By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

GUAM will remember the late former Sen. Paul J. Bordallo for promoting the rights of indigenous people while accepting the changes introduced to the island by a diverse world, according to his son Oliver Bordallo.
“My father was very pleased and proud to see that the local people were able to survive through very challenging times,” Oliver Bordallo said.
“He lived in a time when the indigenous people of Guam went through a very difficult transition — from a peaceful tropical island into a modern metropolitan community,” he added.
Oliver Bordallo said his father recognized that “Guam’s prosperity was the result of the contribution of many new residents who came to Guam and decided to make it their home.”
Paul Bordallo, younger brother of the ill-fated Democratic Gov. Ricardo Bordallo, passed away Saturday. He was 76.
He succumbed to a lung disease that he suffered from for several years and which became acute in October last year, Oliver Bordallo said.
In a press statement, the Bordallo family said the former senator “passed away peacefully at home in the presence of his wife and children. We will miss him and his passionate love for the island and its people.”
“The Paul J. Bordallo family wishes to express our sincere gratitude for the many prayers and intentions that have been made on behalf of our father,” the statement said.
Paul Bordallo is survived by his wife, Arlene Perez Bordallo, seven children, Penelope Hofschneider, Oliver, Renata, Johathan, Paul Jerome, Alethea and Rosa Bordallo; 11 grandchildren; and one great grandchild.
“Paul Bordallo was an extraordinary leader in our community who set a fine example of public service and private enterprise. His achievements and contributions touched so many lives. He will be dearly missed,” said Gov. Felix P. Camacho.
Camacho’s father, former Gov. Carlos Camacho, was sued by Paul Bordallo in 1973 over the government of Guam’s proposed land exchange agreement with the Navy that would have turned Sella Bay into an ammunition wharf.
Howard Trapp, who represented Paul Bordallo in the case, said “saving Sella Bay for generations to come” was one of the former senator’s “most enduring legacies.”
In a March 9, 1973 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court stopped the proposed land transfer, which the former governor would have used as a pledge for Guam’s eligibility for a federal grant for airport facilities.
Paul Bordallo, who served in the 11th and 12th Legislatures, was author of the Chamorro Land Trust Act, and co-sponsor of former Sen. Frank Lujan’s bill that created the first Political Status Commission.
Paul Bordallo earned a Master of Arts degree in Business Administration from Harvard University in 1954 and went to work for the Guam Savings and Loan Association, headed by Joseph Flores. He was drafted into the Army in 1956 and served for two years. In 1959, he started his own business, the Family Finance Co.
In 1961, he was appointed to the board of the Guam Memorial Hospital and served for nine years. He resigned from the board in 1970 and ran successfully for a seat in the Legislature.
He was a member of the commission on self-determination from 1983 to 1987 and was a part of the drafting of the commonwealth act.
“My father was a very honest and hardworking man who was always very concerned about the welfare and the future of the Chamorro people,” Oliver Bordallo said.
“He had many friends from all over the world and he was always proud of the fact that while Guam has modernized, it never lost its culture and its tradition of welcoming all good people who wished to prosper in Guam,” Oliver Bordallo added.
Daily Rosaries will be held at the Hagatna Cathedral after the 6 p.m. Mass. A state funeral is scheduled at the Legislature Building on May 23, which will be followed by a public funeral on M ay 24.