Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, and 10 others will represent the CNMI in the 30th General Assembly Conference of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures next week.
Going with her are Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan; Sen. Jovita M. Taimanao, Ind.-Rota; House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan; Reps. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan; Tony P. Sablan, R-Saipan; Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan; Legislative Bureau Director Glenna SP. Reyes, a legal counsel and two legislative assistants she declined to name.
Mrs. Reyes is a member of the APIL secretariat. Ogumoro and Senator Reyes are the two CNMI representatives on the APIL board of directors.
In an interview on Friday, Ogumoro said APIL will pay for her $150 per diem but the $300-some plane ticket is coming from her discretionary fund.
She will leave the island on June 14 while the rest of the CNMI delegates will proceed to Palau two days earlier.
She said the APIL general assembly, which will be held from June 15 to 19 at the Palau Capitol, will give the CNMI an opportunity to see and learn from their counterparts as they address the challenges Pacific island communities continue to encounter.
This year’s theme is “The Blue Continent: Communications Infrastructure and the Health of Our People.”
Mrs. Reyes said she will pay for her own trip. She did not want to speak for the lawmakers but she said the legal counsel and the two legislative assistants will get $348 each from the LB budget for their plane tickets. Their travel authorizations — through which they will get $150 per diem each — were being processed by the Department of Finance as of yesterday morning.
Mrs. Reyes said the APIL assembly is an important event that legislatures in the Pacific islands should not miss because it gives the participants the chance to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing the region.
Ogumoro said she will be traveling off-island for the first time in her current term.
In a separate interview, Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, defended his colleagues’ trip. He said he also wanted to go but he does not have the money.
He said like the Micronesian chief executives summit that the governor attends, the APIL assembly is a very important event.
The CNMI lawmakers who are going to Palau, he added, are members of APIL committees.
Palau Delegate Rebluud Kesolei, the APIL president, said the meeting will focus on gaining international support to improve communications infrastructure throughout the island communities. The conference will also highlight key health concerns in the region and the initiatives needed to tackle them, he added.
