But Conhain said portions of the conversation were taken out of context and she had since apologized if she had offended anyone.
Bordallo has sought a meeting with the Joint Guam Program Office in the nation’s capital.
“If the reports about the comments are accurate, it shows a lack of understanding about our culture and disrespect to our people. I have requested a meeting with officials in the Joint Guam Program Office in Washington to receive a full accounting of this matter,” said the congresswoman who will be meeting with JGPO Executive Director Joe Ludovici
Cara Flores-Mays, a member of the anti-military buildup group We Are Guahan, said she overheard Conhain making remarks about a senior citizen while having lunch with Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar of the Marine Force Pacific Public Affairs Office and Lee Webber, former Pacific Daily News publisher and Marine colonel.
“Paula Conhain was making fun of an older Chamorro gentleman for his accent, his University of Guam degree and for missing teeth,” said Flores-Mays.
“I was most disgusted by the last piece of the conversation that I overheard where this group laughed at an older Chamorro man who wasn’t present. They made fun of the number of teeth he had left, the way he speaks (his accent, I’m assuming) and his university level education which they obviously didn’t respect. Although not everyone in the group participated in this part of the conversation, no one stopped it,” she added.
According to Bakkar, “Unfortunately Cara is correct about the comments made by individuals from off-island eating with me. This demonstrates how much disrespectful comments, regardless of the context in which they were made, can be used to undermine any sincere efforts to reach out and communicate to the people of Guam.”
Bakkar said she had spoken to Speaker Judi Won Pat about the incident, “and I know she feels betrayed…and that makes my heart hurt. I hope she and you all have not lost faith in me.”
Won Pat said before she met Bakkar, she heard a lot of good things about the lt. colonel and was touched when the officer attempted to speak in Chamorro.
“I felt that this woman had some kind of connection to us; she had this kindred spirit with the Chamorros and I believe that she was a Chamorro in her past life,” the speaker said.
Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares said she has spoken to Bakkar, who told her “not to worry.”
“Aisha assured me, and I did share it with the mayors, that she will protect us,” Savares said.
