THE CNMI Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the lower court that favored the government over businessman Joaquin M. Manglona’s $2.3 million lawsuit against the commonwealth for alleged nonpayment of building lease rentals.
The high tribunal, in its ruling issued on Tuesday, remanded Manglona’s lawsuit to the Superior Court for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
The high court agreed with Manglona that the lower court should not have dismissed his claims against the government for breach of contract.
“The governor is not required to sign contracts under the procurement regulations,” said the high court’s opinion penned by Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan and concurred by Associate Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Justice Pro Tempore Timothy H. Bellas.
The justices said the lower court interpreted the procurement regulations as requiring the governor to sign all contracts falling under the agreement. Following this logic, the justices said, the Superior Court held that “Manglona does not have a valid and binding contract with the CNMI government because the lease agreement and amendments thereto did not have the governor’s approval as required.”
According to the justices, “We do not think it is appropriate to read into the regulations the additional affirmative requirement that the governor include his signature on all contracts, when the regulations’ drafters clearly knew what language to use had they wished that requirement’s inclusion.”
The justices said because the governor is not required to sign a contract under the procurement regulations, the government must provide evidence beyond the absence of the governor’s signature on the lease itself to show that the agreement was not approved by the governor.
The justices said the Superior Court’s finding that there was not “even a scintilla of evidence by way of affidavit or otherwise which would even suggest that the governor approved the lease agreement or the amendment thereto” is premature.
Manglona filed the lawsuit in 1997 against the government for alleged nonpayment of lease rentals of a building previously occupied by the Department of Labor and Immigration.
