THE Office of the Public Auditor should look into the documents and testimonies pertaining to Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ official expenditures that the House minority bloc says are questionable.
Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, chairman of the House Special Committee on Fiscal Review of Executive Expenditures, speaks during Tuesday’s meeting as committee members House Minority Leader Tina Sablan and Rep. Luis John Castro listen.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
This is the recommendation of the House Special Committee on Fiscal Review of Executive Expenditures based on its draft report, a copy of which was obtained by Variety.
Chaired by Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, the committee was created on July 6, 2020 to review documents related to executive branch expenditures that included the costs of hosting Deer Meat for Dinner’s Robert Arrington in the Northern Islands; the business class travels of the governor and first lady Diann Torres; and other governor’s office purchases such as computers, laptops, printers, Bose speakers, wireless remote outlets, Nikon cameras, GoPro Hero cameras, SIM cards and portable chargers.
Over the course of several months, the special committee obtained from the governor’s office and other government agencies multiple documents and records related to the governor’s expenses.
Yumul and the other committee members also summoned government officials and witnesses to testify on documents and records related to those expenses in a series of hearings held in the House chamber.
The binders containing the documents and records on executive expenditures are gathered in the office of Rep. Ralph Yumul who chairs the Special Committee on Fiscal Review of Executive Expenditures.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
The special committee had until Oct. 6, 2020 to complete the report, as required by House Rule 7, Section 9.
In its draft report, however, the panel cited “unique circumstances and events that have recently transpired, including but not limited to the commencement of early voting in the 2020 elections and the processing of absentee votes that have determined the outcome of the elections, the fact that the Commonwealth Election Commission had just recently completed this process on or about Nov. 17, 2020, and the ever-present Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.”
Because of these challenges, the special committee’s draft report stated, “(I)t has obtained no findings of consequence in its investigation.”
“The special committee finds that there was simply too much material and too little time and resources to conduct an adequate and reasonably thorough investigation,” the report added.
The committee, its draft report stated, was unable to reach a decision on the matter.
“We understand that the public has an interest in the accountability and protections of public funds. Because of this, the special committee strongly recommends that it be relieved of its duties and that the relevant documents, testimony, and records gathered by [the] Special Committee be transmitted to the CNMI Office of the Public Auditor as the Constitutional body entrusted with the audit of the receipt, possession, and disbursement of public funds,” the draft report said.
The vice chairman of the special committee is Vice Speaker Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero and its other members are Rep. Luis John Castro, House Minority Leader Tina Sablan and two other minority bloc members: Reps. Donald Manglona and Edmund Villagomez.
Reps. Ivan Blanco and Joseph Leepan Guerrero are the alternate members.
The committee is set to meet today, Wednesday, to discuss the draft report and other related matters.
Asked for comment, Press Secretary Kevin Bautista said on Tuesday:
“The administration welcomes all legitimate inquiries. The Governor and his administration cooperated fully with the Special Committee’s inquiries and hearings. In fact, it was the contention of the administration that the Office of the Public Auditor is, has been, and always will be the appropriate agency to review and investigate such matters. We articulated our position to the Legislature, knowing that the government has had a process put in place to conduct investigations of this nature. The administration is pleased that the appropriate agency has the documents that have always been available to them as part of their constitutional authority.
“As the Special Committee reported, there was no finding of consequence through their hearings as the Governor complied fully, did nothing wrong, and has been vindicated of these accusations made by certain elected officials. The people elect their public officials to come up with solutions to the islands’ complex problems given these unprecedented times, and we know that moving forward this administration led by Governor Torres and Lt. Governor Palacios will continue to make that their priority.”
