I’m sure many people have not even pondered the long term effects of what is taking place in the CNMI because no one is leading and looking down the road to see what we will surly face in a very short time. The scholarships may not seem like a lot to some people but the implications are fare reaching and can be catastrophic to the effort of locals to maintain a society under the leadership of locals — it’s serious and that’s why I’m asking for support with the protest on the 20th!
The students in college today represent our BEST chances and ONLY hope for local leaders and professionals in the near future and I’ll show how serious it is for those doubters and critics. The majority of local businesses used to be run by locals but now the majority is run by non-locals, even the stores in the villages once operated by locals are owned by non-locals. When I first arrived in the late 80’s most of the local churches had local priests with a local Bishop and now most of the churches have Filipino priests — no disrespect intended just making a COLD hard point that needs to be highlighted so readers can really GET IT! If we look at the hospital, you find most of the nurses and staffs are NOT local — so I hope readers can now see where I’m going with this and the importance of our local college students. It is also vital that these students know how important it is for them to return or the word “local” won’t mean jack in the not too distant future. So anyone who cares about preserving the local integrity should come to the protest.
The very future of the CNMI is at stake with these scholarships, especially for those on the mainland and on Guam as the off-island students are the only ones in a position to get the Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees we will so desperately need in the near future and we know NMC has a very limited capacity to produce the higher degrees we need. Even today I don’t know of anyone that I can say is a “local economist” so we shouldn’t wonder why we are suffering economically.
It is a known fact that we must transform our labor force from the top down and from the bottom up- so there is no room for errors given the minute local population. Sometimes I think Mr. Pellegrino is the ONLY one aware of the challenges and what we are really going to need with the exodus of alien workers. But more importantly, the students in college today are the very ones we will be depending upon to take over and shoulder the leadership and transformation of the CNMI in the coming decades. So do we help them or do we just “let it be”? I’m sure that phrase doesn’t sound so good now that the reality of what it truly means has set in — it means to do NOTHING and we voted for it!
But I am NOT going to the Let it Be with the scholarships because if they get away with not sending these checks we can expect even more late checks next year and even NO checks at all because We the People voted to Let it Be. If we (parents and all students who are receiving a scholarship and students who want a scholarship) don’t stand up and speak out for the scholarships to be prioritized then we can only expect more of our students to face the real possibility of being a college drop-outs and even homeless — don’t let this be another I Told You So!
I’m sure most people with a heart and common sense will agree that it is not right to leave these students on the other side of the world literally hanging out on a limb without the support from home they were promised before they left — it is a very ugly thing to just forget about our children. Our children are suffering which is also a real threat to our social, economic and political future and it is the Governor’s fault as the buck literally and figuratively stops at his desk.
I’m extending a SPECIAL invitation to all NMC students and recent graduates to attend the protest. I just hope you will remember what you were taught in civics and government and to speak up and protect your scholarships which will also be in jeopardy next year — so don’t let this be an I Told You So and don’t Let It Be. Your fellow students on the mainland also need your help because they can’t be here to protest for themselves. Students have been at the very core of many social changes in modern times and this is an opportunity for students to truly demonstrate that they are serious about their education and serious about the future of the CNMI. If you truly care, make sure you are there — help make a difference and don’t let politics or anything get in the way of speaking out for what is right. I ask you to ponder if not now then when and if not you then who will preserve the integrity of the future local leadership and professionals of the CNMI? But whatever you do — DON’T Let it Be because it is your future and the CNMI’s future at stake!
So if you truly care about the future of the CNMI, I am asking all parents of students receiving scholarships and all students who are receiving a scholarship and students who want a scholarship to participate in the peaceful protest in front of the Governor’s office on this coming Monday the 20th between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman, Saipan
