The House minority bloc and the Senate, however, defended the LB director.
Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, said he has appointed former Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan as the new LB director effective yesterday.
Asked for comment, Pangelinan said: “There are two issues with regards to the LB director’s position — there is the legal issue and the political issue. I prefer not to comment or be involved in either issue.”
Tenorio and the rest of the House leadership have already signed Pangelinan’s letter of appointment, but none of the senators did so.
Instead, the senators obtained an independent legal opinion from attorney Mark Hanson stating that Reyes was “properly appointed to an indefinite position as LB director and continues to be the duly appointed director unless and until properly removed as provided in Article II, Section 17 of the CNMI Constitution.”
Such removal, the independent legal opinion stated, would require a majority vote in the Senate and a majority vote in the House.
House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, said he strongly objects to the speaker’s order asking Reyes to vacate her office.
Noting that it is not the first time the speaker asked the LB director to leave, Benavente reminded Tenorio that such action requires the approval of the majority of each house.
Benavente said Tenorio continues to “unilaterally inflict political pressure” on Reyes, the wife of the Senate floor leader.
Benavente said he finds the speaker’s actions “appalling and disturbing because it appears you are playing games with the director, subjecting her to undue emotional distress and mental anguish.”
But Tenorio said he can challenge Reyes’ appointment which, from the very beginning, he added, was “not right” because only two members of the Legislature signed it — then-Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, and then-Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan.
Reyes’s husband was the Senate president at the time.
Tenorio said members of both houses should have signed Reyes’ appointment.
Tenorio said he does not know on what grounds Reyes is challenging his order for her to vacate the Legislative Bureau office.
Tenorio said it only takes the majority of the House and the Senate leadership combined to appoint Pangelinan.
This means that even if none of the nine senators approved it, Pangelinan’s appointment will prevail as long as it has the nod of the entire House leadership which has 11 members, Tenoro said.
“As long as we outnumber the Senate, it’s our choice,” he added.
He said he is giving the Senate one day to review and sign Pangelinan’s appointment, which, he added, does not require her to sign a contract.
“I am making it effective today and I want to give the Senate one day to review it. I am asking them to sign it. Even if they don’t want to approve they might as well sign but indicate they disapprove it,” Tenorio said.
He, however, doesn’t believe that the Senate will sign it.
Tenorio said Reyes has been the LB director for more than two years now “so it is just fair for somebody else to get the chance.”
Tenorio earlier wanted former Rep. Daniel O. Quitugua, a Covenant Party supporter, to be the new LB director.
