Jesus Basa Pangelinan, the House speaker for the day, said their time is coming to an end so all they worry about is the future of their children and their grandchildren.
Everybody, he said, is aware that the economy is very sick. If the CNMI were a person, it would be in the intensive care unit right now, he added.
Pangelinan, who sat beside Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, asked lawmakers to do what is necessary.
“Please consider any kind of options to improve the economy. If what it takes is a casino, then go ahead and do it,” Pangelinan said.
Eddie Guiao, the manamko’ counterpart of Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, said casino investors are willing to pay for landleases in advance.
He said these must be the same investors who came here years ago but backed out.
But now they are coming back and they seem to be more interested this time, Guiao said.
He said a Saipan casino offers an opportunity that may allow the CNMI economy to finally recover from its slump.
He asked the lawmakers to “please make the right decision.”
Pangelinan and Guiao were among the six senior citizens who joined the House session as part of the CNMI’s observance of Older Americans Month.
Pacita Angeles sat with House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan; Mel Olopai was with Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan; Jacoba Asuncion, Rep. Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan; and Sitae Terry, Rep. Teresita A. Santos, Ind.-Rota.
Palacios in an interview after the session thanked the manamko’ for joining them.
The former Aging Office director said senior citizens are truly concerned about the future.
Rep. Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, said he was also surprised about the manamko’ expressing their support for the Saipan casino measure.
There are two casino proposals being prepared again in the House, he said. His committee, Ways and Means, is working on these measures.
However, he added, some members also believe that the Senate might kill the bill again, “so there may be no point doing it.”
The Saipan casino proposal that Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, introduced recently is a local bill and is entirely different, Basa said.
The House legal counsel said it was “okay” to introduce it in the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, Basa added.
