Members of the 37th Guam Legislature bring in the casket of former Sen. Benigno Palomo during his memorial service Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña.
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Various government officials joined family members of the late Benigno Palomo at the Guam Congress Building on Wednesday morning, as they said their goodbyes to the former senator and longtime public servant.
Palomo died April 15.
Simon Sanchez, a former senator and current member of the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, delivered the eulogy at Wednesday’s state funeral.
“Tun Ben was born in Hagåtña in 1936 at the old Naval Hospital. He was part of the (Father Duenas Memorial School) mafia, class of 1955. You know, you can blame 70% of the problems on Guam on F.D. and (Academy of Our Lady of Guam) graduates. Only 20% on (George Washington High School), and the rest, dikike’,” Sanchez joked, easing the otherwise somber mood at the session hall.
Sanchez went on to recall Palomo’s life and career in government.
Palomo was first elected to the 13th Guam Legislature. He continued to serve as a lawmaker in the 14th and 15th Legislatures, along with his brother, the late Antonio Palomo.
Benigno Palomo then went on to serve in the executive branch for most of the 1980s and early ’90s, according to Sanchez. Benigno Palomo took leadership roles in the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority, Department of Public Works and the Port Authority of Guam.
And like Sanchez today, Benigno Palomo also served in the CCU.
“Tun Ben also had private sector experience, working for two private construction companies. Ben knew how to build infrastructure, housing and buildings for both the private and public sectors. Perhaps foremost in his skill set, however, Tun Ben was a very good father. A widower of 36 years after losing his beloved wife, Gloria Guerrero Palomo, he raised and educated his four children,” Sanchez said, adding later that Benigno Palomo was also a passionate writer, communicator and thinker about Guam’s opportunities and challenges.
“From being a prewar son of Guam to being educated in the United States, then returning to help rebuild post-(Supertyphoon) Karen Guam, by representing his people in this Legislature for six years, and managing the services of DPW, the Port and GHURA, while serving two governors, and then helping to launch the now 20-year-old CCU. … This is the public legacy of former senator, former agency director and CCU vice chairman, Tun Benigno M. Palomo,” Sanchez concluded Wednesday.
