Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, asked Tenorio to allow Reyes, the wife of Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, to complete her term of office in accordance with her employment contract.
Mrs. Reyes insists she is still employed with the bureau through September of this year, subject to an automatic renewal.
“I disagree with your position in the matter of selecting a new director of the Legislative Bureau to replace Mrs. Glenna S.P. Reyes. I believe this matter should be expeditiously decided for the sake of harmonious operations of the Legislature and the Legislative Bureau,” wrote Torres to Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan.
Torres’s letter came in the wake of the speaker’s announcement that he will file a certified question in the CNMI Supreme Court to determine if the leadership of every new Legislature can appoint a new LB director.
As far as the speaker is concerned, the issue of whether Mrs. Reyes is illegally occupying her position is far from resolved.
He said he stands by his position that she lost her job as early as Jan. 11, 2010 when her original contract expired because the renewal contract was signed only by then-Speaker Arnold I. Palacios and then-Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan and not by the joint leadership of both houses of the Legislature.
He cited Section 17, Article II of the CNMI Constitution: “The bureau shall be headed by a director to be appointed by the joint leadership of the Legislature consisting of the presiding officers, vice presiding officers, floor leaders and the chairmen of the standing committees.”
The speaker ordered Mrs. Reyes to vacate her office last January.
But she refused, saying the speaker’s order needed the concurrence of the Senate.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, also believes Mrs. Reyes should remain LB director.
