On Jan. 21, Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio told Reyes, the wife of Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, to vacate her office because her contract as LB director had expired.
Subsequently, Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, appointed former Rep. Daniel O. Quitugua, also a member of the ruling party, as the new LB director subject to the concurrence of the Senate.
Tenorio said he expects the Senate to sit on Quitugua’s appointment because it favors Mrs. Reyes.
Quitugua’s appointment paper remains in the Senate.
Without the Senate’s approval, the speaker’s notice to Mrs. Reyes to vacate her office has no legal merit because the CNMI Constitution says it must be sanctioned by the joint leadership of the Legislature.
Senate President Paul Manglona, Ind.-Rota, said Mrs. Reyes still has a valid contract through Sept. 30, 2010 because then-Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, and then-Senate Legislative Secretary Maria T. Pangelinan, renewed her contract.
“This contract clearly supersedes all previous employment contracts and was reviewed and signed by [a] legal counsel. The contract is effective through Sept. 30, 2010,” Manglona told Tenorio.
“Pending the resolution of whether or not the current director’s employment contract is valid and/or binding, the Legislature’s hands are tied as far as the directorship is concerned. It will be up to the courts to determine the validity of the existing contract,” the Senate president added.
Tenorio believes that Mrs. Reyes’ original contract was invalid because it was not signed by the presiding officers, the floor leaders and the chairmen of the standing committees.
There were only two signatories on Mrs. Reyes’ original contract, which also has a clause for automatic renewal, through Sept. 30, 2011.
Mrs. Reyes is now paid over $58,000 a year after a contract revision.
