By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

ONLY 11 of 42 elected officials and members of the judiciary in the CNMI have voluntarily taken a 10 percent cut in their salaries or donated their paychecks for scholarships even as thousands of lower paid employees have been forced to accept a 10 percent wage reduction since last year in light of the government’s financial crisis.
A majority — or 19 of the 27 lawmakers, including Speaker Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan — continue to receive their full salaries of $39,000 a year despite repeated calls that they share equally in the government’s financial austerity measures.
None of the eight justices and judges of the Supreme Court or the Superior Court have volunteered to have their salaries cut.
Only one of the four mayors has been donating his salary to the CNMI Scholarship Office.
“That’s ridiculous…Those who haven’t volunteered to cut their salary by 10 percent are hypocrites, especially the elected members of the Legislature because they keep on complaining about the suffering, but they themselves have not experienced any suffering,” Rep. Absalon Waki, Covenant-Saipan, told Variety yesterday.
Waki yesterday received a response from the Office of the Public Auditor regarding his request for a list of elected officials and members of the judiciary who have voluntarily taken a 10 percent cut in their salaries, and the impact of Public Law 15-24 on government finances.
“We should all pitch in,” he added.
Public Auditor Mike Sablan, who volunteered for a pay cut last year, said “if all the 34 elected officials and eight members of the judiciary voluntarily elected to accept a 10 percent pay reduction, the government would save an additional $200,000 per year.”
“It is unfortunate that many of those in the higher brackets of the government’s pay scale, whose 10 percent contribution would make a large impact, have elected not to take the reduction,” Sablan told Waki.
“The threat of additional cutbacks is very real,” he added.
A 58-year-old employee of the Legislature, who declined to be identified, said his biweekly pay was reduced by $200 which, he said, could be used to buy his family’s food, gas and other basic household needs.
“It is very unfair,” he said. “Government officials hired some 100 people but they cut our salaries. They hired their brothers, brothers-in-law, sisters, kumpaire...After they got what they wanted, they left us all in the dark. We got pay cuts, and they didn’t. Maybe if they hadn’t hire more people, we’d still be getting our full salary.”
In the executive branch, only Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez volunteered to cut their wages by 10 percent each.
Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio has not volunteered for a pay cut.
In the nine-member Senate, only Senate President Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian, and Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, Covenant-Saipan, have accepted pay cuts.
Senate Vice President Pete P. Reyes, Ind.-Saipan, donates his salary to the CNMI Scholarship Office.
Of the 18 members of the House of Representatives, only five have heeded the call to help the cash-strapped government save by voluntarily having their salaries cut by 10 percent.
They are Reps. Frank S. Dela Cruz, Covenant-Saipan; Cinta M. Kaipat, Covenant-Saipan; Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan; and Absalon V. Waki, Covenant-Saipan.
Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan, has also been donating his salary to the CNMI Scholarship Office.
Of the four mayors, only Rota Mayor Joseph S. Inos has been donating his salary to the CNMI Scholarship Office.
Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela, Tinian Mayor Jose San Nicolas and Northern Islands Mayor Valentin I. Taisakan have not cut their wages.
Waki requested the list from OPA in light of the ongoing discussion to further cut the salaries of government employees, due to the drop in government revenue as a result of garment factory and other business closures.
OPA is also in the process of listing the names of government employees who are exempted from the reduction in work hours.
The public auditor said OPA plans to issue a separate report reviewing the austerity holiday exemptions granted, the justifications and rationale behind the exemptions, and the impact the exemptions have had on the government’s financial situation.
Sablan said the 10 percent pay cut has been difficult for government employees affected.
“As an example, an administrative assistant earning $20,000 per annum loses $2,000 a year under the austerity measure in order to save the CNMI government that $2,000. This computes to approximately $166 a month in reduced pay…. Consider as well…employees that may earn significantly less than $20,000 a year,” he said.
A female employee at the Legislature, who declined to be identified, told Variety that she’s earning only $13,000 a year which is now only $11,700 because of the 10 percent pay cut.
When she heard about the list of lawmakers who haven’t volunteered for a 10 percent pay cut, she shook her head and said, “Really? That’s unfair.”
The public auditor said when the austerity holiday measure was passed on Aug. 18, 2006, it was an attempt to spread the government’s financial burden across a broad range of employees in order to spare CNMI elected officials from having to implement an immediate reduction in force.
“Although several elected officials have chosen to take a voluntary reduction, the majority of the elected officials and members of the judiciary have not made the choice to share in the burden,” he said.
OPA reviewed and verified with the Department of Finance the payroll records of 34 elected officials and eight members of the judiciary for the pay periods since the enactment of P.L. 15-24 in Aug. 2006.
“Although it is true that a separation of powers exists among government branches and that the salaries of elected officials and members of the judiciary may be statutorily and constitutionally protected, it does not appear that the applicable laws prohibit the officials from voluntarily requesting and accepting a cut in pay,” said Sablan.