The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday afternoon between special ethics prosecutor Bruce A. Bradley and Govendo.
Bradley said Govendo in three events had the “propensity of showing racial insensitivity.”
Bradley left the matter for the justices to determine if Govendo “crossed the line” in violating the Canons of Judicial Ethics and the Rules of Disciplinary Proceedings.
Govendo for his part asked the justices to give him his day in court to show the context of his statements in question.
He told Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan that he was not denying his statements.
“But context is everything,” Govendo said.
“I am a very, very good judge performing the hardest judicial job, the Family Court, in the CNMI,” Govendo told the justices.
Demapan asked Govendo to read in verbatim the “insensitive” statement the judge made.
Govendo told Demapan to “go ahead” and read it since he, the judge, had no copy of it.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Demapan told Govendo that “it is better to growl than to bark.”
“I growled. I barked. That seemed not to have worked with [Roger] Castillo,” Govendo said, referring to previous actions of the defendant who had violated court orders,and continued to threaten to kill his victim.
Govendo said Castillo cut out a news article about a man who shot to death his wife in 2002 and repeatedly showed it to his wife.
He said Castillo was a member of a Philippine special forces that hunted down Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
Justice Pro Tem Edward Manibusan told Govendo that in Chamorro culture, the word “muchacho” meant slave or servant.
Govendo said he was told by a former Rota mayor that the word muchacho is “not bad.”
“Muchacho” also means young boy in Spanish.
“Adios muchacho,” Govendo told Castillo during a court hearing.
Most statesiders use the phrase to mean “goodbye buddy.”
Govendo asked the Supreme Court justices to allow the media to cover the proceedings.
He noted that the resolution of the case of Roger Castillo’s victim received national attention as a domestic violence success story.
