Manny Castro
ON Friday, April 5, 2024, surrounded by his children, family, friends, and colleagues, House Education Chairman Manny Gregory Tenorio Castro announced his candidacy for Saipan Senate.
In his announcement speech Rep. Castro talked about his childhood growing up in Fina Sisu and being raised by his parents, grandparents, and guided by numerous uncles and aunts, Rep. Castro mentioned his paternal grandma Rosa Atalig Mundo Castro “Nan Chai” being a die-hard Democrat and his Maternal Grandpa Manuel Agulto Tenorio “Brown” a longtime Republican lawmaker and founding GOP member. The dynamics of his Tenorio and Castro family values allowed him to look at issues from different angles and for ways to synergize efforts and ensure meaningful outcomes. He mentioned that his auntie, Sister Remedio Palacios Castro “Nan Sistet,” played a significant role in his up brining, Nan Sistet always told him “i edukasion mas guguan, sa ti siña in bendi, ti siña ma saki, ya tiun falingo.” (Education is worth more than anything; knowing that one’s education cannot be stolen or even sold.)
Rep. Castro explained that after completing the 8th grade at Hopwood junior high school, he moved to Oregon and lived with his Auntie Dianne Tenorio Reyes. Having to leave his immediate family and friends was a difficult decision, but he knew that for every choice there is a price and a reward, either immediate or long term. He chose long term and took the opportunity to attend school in Oregon.
Rep. Castro thanked the CNMI government for investing in his bachelors and master’s in business administration via CNMI and SHEFA scholarships. Immediately after completing college in 2008, he returned home, and began his first year of public service as the enrollment manager of Northern Marianas College, then served as outreach counselor, financial aid counselor, director of admissions/registrar, and his last post was director of enrollment services.
The following are excerpts from Rep. Castro’s announcement:
• Responsive and Organized Government. As our founders did, I believe that a legitimate government operates only by the consent of the governed and is more efficient and less corrupt when it is limited in its size and scope. Decentralized authority and the elimination of unnecessary regulations and bureaucracy help ensure the government serves the people and not the other way around.
• Compassionate Public Service. Frequently, organizations have great people but do not manage or support them correctly. People are subdued by systems and processes that restrict experimentation, limit learning, hinder the transfer of knowledge, fail to motivate, and suppress innovation. As a result, organizations fail to capitalize on the talent they have and in the long run perform poorly. We need departments and agencies that are designed and managed — from the boardroom to the frontline — in ways that optimize talent attraction, retention, and performance. We need new legislation that involves having the right structures, systems, processes, and practices.
• Support CNMI Families. “As a legislator, I will focus efforts on promoting policies that create jobs, grow paychecks, and improve the economic security of CNMI families. That means overhauling regulations to encourage growth and investment, making business fair and opening markets for goods and services from the CNMI, promoting innovation in every sector from hospitality technology to production agriculture. I will fight against special interest loopholes and for a system where politicians and big corporations must play by the same rules as everyday small businesses and residents.”
• Real Public Safety. The criminal justice system is broken and in need of major changes. Laws must be amended to help prevent kids who get into trouble from slipping into a lifetime of crime and help adults who commit non-violent crimes become more self-reliant and less likely to commit future crimes.
To safeguard our community, significant investment must be made toward advanced training, forensics facilities, technology and equipment, and an increase in compensation for law enforcement officers. These steps would reduce the cost to taxpayers of our criminal justice system and increase public safety.
• Elevate Education. Education can prevent the transmission of poverty between generations. Education also influences health, nutrition, economic development, and environmental protection. Schools should never be on the chopping block, even when budgets are tight. Now is the time to strengthen our education system, expanding and enhancing programs to all, K-12, Adult Education, Continuing Education, so residents are prepared for jobs in a post-Covid economy.
• Create a Healthier CNMI. “I am passionate about creating healthier communities. I believe in innovative legislation that helps individuals and organizations manage their healthcare and health-related needs effectively, efficiently, and affordably.”
Rep. Castro holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration and has over 12 years of work experience in post-secondary education, a majority of which has been at Northern Marianas College, serving as the head of enrollment services. He was elected and sworn into Office in 2022 as a representative for Precinct 2. Currently, he serves on the Legislative Advisory Committee for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. He is the chairman of the House Committee on Education, Northern Marianas Legislature, is both a Blue Planet Alliance and Pacific Century Fellow. Rep. Castro is father to two beautiful kids Mackenzie Rose and Micah Jones Castro.
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang came to support Rep. Castro’s intent to run for the Saipan Senate seat. House Speaker Rep. Edmund S. Villagomez, Vice Speaker Rep. Joel Camacho, House Floor Leader Rep. Edwin Propst, Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Chairman John Paul Sablan, a majority of house members and Sen. Celina Babauta were all in attendance.
“Rep. Manny is an individual with a lot of talent, young, very enthusiastic, passionate about his commitment to serving the people and it shows in his term as a congressman, with that you can see and individual with the leadership acumen and so tonight we are here to support Manny Gregory Tenorio Castro for Senate,” the governor said.
Many people who attended the event signed a petition to elect Castro, who has already submitted his letter of intent to run for Saipan Senate under the NMI Democratic Party.
“Nowadays less of our people can afford their own home, the cost of healthcare, and in many cases the ability to put food on the table. As the party favors a mixed economy, social security, universal health care, public education, and subsidized housing its values align with mine. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet, and the only way to get out of this hole that we inherited is to cross divisional lines and synergize efforts,” Rep. Castro stated.
