Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, left, and Marissa Flores.
COMMONWEALTH Casino Commission Chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero and Rep. Marissa Flores argued over casino-related issues during the budget hearing conducted by the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.
Pursuant to Public Law 19-24, Deleon Guerrero submitted a budget proposal in the amount of $3.15 million, which the sole casino license holder, Imperial Pacific International, is required to pay, but is unable to do so.
Flores, who opened her line of questioning by telling Deleon Guerrero that “we have a love-hate relationship,” asked him if CCC asked IPI to reimburse CCC for any of its expenses.
“Your question is a little bit confusing,” Deleon Guerrero said. “First, you are making allegations and you are jumping timelines. I’ve said in my opening remarks, CCC filed all these complaints [against IPI with the court] right after Covid-19, to suspend and sanction,” the casino investor.
He said CCC has no authority to tell the court to “hurry up and act.”
Flores cut in. “That is not the argument,” she said.
Deleon Guerrero said, “No, you define it to me, what Public Law 18-56 says. We did exactly our fiduciary duty. And if you understood what those complaints were, we prevailed and the Superior Court was sitting on those actions. … We are going after IPI. It is in the hands of the Superior Court.”
Flores repeated her question. “Did the commission request [IPI] for any reimbursement for the expenses that you, CCC, incurred with the $1 that was appropriated to CCC for FY 2023 … yes or no?
Deleon Guerrero said, “We did not request for $1. We requested for the $3 million that they [IPI] are required to pay.” He said CCC never asked IPI for reimbursement.
“We did ask them to pay what they are mandated by law,” he added.
Flores said, “I asked you a simple yes or no question. Did you ever ask the sole licensee to reimburse the CCC for any expenses? Yes or no?”
Deleon Guerrero said, “We did not ask to be reimbursed. We ask them to pay the full amount,” referring to the $3.15 million in regulatory fee.
When Flores asked the same question, Deleon Guerrero replied, “My God, that is the very essence of complaint we filed in the court. They failed to pay the regulatory fee … What [are you] asking? We filed for IPI to pay.”
He said it was not for expenses, but the regulatory fee mandated by law. “We took them to court. I don’t think you understood what you are reading Madam,” he said.
To which Flores said, “I understand.”
Deleon Guerrero said, “I sure hope so. My gosh.”
“You and I are not understanding each other,” Flores said. “We can agree to disagree [on] a lot of things.”
Flores asked Deleon Guerrero if CCC is asking the Legislature for $4 million.
Deleon Guerrero said, “No, I am asking that Legislature to appropriate what P.L. 19-24 mandates for CCC for IPI to pay, which is $3.15 million. Every year the law requires that I submit to the Legislature that amount and I’m doing exactly that. And not to be insulted.”
Flores said, “Nobody is insulting you. And I’m sorry you feel that way because, in fact, if anything I feel insulted, too. But I’m not saying that.”
She said she was trying to understand what CCC was asking for and based on what she was looking at, “CCC was saying, ‘$4.3 million should be enough to suffice.’ For the commission alone, is this correct, $4 million for FY 2025? So you are proposing $4.3 million for FY2025?” she asked.
Deleon Guerrero said, “Madam the local portion of that, the governor did not entertain that so I’m not here to support the request for the local funding because the governor did not entertain that. We did submit as a matter of practice.”
Flores responded, “So then, you don’t need the money?”
Deleon Guerrero said, “I am asking for the $3.15 million that P.L. 19-24 mandates IPI to pay.”
“So you are asking for the $3 million that is due to CCC?” Flores asked.
“Yes,” Deleon Guerrero said.
“What would you do to that $3 million? Revoke the license?” she asked, referring to IPI.
Deleon Guerrero said, “If we get that [amount] we would hire people back that we need for the enforcement investigation, audit, compliance and training.”
Flores said, “Training on the casino that is not existent?”
She added, “During the time [when] all of those civil actions were filed against IPI in federal court, did CCC feel it was appropriate to investigate, sanction and revoke the license of IPI?”
She said CCC is asking for $3 million, which “I don’t think … I would be comfortable to give to you when there are other agencies that are short and working every day sweating under the sun, doing their due diligence for the Commonwealth, following their mission.”
Deleon Guerrero said, “In our system of justice when IPI files an appeal, CCC has no authority to bypass all the courts while they are still waiting to hear [the appeal]. I don’t know whether you have taken courses on justice.”
“Are you insulting me?” Flores asked.
Deleon Guerrero answered, “No I am explaining it to you. We file a complaint against IPI, we took them to the court and the court is sitting on it, so we cannot turn around and file more and more. We have to wait for the court.”
He told her, “You are insulting me now to tell me that CCC is doing nothing when we are waiting for the court to make decisions.”
Deleon Guerrero also reminded Flores that “you are not giving the $3 million. That is supposed to come from IPI. So whether you agree to it or not it doesn’t matter to me because even if you appropriate and there’s no money, we get nothing. It’s not coming from the source that you have control over. This is sound bite that we really don’t appreciate. We come here in good faith,” Deleon Guerrero added.
Flores said, “I took an oath. I will give you respect as chairman because you have to be vetted to sit there. So I can respect that. But when the people of the Commonwealth demand answers after years and years of inaction by the commission, you [can] take that personally … or you can take it together as a team of the entire commission because it is really sad for you to sit here by yourself without the rest of your two other commissioners,” she said, referring to Ralph S. Demapan and Mario Taitano.
“So I’m very sorry for you, sir, that you sit here all alone while the two other commissioners are probably watching on YouTube while you sit here and assume that you are being insulted. But that’s probably the difference between your generation and mine. We can take constructive criticism. We don’t take insult because we empathize with people. We offer solutions,” Flores said before yielding her time.
Deleon Guerrero said, “My generation?”
At the end of the hearing, he thanked the committee chair, Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, and the members.
“Thank you … Mr. Chairman, and my generation, thank you, too,” Deleon Guerrero added.
Also present in the budget hearing were Reps. Blas Jonathan Attao, Roman Benavente, Manny Gregory T. Castro, Patrick San Nicolas, John Paul Sablan and Joseph Flores.
