FOR several days now, the entire community of the CNMI was captivated by what happened to Mr. Joe C. Mafnas, Director of Customs, regarding the way his employment was handled by the Torres-Palacios administration.
If in fact that was the case, I say no employee, be it in government or private, should be subjected to any kind of oppressive treatment at the workplace whatsoever. Creating a hostile work environment as a retaliatory action against someone who does not follow political obedience, is an infringement to the employee’s right to choose freely his political leader.
Any attempt by a supervisor to coerce or influence employee’s political choice either by threat or force, is in direct violation of a federal law the Hatch Act, of which government employees are covered. Mr. Joe C. Mafnas is a vested employee, a decent man and deserve to be treated ethically.
Reciprocally, however, while I empathized with Mr. Joe C. Mafnas’s employment predicament, and no one should be put through such despicable treatment. I find it ironic though, that Mr. Joe C. Mafnas becomes victim of his own choice. He has the choice to resign from his employment when his ethical belief is not in comport with his employer’s management practices, especially when he already knew that his superior has deep seated unsavory conduct.
Mr. Joe C. Mafnas knew that the leaderships and administration he was serving under, were less than trustworthy and under sever cloud of ethical impairment. He knew two years ago that Governor Torres was issued subpoenas by the FBI for probable cause. He knew that Governor Torres was impeached by 2/3 of the members of the House of Representatives. He knew that the Attorney General has filed criminal complaint against Governor Torres and is now calendared before the Superior Court for litigation. He knew that the instruction Governor Torres directed him to do (give his brother the opportunity to purchase equipment for the division) was inappropriate and perhaps illegal yet, he never says a word.
The public was not aware of the Governor’s inappropriate instruction or unlawful intent, only when his position was in jeopardy did, he bother to reveal the information to the public. Mr. Joe C. Mafnas was complicit to such a cunning plan designed to turn the opportunity to the Governor’s own personal advantage. His silence can be reasonably construed as aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime. He only exposed the Governor’s instruction when his self-interest was at stake.
Governor Torres and Lt. Governor Palacios are the hiring authorities of this Republican administration. As distrustful and untrusting Ralph Torres’ administration is, he is the Governor and have the constitutional power to appoint individuals to serve in their administration. Individuals appointed by either Governor Torres or Lt. Governor Palacios to work in their administration, are serving under their exclusive pleasure.
Non civil service and principal employees have unobligated free will choice to either be ethically loyal to their employment and appointing authority or disassociate from such employment when they find themselves not in agreement with the Governor’s or Lt. Governor’s ethical, professional, or moral conduct. I am not defending the decision of the appointing authority; I am just pointing that no matter how egregious the action was, they have the constitutional discretionary power to exercise it.
Notwithstanding violation of employee’s personal rights, Mr. Jose C. Mafnas should know or should have known that when he decided to accept the appointment as director in the Torres-Palacios Republican administration, political consideration was a major part of the equation. People appointed by the Governor and serving in various positions in government are political instrument.
Government employees working in this Republican administration are literally and figuratively disposable. The popular English idiomatic proverb “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” applies to Mr. Joe Mafnas’ situation. In other words, Joe cannot have it both ways.
Quite frankly, for the past 36 years the Republican leaders have used this powerful constitutional authority, on government workers, who were invariably imbued with a sense of political indebtedness to the appointing authority. Thirty-six years of mental conditioning (fear of losing a job) is an immensely powerful emotional tool that forces employees to become subservient to the appointing authority. That how they were able to remain in power for so long because of their brazen disregards to the ideal of Trusted Leadership.
The writer is a resident of Kanat Tabla, Saipan.
Daniel O. Quitugua
