A CHAMORRO born and raised on Saipan, Ignacio Dela Cruz said he is strongly opposed to any proposal to reunify Guam and the Northern Marianas so they can aspire for statehood.
He believes that reunification will do more harm than good and will favor one island over the others.
Recently, former CNMI Gov. Juan N. Babauta said the Northern Marianas should merge with Guam and “pursue full membership in the American political family through statehood.”
A licensed speech language pathologist and a proud University of Guam graduate, Dela Cruz asked, “If Guam and CNMI were to merge, where would the capitol be, the seat of government? It’s most likely in Guam, because Guam has a bigger population.”
He said a new Marianas legislature will also be created.
“It’s not unreasonable to think that more people from the island of Guam will be elected to those seats. If that were the case, if more people in Guam were to be elected to this Marianas Congress, we would have elected officials disconnected from the CNMI. They are tasked to represent us and yet may never know the people of the CNMI,” Dela Cruz said.
Guam and the Northern Marianas used to be a single political jurisdiction under Spain. After the Spanish-American War in 1898, Guam was ceded to the U.S. and became an unincorporated U.S. territory through the Guam Organic Act in 1950.
The Northern Marianas, for its part, was administered by Germany and then by Japan before becoming a part of the U.S.-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
In a 1969 referendum, Guam voters rejected reunification with the Northern Marianas. In a separate referendum, Northern Marianas voters favored reunification.
In 1975, the Northern Marianas chose to be a self-governing Commonwealth in political union with the U.S.
Losing autonomy and identity
Dela Cruz also expressed his concerns about the loss of the CNMI’s unique identity and autonomy.
“[Reunification] could spell the end of laws special to the CNMI, such as Article 12. As far as I know, Guam does not have such a law, so anyone and everyone can purchase land there. If Article 12 were left out of the Constitution, real estate costs would be driven up here in the CNMI. We do not need to look further than Guam to see how the price of real estate has been sky-high in recent years,” he said.
Under Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution, only people of Northern Marianas descent can own land in the Commonwealth.
“If the Marianas were to reunite, the CNMI would also need to surrender things like our flag and anthem to make way for a new state flag and state anthem,” Dela Cruz said.
“The CNMI anthem, ‘Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi,’ has been part of our lives for many years, from singing it in school to singing it during special events. I doubt people in Guam would want to surrender their Guam hymn ‘Fanoghe CHamoru.’ I, along with many others, am proud to be from the Northern Mariana Islands. Yes, together with Guam, we are the Marianas. However, saying that we are the Northern Mariana Islands distinguishes us from our southern neighbor Guam,” Dela Cruz said.
He added, “The essence of who we are as the CNMI would cease if we reunify with Guam. Some people say we are ‘One Marianas,’ but one cannot deny that Guam and the CNMI have their own identities and merging them would be detrimental to our cultural and political identities.”
