The former senator at the same time said there was a rumor that he had already pulled out of the race. “Not true,” he said.
The Senate has yet to come out with a report on the homestead controversy involving his brother, Raynaldo M. Cing and Department of Public Lands Secretary John Del Rosario.
But the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs told the former senator that “it would seem unwise for you to hinge your political endeavors on any action from the Legislature.”
The committee’s chairman, Senate Floor Leader Jude U. Hofschneider, R-Tinian, said the committee has taken no position on the homestead controversy and remains neutral.
“I encourage you to restart you campaign if you feel it is in the best interest of the people of Tinian and the CNMI,” Hofschneider told former Senator Cing.
Cing said he will be on Saipan this weekend to resume his campaign.
He apologized to his supporters for his decision to suspend his campaign.
He said he considers the controversy involving his brother as a serious matter, adding that he cannot move ahead until it is “cleared.”
Cing said if he wins and the Senate determines that there was wrongdoing on the part of his brother, “then I will step down.”
It was earlier disclosed to the Senate that Del Rosario issued a quit claim deed for a 1.5-hectare agricultural homestead lot to former Labor and Immigration Secretary Raynaldo M. Cing, who is Del Rosario’s brother-in-law.
“We already have enough problems with our economy so let us not compound them with a bad reputation,” former Senator Cing said, adding that he is challenging the other candidates to adhere to high moral and ethical standards.
He believes that the Democrats will win more seats in the U.S. Congress and the presidency in next month’s federal elections.
The CNMI will not be “left out,” he said, if it elects a Democrat as its congressional delegate.
