FORMER Rep. Jacinta “Cinta” Matagolai Kaipat passed away on Wednesday at the Commonwealth Health Center. She was 61.
Variety learned that she was rushed to the hospital on the evening of Feb. 21, 2023 due to her fluctuating blood pressure.
A cultural advocate and a former assistant attorney general, she was also a former deputy secretary of the Department of Labor and its hearing officer.
Kaipat was the first Refaluwasch woman to become a lawyer, and was one of the founders of Beautify CNMI!
To help preserve the Northern Islands, she co-founded PaganWatch and the Alternative Zero Coalition which aimed to protect Pagan and Tinian from militarization.
500 Sails co-founder Pete Perez said, “It’s hard to say goodbye to this incredible person and natural leader who inspired so many people to stand up and fight the good fight. She was more than intelligent — she was brilliant.”
He said whenever Kaipat addressed a room, everyone listened.
“She always spoke the truth and she spoke from the heart. And what she talked about was important. The real important stuff — not money and power, but love, respect, and civic responsibility,” he said.
Kaipat “made you want to do the right thing,” he added.
“Our lives are better for her having been here to lead and shine that white light that exposed what was hiding in the dark. She will be dearly missed,” he said.
500 Sails co-founder Emma Perez said Kaipat “was a cultural matriarch who changed many lives. She will be missed.”
Local cultural advocate John “Bolis” Gonzales said Kaipat was “highly equipped and fearless in preserving, protecting, teaching, promoting, practicing and bequeathing subsequent generations with the rich traditions, customs, practices, and languages of her Chamorro & Carolinian ancestry.”
He added, “We’ll always remember her as our mentor, confidant, counselor and elder sister who wanted nothing less than the very best of us.”
Former Rep. Luis John DLG Castro said, “Cinta was one of the realest people” he has encountered who was not afraid to speak her mind.
Castro said he last spoke with Kaipat during the holidays.
“Her words have really been helpful with the stuff I’ve been dealing with lately. I’ll miss her kind words, but more so, I’ll miss her fierce, but gentle spirit. Thank you for your friendship Cinta. Be with God. Olomwááy,” he added.
Angelo Villagomez, a co-founder of Beautify CNMI!, said: “Eden [my wife] and I are deeply saddened by the loss of Cinta Kaipat, and mourn her passing along with her friends, family, community, and all the people whose life she brightened. Cinta spent a lifetime planting literal and figurative seeds — among her many professional accomplishments she was among the first in our community to oppose the military desecration of our lands, to call for greater ocean protections surrounding our islands, and she led us to Beautify CNMI, picking trash off our beaches, painting over graffiti, and planting thousands of native and ornamental trees in villages and along our streets. Cinta was one of the bravest people I knew. Through her actions she taught me to stand up for those things we know to be right, consequences be damned. I will miss her dearly, but will never forget who she was, and what she stood for.”
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang issued the following statement:
“We join the Marianas in mourning the loss of former lawmaker and former Assistant Attorney General Cinta Kaipat.
“Her commitment to the people of the CNMI, including her service as a Representative in the 15th Commonwealth Legislature, will never be forgotten. Her steadfast advocacy for the preservation of cultural practices and beliefs, together with her unwavering commitment to the protection of the CNMI’s precious natural resources, will leave a lasting legacy for the ages.
“We express our deepest condolences to the friends and family of former Representative Kaipat, and ask all of our community to offer their prayers and thoughts to all those she has impacted and inspired with her generosity, activism, and friendship.”
Cinta M. Kaipat
