DURING the virtual gubernatorial forum hosted recently by Marianas Agupa radio talk show, Independent gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Democratic hopeful Tina Sablan were asked why they deserve to be elected as the next CNMI governor.
Sablan, the first to answer, said, “I struggled a bit with this question because I wouldn’t describe my view of the governor’s position as being something that I deserve in the sense that I feel like I’m entitled to it, because being a governor shouldn’t be like being a king or a queen. We don’t have royalty here, right? And I’ve always seen elected office as being a position of public service, and leadership. To me, that means putting our community first and considering the greater good, the well-being of everybody, especially our children and especially our future generation, and all of our decision-making.”
She said it’s “from this perspective of public office that I am confident that [my running mate Rep.] Leila [Staffler] and I are more than qualified and prepared to lead the Commonwealth as governor and lieutenant governor. We are the team that people know they can trust, and we will bring to the executive branch, our values and our experience and public service, advocating for good governance, advocating for better education and training opportunities for our people, for improvements in our healthcare system and our infrastructure, and for the wise stewardship of our public resources.”
Sablan added, “And we will lead by example. We will respect and uphold the laws of the Commonwealth, and there will be no more sweetheart deals, no more questionable sole source contracts and land transactions, and this toxic culture of political intimidation will end with the Sablan-Staffer administration. When we talk about honesty and government, we’re talking about transparency, and let’s be real…there is no transparency right now about how our public funds are being spent. The fact that we in the Legislature have to resort to a subpoena just to get financial reports and data that we’ve been seeking for months from this administration just shows how much we the people are being kept in the dark.”
She said in a Sablan-Staffler administration, “we will publish these reports online, because it’s your money, and you…have the right to know how it’s being spent. What Leila and I are offering the people of the Commonwealth is a chance for real change for good governance. We are offering leadership that they can trust and a vision for the Marianas that is bright and hopeful and achievable.”
Sablan said she has “always believed that the Marianas could be among the best places in the world to live and to work and to visit. We have the resources, tremendous resources. We have incredible talent in our people. What has been missing, especially in this current administration, and what Leila and I are committed to providing is leadership, good governance, fairness and honesty…putting our people first and lifting everyone up. We are running because we love these islands, we love our people, and we know that we can lead our Commonwealth to the future that we can all be proud of.”
Lt. Governor Palacios, for his part, said he too struggled with the question of why he deserves to be the next CNMI governor.
“I’ve never really thought of it that way. I have always served in the public sector based on the merits of my performance, so let me put it this way, [my running mate Saipan] Mayor [David] Apatang and I have served the Commonwealth for over 60 years together, so we have experience from the get go, being in the trenches. The experience that we have, both of us, prepared us for the ups and downs, the trials, the tribulations, the challenges that comes with public service.”
He added, “Where are we today? Yes, I agree. We’re not in the best situation, whether it’s ethical, moral, fairness, and justice. We will move this Commonwealth forward, not just fiscally, but infrastructurally. Our people are suffering from the energy costs today. We need to stop delaying projects that would benefit people like alternative energy. My experience with infrastructure development and management certainly will help. Do I deserve [to be governor] because of that? I’m not going to say that. I’ll let the people decide that. We do have a wealth of experience to offer our people, but we’re not going to say we deserve it. We’ll let our people make that determination.”
“At this point in time,” he said, “here I am running for governor, opposing the governor. We made that decision. Dave and I made this decision to run after months of looking at things, looking at options whether to just walk away from all this. But we decided to make it our goal and give it our best and let our people decide on that. We both come from humble beginnings and we’re still in a humble area of our lives. My life has been very rewarding public service. I’m blessed with that.”
Palacios said “there needs to be fairness in our government and how we do things, whether it’s hiring, whether it’s contracts. Seven or eight of my supporters got terminated…because of their political affiliation with me. That’s unconstitutional. Is it just? Is it moral? It certainly is not constitutional and is not legal, and that’s why we have a case in the federal court today.”
Palacios said he “will not terminate an individual without cause. We’ve had to make really unpopular decisions prior to the pandemic, and that is to cut back on work hours, and then furlough people. Personally, I got very frustrated when we were furloughing people because we were furloughing people based on what the department heads gave us, not because our real needs in the department or whether there were good performing individuals. We had good performing individuals that were furloughed, and we left in some that people that shouldn’t even be there to begin with. But, you know, that’s going to be the challenge that we’re going to face. We need to bring back the merit system.”
Palacios said it’s “all about fairness and the rule of law, really, and that’s driving Dave and I to give…the people the opportunity to see whether they will give us that privilege to serve them.”
Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, whose running mate is Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan, was unable to participate in the virtual forum.
Arnold Palacios
Tina Sablan
