By Emmanuel T. Erediano
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
EPIPHANIO Cabrera, who was reinstated Friday by Gov. David M. Apatang as administrator of the Office of Grants Management–State Clearinghouse, said he felt relieved and hoped to continue the work he has been doing.
“I love my job, and we at OGM-SC will continue to bring federal money to the Commonwealth each year,” said Cabrera, whose $100,000 annual salary is federally funded.
On Feb. 19, 2026, Lt. Gov. Dennis Mendiola, as acting governor, fired Cabrera “immediately,” saying that some cabinet members were taking advantage of Apatang’s kindness.
Apatang, who returned from Washington, D.C., where he attended official meetings, including the Covenant Section 902 consultations, disagreed.
He said he had instructed Cabrera to be “very strict” in awarding grant funds and to ensure compliance with federal law — “don’t be a Santa Claus,” the governor added.
Cabrera declined to speculate on Mendiola’s motive for firing him but told reporters Friday that OGM-SC currently manages about $70 million in federal grants. Portions of those funds, he said, have been allocated to ongoing projects he was working on when Mendiola terminated him.
Apatang told reporters Friday that Cabrera “is a very important individual,” having been with OGM-SC since its inception. He said the administrator possesses institutional knowledge in pursuing federal grants and that he did not believe anyone else could handle grant management if Cabrera were not there.
“I want to send him back immediately because we have a lot of grants that we have to catch up on,” the governor said, adding that the CNMI cannot afford to miss deadlines in submitting reports to federal grantors.
Excepted service
In a memorandum issued Friday, Apatang said Cabrera, an excepted service employee, was terminated without cause. He cited Section XI.B of the Conditions of Employment for excepted service employees, which requires 60 days’ advance notice for termination without cause.
Apatang said the termination without advance notice was therefore without effect.
The governor also stated in the memorandum that the intervening period from the date of the termination letter to Feb. 27, 2026, will be treated as administrative leave with pay, and that any official actions taken by grant specialist Bruce Camacho as acting administrator will be given full force and effect.
At the time he was fired, Cabrera said he was on Tinian monitoring geotechnical work for the Tachogna Beach improvement project.
Without the geotechnical work, he said, the CNMI cannot proceed with construction. The same requirement applies to the Tinian Veterans Cemetery project, for which OGM-SC is trying to meet a July deadline. Failure to meet the deadline, he said, would risk the $6.5 million grant for the cemetery’s construction.
For Rota, he said, the grant amount for the same project is $3.4 million.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve the public. I am ready to go back to work. Even while I was fired, I continued working,” Cabrera said. “We just continued doing the work no matter what. We have many pressing needs in the government, and there are many projects we are trying to fulfill. We’re going to keep tracking them.”
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
