IN contrast to the earlier hearings that were marred by legal wrangling over Chamorro translations and what the law says about them, the resumption on Tuesday afternoon of the hearing conducted by the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations focused on some of the items purchased by the governor.
Chaired by Democrat Rep. Celina R. Babauta, the House panel asked Special Assistant for Administration Mathilda “Keko” Rosario about these items that included gardening equipment.
This time, the translator was Donald Mendiola, a Chamorro bilingual teacher at Hopwood Junior High School.
Babauta said the committee originally contacted Mendiola, but he wasn’t available because he was in quarantine at the time. Florence Kirby, another certified translator, served as the translator during the hearings on Wednesday and Friday.
Rosario was again accompanied by her legal counsel, Viola Alepuyo.
Besides Babauta, the other committee members present at the hearing were Reps. Tina Sablan, Edwin Propst, Donald Manglona, Vicente Camacho, Richard Lizama and the lone Republican on the panel, Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan T. Attao.
Among the items shown by Babauta to Rosario was copy of a receipt with a handwritten note saying “office equipment & supplies, Medical Referral Office Hawaii.”
Babauta said the items on the receipt for which the governor was reimbursed included five Jabra Extreme headsets and other electronic items.
When asked if she recognized the handwriting on the receipt, Rosario replied in Chamorro, which was translated as “I don’t know” in English.
Asked if those items were on the inventory list for the CNMI Medical Referral Office in Hawaii, Rosario requested to be given a few minutes to check her copy of the list. During the hearing, photos of the items were shown on a big screen.
Rosario said the Jabra headsets and other electronic items are not on the inventory list for the medical referral office in Hawaii.
Asked if the same items are on the inventory list for the governor’s office, Rosario said: I did not see Jabra headsets on the inventory list, but there are Dell computers. There are two, but I don’t know if they’re laptops or desktop.
She said she informed Rep. Ralph Yumul, the chairman of the bipartisan special committee last year, that two laptops were provided to Luis John Castro who was then a public information officer. According to Castro, the laptops were destroyed by Super Typhoon Yutu, Rosario said.
Rep. Tina Sablan then presented copies of the governor’s reimbursement request to then-Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson.
Sablan said the first one, dated Sept. 20, 2015, was for the reimbursement of a Wi-Fi remote bought at Walmart; the second one, dated May 8, 2017, was for Bose Quiet Control wireless earphones bought at Best Buy in Hawaii; the third, dated May 19, 2017, was for a Hub Max charger bought at World Duty Free at the Los Angeles International Airport; and the fourth was a 9052 Series Micro USB charger bought at San Antonio International Airport in Texas.
Rosario replied that the 9052 Series Micro USB charger is not on the inventory list, but the Hub Max is on the list.
When shown receipts for garden equipment bought on Guam — which Rep. Edwin Propst said could have been bought on Saipan — Rosario said those items were not on the inventory list for the governor’s office.
Asked where the items are, she said: I don’t know, but added that she believes those items are needed by the governor’s office.
Asked by Rep. Vicente Camacho if the governor is “doing some kind of gardening or farming,” Rosario said: I don’t live with the governor so I don’t know.
The hearing, which started at 2:30 p.m., ended at around 6 p.m.
From left, certified translator Donald Mendiola, legislative assistant Cameron Nicholas and Rep. Celina Babauta, the chair of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations.
