“COMING from my heart, my modest request to this committee is to unanimously reject my confirmation.”
Hearing this statement was enough for the spectators and lawmakers at the Senate chamber yesterday to either feel surprised or stupefied or both. It was probably the first time that they heard a Cabinet appointee ask them to reject his nomination.
But acting Labor and Immigration Secretary Jack A. Tenorio said he really meant it.
“Requests for favors, lawsuits, bribes, criticism, complaints, bickering, confrontation with angry clients, astronomic legal complexities, misbehaviors, consequences of wrong decisions, friends’ requests that do not comply with principles—the problems at DOLI are no longer new,” he said. “Unfortunately, there is something new and that is me—I am no expert in legal issues nor have the legal background. My profession is entomology. So somebody may ask what is this creature doing in a (department) that deals with psychological, sociological and political issues?”
He added, “In all honesty, I feel that I am being compromised—my honesty, my integrity in pursuing and executing (my job at) DOLI because my confirmation is also compromised.”
Supporters
Several people, however, supported Tenorio’s appointment.
There were several letters of support from different people and different agencies, including DOLI.
They said Tenorio’s untarnished integrity would probably make him “the best DOLI chief.”
They all believed that DOLI should be “overhauled” and that there was no other better man for the job than Tenorio.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta also urged the senators to confirm Tenorio’s nomination.
“What he said was highly unusual and unprecedented,” the governor said. “Dr. Jack may not have the qualifications but he has integrity, and one of the most important issues facing the CNMI, the federal government and the Office of the Washington Representative is the issue of labor and immigration. And Dr. Jack is going to help me save local control of immigration with his prudence, honesty and integrity,” Babauta told the senators.
The governor described Tenorio as a “shy guy who wants no controversy and just wants to get the job done.”
Babauta also enumerated Tenorio’s accomplishments in DOLI for the past two months—the tracking of aliens from arrival to departure, a system for securing authorizations to board, his successful participation in a task force that aims to improve facilities and infrastructure following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, his close coordination with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services for the full implementation of the asylum treaty in the CNMI, the elimination of backlog in the application of entry permits, among others.
“Do not accept (Tenorio’s) request for rejection,” the governor said. He then jokingly told the acting DOLI secretary: “This is nothing personal Dr. Jack.”
Despite his reluctance, it looks like Tenorio will get the Senate’s nod.
In separate interviews, Senate President Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, Senate Minority Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, and Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero, American Reform-Saipan, were convinced that DOLI needs someone who has the kind of integrity that the acting department chief has.
Even Sen. Ricardo S. Atalig, R-Rota, who earlier said he might oppose Tenorio’s confirmation, changed his mind and realized that the acting DOLI chief would be more of an asset than a liability.
Senate Vice President David M. Cing, D-Tinian, also indicated that he will vote for Tenorio’s confirmation.
“I felt that he was talking directly from his heart. I felt that a caring and honest person who has a sense of responsibility was the one that we have seen and heard this morning,” he said.
