n his most recent State of the Judiciary Address, Chief Justice Miguel Demapan stated that government corruption is “too prevalent” and that it hinders the CNMI’s ability to provide basic services, from public utilities to public education.
I used to think corruption was the biggest problem plaguing the CNMI. I think I might have been wrong. You see, there seems to be a greater underlying problem here in the CNMI, something that has yet to be addressed in forums, debates, or letters to the editor. It is a condition known as short-term-memory, or STM. People who are affected by STM retain information in their memory banks for only a short period of time, and then it is gone. STM seems to be in its most infectious stage right before elections, and it appears to mostly affect those given political jobs, sole-source contracts, or special political favors.
While studies of STM in the CNMI are still in their formative stages, I have been doing my own research on the condition. Before Governor Fitial decides to declare a state of emergency on STM, I would like to share, free of charge, some of my findings on its prevalence here in our community. Here are three prime examples of STM in action:
• Charm and charisma and STM. Not too long ago, Governor Fitial was widely unpopular with our Filipino community when an entourage of U.S. officials, including U.S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen, visited the CNMI Guma Hustisia to hear testimonials for and against federalization. Outside the CNMI’s courthouse, Governor Fitial was alleged to have told a group of demonstrators holding banners and signs to go home. Inside the courtroom, Governor Fitial told Christensen and her colleagues to ignore the demonstrators because they were all “illegals who needed to be deported.” How unpopular was this comment with the Filipino community? At a concert held at American Memorial Park shortly thereafter, Governor Fitial was booed by thousands of Filipinos when his name was announced. Filipinos were also upset because Governor Fitial never supported or even entertained Rep. Tina Sablan’s bill, which was aimed at improving the status of long-term guest workers, most especially those with American children. While Governor Fitial has done nothing to improve long-term guest worker status and wants to keep the status quo of keeping guest workers in the CNMI for decades with no hope of ever becoming naturalized American citizens, there are groups of Filipinos supporting the re-election efforts of Fitial. One of my kababayans told me that he is supporting Fitial because he met him at a party and he shook his hand and was “very charming and funny.” What was most disconcerting to me was that a year earlier, my kababayan wanted Fitial impeached.
• STM thrives in political ecosystems. A friend of mine was once a proud Republican who would tell me all the reasons why Governor Fitial was one of the worst governors to ever serve the CNMI. He explained how he came to that conclusion and also talked about how daily power outages were killing his business and how Fitial neglected small businesses like his and only entertained corporate giants. He spoke about how shameful it was for people to sacrifice integrity for political jobs. Sadly, he eventually closed his business. A few months ago, I saw him at a roadside waving alongside Governor Fitial. I couldn’t believe my eyes! How did he go from a Fitial foe to a Fitial fan? I was later informed that he had been given a job under the Fitial administration. There are several cases just like this, and this pattern shows a connection between political positions and STM. However, there is hope for him and several others: a popular prognosis for this condition is that his memory will be fully restored should Fitial fail to get re-elected.
• Roadmap to STM. For evidence that STM is thriving here in the CNMI, we need look no further than Governor Fitial’s “Roadmap to Better Times” platform from four years ago. While I could write volumes on how Governor Fitial failed to follow his “roadmap” and on how he needs a new navigational system as well as a more reliable map, all we really have to do is open our eyes and look around us to see just how bad things are today. Throughout his campaign, Governor Fitial promised to deliver better times to our people. He promised economic bliss. He promised that investors would come running as soon as he became governor, but apparently all the investors ran right past us to our neighbor island of Guam, which just so happens to be federalized! (Lucky we didn’t get trampled.) He promised fairness and transparency. He promised us the heavens when elected, but today it seems we are somewhere between purgatory and hell. We recently experienced a series of numerous power outages, and while Fitial blames old engines, he forgets to mention one of the main culprits of our power woes: DCM. DCM was given a sole-source emergency contract to repair and rehabilitate CUC’s engines very early in the Fitial administration. DCM failed, and to this day, the AG’s Office has not pursued the penalty clause for DCM’s breach of contract. Had DCM completed their scope of work, Aggreko would have never been needed, and we could have avoided the agonizing months of daily power outages, and we could have channeled millions of dollars spent on Aggreko and a DCM-replacement on something else, like maybe paying the broken CNMI Retirement Fund. After spending millions of dollars in handing out sole-source contracts and bypassing procurement protocol; after lying to the people that local funds would not be used in his federalization lawsuit and then making it worse by never disclosing exactly how much was being spent and what account the money was coming from; after removing local law enforcement from working with DEA even though crystal meth or “ice” is reaching epidemic proportions here and is destroying families, most especially our youth; after humiliating demonstrators in front of U.S. visiting officials; after decimating CHC through mismanagement to the point where our local hospital has no nephrologist, no pediatrician, no lab director, doctors suddenly leaving, only two remaining ER doctors out of an original eight, and a yet-to-be-opened dialysis center that ballooned from an original $5 million to $22 million; after failing DPS officers by bypassing protocol and failing to promote police officers fairly, which led to more than 20 DPS officers filing a lawsuit; after dishing out public lands to shady investors for pennies on the dollar, only to later find out that they have yet to “show us the money” and start on their plans of building their proposed resorts; after failing to spend CIP money but still having the audacity to ask the U.S. for more federal aid; after hundreds of families left our islands during the Fitial administration to seek greener pastures in the U.S. mainland; after circumventing CNMI law by failing to appoint an Attorney General for more than a year; after failing to go after more than $6 million reported by OPA in misused and abused funds; and after all our pain, suffering, hardships, and the utter failure to deliver the promises of better times, there are still Fitial supporters who apparently forgot all of this and are now telling the general public to just “Let it Be.” Let it be? Really? I seriously doubt the average person could take all of this in and still support Governor Fitial. He was given four years to improve our lives, so, are we really better off today than we were four years ago? Undoubtedly, the few doctors left at CHC would arrive at a diagnosis for the affliction: STM!
Now that we are more aware of the symptoms of STM, what can we do to safeguard ourselves against it? While we await clinical trials and the testing of vaccines for STM, there are some ways to try to prevent it from spreading. Studies have shown that those who continue to keep themselves informed and educated on the issues affecting the CNMI have developed anti-bodies and a resistance to STM. There are rumors going around that some rabble rousers are using their DNA to produce the vaccine.
So while we await the cure, let us all keep a close eye on STM and do daily checks on our family members to make sure they don’t have it. If they show any symptoms of STM, take them immediately to CHC. But bring a book. You may have to wait six to eight hours before you are able to see a doctor.
ED PROPST
Dandan, Saipan
