Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, stayed on Guam.
Also traveling with them were Legislative Bureau Director Glenna SP. Reyes, House legal counsel Joe Taijeron, legislative assistants BJ Attao and Anthony Aguon.
Sablan said the money each of them spent for plane ticket and per diem were not wasted because a lot of things that happened during the 30th Association of Pacific Island Legislatures general assembly are worth the trip that will benefit the CNMI.
The presentations allowed participants to see the bigger picture of health care and the environmental situation in the Pacific islands which will guide them in making laws, Sablan said.
The Pacific Island Health Officers Association, for example, discussed the increasing health care cost in the region, he added.
Sablan said they found out that the CNMI is not alone in dealing with the increasing health care cost. All jurisdictions, including Hawaii and Guam, have the same situation, he added.
The APIL gathering, he added, also gave them the chance to see how jurisdictions can help each other address their problems.
“As a legislator this was my opportunity to participate in the discussions and establish contact with legislators from other islands,” he said.
For his part, Villagomez, said the discussions on behavioral health, tobacco and alcohol use and their contribution to domestic violence and sexual abuse will help him refine the bills he has introduced regarding these issues.
“So it was perfect and we were able to communicate our own experiences here to the lawmakers of other jurisdictions in the region,” Villagomez said.
“I made it my purpose to go because for me, this is a very important time to get together and share the issues,” he added.
Benavente said the APIL meeting was a “worthwhile” trip for lawmakers.
The meeting, he added, was very successful and resulted in the passage of 20 resolutions, five of which were introduced by CNMI lawmakers.
He said the APIL meeting in Palau was the cheapest for CNMI lawmakers to attend compared to previous meetings. It was worth it considering what they were able to accomplish from the trip, he added.
But retired teacher Ambrose Bennett, who earlier protested the delay in the release of scholarship checks, said he has only one question to the lawmakers: “Where’s the beef?”
He added, “If they’re saying they have learned a lot, they need to tell us so we will learn from them, too.”
