GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres has nominated former Northern Marianas College Rota Director Martin Mendiola to fill the seat of former Sen. Diego Songao on the Commonwealth Casino Commission.
Songao resigned in September 2021 due to health reasons.
In his letter to Mendiola on April 28, 2022, the governor said he was pleased to nominate him to represent Rota on the commission.
“I am confident in your leadership and ability to carry out the mandates of the board in governing and managing the commission,” the governor told Mendiola.
In his letter to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider, the governor requests the Senate’s “expeditious support and favorable action on this nomination.”
During last month’s meeting, Commonwealth Casino Commissioner Ramon M. Dela Cruz said, “We don’t know how far we can go without the juice necessary to keep us alive.”
Commission Chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero said he had told the governor that the commission didn’t have funding for another commissioner.
The commission’s main source of funding is the annual $3 million regulatory fee that the lone casino licensee, Imperial Pacific International, can no longer afford to pay.
