Continuous infighting made it difficult for the senators to pass a measure on the tobacco settlement money that was finally signed into law yesterday.
Rep. Gloria DLC. Cabrera, R-Saipan and the author of the bill, said the House of Representatives submitted H.B. 13-134 to the Senate two weeks ago.
On June 27, acting Senate President Jose M. Dela Cruz, D-Tinian, called for a session on Saipan to pass the bill. But he said Minority Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, requested for more time to “digest” the content of the measure and requested that it be rescheduled on the following day on Saipan. Dela Cruz then decided to delay the session.
On Friday, Sen. Thomas P. Villagomez, R-Saipan, replaced Dela Cruz as acting Senate president.
Villagomez decided to hold the session on Rota last June 29. He said the session could have been held on Saipan but Rota senators would have problems catching a flight back home.
Reyes and Sen. David M. Cing, D-Tinian, yesterday claimed that Villagomez failed to properly and timely inform them about the Rota session.
Reyes accused Villagomez and the Senate leadership of “being too greedy” on holding on to their positions.
But Villagomez said he did notify Senate members about the Senate session on Rota.
He said some members of the minority block should “stop acting like cry babies.”
He added, “When Senators Reyes and Cing were in the leadership, they never complained about the call for a session. They never complained about having sessions on Rota and Tinian.”
Dela Cruz advised Reyes to “stop whining and complaining.”
