Front row, seated from left, Carmen Pangelinan, Grace Naputi, Juan Tenorio and Daniel Quitugua.
AT the general membership meeting of the Northern Marianas Descent Corporation on Tuesday, at Minachom Atdao, former Rep. Daniel Quitugua was elected president.
The other officers elected at the meeting were former Rep. Juan Tenorio, vice president; Grace Naputi, treasurer; James Arriola, secretary; Frank Tomokane, board member; Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council member Carmen Pangelinan, board member; and Vinni Orsini, board member.
Quitugua said that moving forward, he will need to meet with the other officers and board members to establish the corporation’s priorities.
“It is important to collectively hear from the members — especially those who showed up today — as well as the newly elected board of directors about what they consider to be very important issues for the organization to advocate for,” he said.
The mission of the NMDC is to advocate for land rights for people of Northern Marianas descent, as well as other rights guaranteed by the Covenant.
Quitugua said one potential topic the corporation may consider evaluating is Senate Legislative Initiative 24-01. The measure proposes amending Article XI, Section 6 of the CNMI Constitution to authorize the distribution of direct monetary dividends to registered voters who are of Northern Marianas descent.
“We want to understand exactly what the legislation is calling for and whether it is something the organization considers beneficial for all Northern Marianas descendants,” he said, clarifying that any action will be taken only at the direction of the board and officers. “We obviously cannot do everything at once,” Quitugua added. “We need to prioritize so we can measure the success of our efforts.”
The outgoing president of the corporation is John Gonzales, who said that NMDs include all individuals who were in the NMI in the early 1950s. He said these include “all of those Chamorros, Carolinians, Micronesians, Asians who were here, and of course, Anglo-Saxons.”
