The Fitial administration acknowledged it wasn’t the governor’s signature but could not pinpoint who signed it for him or how it happened.
“I don’t know how the signature came about. I know the governor supported the position articulated in the letter. We will take precautions to avoid such situation in the future,” said Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. in an e-mail to the Variety.
The letter was sent to President Obama on March 4 and purportedly signed by U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. John P. deJongh Jr., Guam Gov. Felix P. Camacho, American Samoa Gov. Togiola T.A. Tulafano and Fitial.
The four asked the president to delegate the authority of disbursing millions of dollars in stabilization funds to the U.S. Department of the Interior instead of to the U.S. Department of Education.
Further, they want the governors to be given the flexibility in distributing the funds within their jurisdictions.
No one could pinpoint who drafted the letter, which was copy-furnished to Interior.
Vice Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan, said “the legality of the matter” demands the CNMI government’s attention.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said Fitial’s signature above his name is not “the genuine signature of the governor.”
“Why this happened is beyond comprehension,” he added.
Rep. David Apatang, R.-Saipan, noted that forgery is a serious offense.
In the case of the CNMI, the stabilization fund amounting to $48 million was earlier pledged to the Public School System.
The fund is intended to provide fiscal relief to states and territories in order to prevent budget cuts to education and other essential public services as a result of declining state and territorial revenues.
