DEPARTMENT of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Guerrero on Friday appeared before the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations which is investigating Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ public expenditures.
Guerrero was accompanied by legal counsel Anthony Aguon in the hearing that started at 10:30 a.m. in the House chamber. At around noon, the hearing went on a lunch break recess and resumed at 2 p.m. The panel dismissed the DPS chief before 5 p.m.
Besides the committee chair, Rep. Celina Babauta, the other members present for the hearing were Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, Reps. Edwin Propst, Donald Manglona, Richard Lizama, Tina Sablan and Vicente Camacho.
Each took turns in asking Guerrero questions.
Among these is a non-disclosure agreement or NDA that the members said “circulated” among DPS personnel at the onset of the House JGO investigation earlier this year.
The DPS commissioner said he had not seen a copy of the NDA.
Rep. Edwin Propst said the committee has 12 copies of NDAs signed on June 22 and 23, 2021.
“I can assure you those 12 NDAs do exist,” Propst told Guerrero, urging him to see them for himself. But to protect the signatories from possible “retaliation,” the committee would not show their names.
When Aguon asked for copies of the NDAs, Babauta reiterated that the signatories’ names would be redacted.
Guerrero earlier told the committee that he had called for an investigation into the alleged NDAs.
When Rep. Tina Sablan asked for an update, Aguon said his client was willing to discuss it in executive or closed door session.
Guerrero told the committee that he had asked the department’s internal affairs to look into it, and that he was still waiting for the outcome of the investigation.
Sablan asked Guerrero if he was disavowing the validity of the NDAs since he had said that he was not aware of them.
Aguon said it was an “unfair question.”
Protective security detail
Guerrero also answered questions regarding the “entourage of protective security details” for the governor and the first lady which Propst said, “according to his constituents, seems excessive and unprecedented.”
“I’ve talked to former commissioners in the past, who said no governor has had this number of PSDs,” Propst added.
Asked if the governor or his family has been threatened, Guerrero said yes, adding that an individual had hurled a rock at a window of the administration building on Capital Hill.
When Guerrero was asked how PSDs were selected for the governor and the first lady, Aguon objected.
Compeled to answer by Babauta, Guerrero said the chief of security made the determination and that Guerrero approved it.
He said neither the governor nor the first lady was involved in deciding how many PSDs should be assigned to them.
Asked about the number of PSDs that had accompanied the governor and the first lady in their off-island travels, Guerrero reiterated that it was based on the request of the chief of security.
Guerrero said he once sought the attorney general’s opinion about assigning PSDs to the governor and first lady.
He said the AG cited 1 CMC 2504 (c) which allows DPS to provide security detail to the governor, his spouse and family, even for non-official trips or events.
Political campaign, boating trips
The committee asked Guerrero about the political campaigns that the governor, along with an “entourage of PSDs,” attended in Oregon in April 2018, and in Guam in June 2018.
Guerrero said he doesn’t recall such activities, and that he didn’t attend the Guam political rally with the governor.
As for DPS Boating Safety vessels, he said they were sent to Guam for maintenance.
About the DPS boats assigned to transport or “shadow” the governor, Guerrero said the salaries of PSDs and Boating Safety personnel as well as the fuel cost were funded by his department’s local budget.
If there was a shortfall, he said he would bring the matter to the Department of Finance.
Asked by Rep. Vicente Camacho if he was aware that Boating Safety personnel testified that they “shadowed” the governor’s brothers in their fishing expeditions, Guerrero said if the governor was aboard his brothers’ fishing boats, DPS would shadow those vessels.
As for the federal grant programs involving Boating Safety, Guerrero said there has not been an issue with the grantor regarding the governor’s use of boats for official functions.
Regarding the boating trips to Pagan for the “Deer Meat for Dinner” YouTube show, he said it was a Marianas Visitors Authority event.
To be continued
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Guerrero, left, and legal counsel Anthony Aguon listen to a question during a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations Friday in the House chamber.
