Interior?
More than 60 years later, America’s victory in WWII for freedom, democracy, and justice made a backward step in the Mariana islands. The denial to take back and control our properties, once wholesome and vigorous, to live and raise a family is now cancer-like in malignancy. Evil lurking everywhere, corruption is rampant, and even heinous crimes are left unsolved.
The fake local government is never accountable. Clearly, Uncle Sam’s billions of dollars spent on the Department of Agriculture, EPA, GVB, GEDCA, and on humanities failed to return the balance Guam had when access and freedom to do whatever deemed necessary with the land existed. Freedom to use the land is what saved the natives in WWII. Clearly, when property rights are restored, it will deliver true peace and the potential to be prosperous for ourselves and our posterity. There are no substitutes and handouts are part of the symptoms of the problem.
Without righting a fundamental wrong (private properties still in the hands of the Armed Forces and GovGuam) in a “democratic society,” all the issues being discussed including taxes (government revenues) will continue to worsen. Even actions of the Chamber of Commerce, the Guam Association of REALTORS, other groups and individuals bowing to the bully powers that be.
At the same time, the media loves the hypocrisy of it all. Talking without returning property assets to the rightful owners (long over-due), only makes us blue in the face as Guam spirals around the drain facing critical mass meltdown imminent. Funny, some people think they are not affected, yet, serious trial is upon us.

TONY ARTERO
Agana Heights