and to urge the lt. governor, who has been indicted for wire fraud and theft, to resign. But the House members who responded to her remarks either dismissed her concerns or disputed her arguments, with some of them scolding her for “always talking about problems and not offering solutions,” and for “bitching about problems” and not “rolling up her sleeves.”
Sablan, in turn, reminded her colleagues that she has been offering solutions — more transparency in the government, a power summit to address the island’s energy crisis, the passage of a balanced budget, an “end to the petty games, the cronyism, and the short-sightedness of local politics,” and the rejection of the “governor’s constant abuses of power.”
“Where has it all gone [my proposals]?” she asked.
No question
Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, began her speech by noting that the “tentative responses of lawmakers and other public officials” to the indictments of Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez, recently resigned Commerce Secretary James Santos, his wife, who is the lt. governor’s sister, and the administration’s first Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Executive Director Anthony C. Guerrero “have only rubbed salt in the people’s wounds.”
According to Sablan, Villagomez “must step down. There is no question about that. Even if there is a chance that he might ultimately be acquitted of criminal charges in court — in the hearts and minds of so many our people, he has lost all credibility, and should not be allowed to remain in public office. Our personal relationships with him do not matter. All that should matter is the public trust. He must step down. I urge this body to take a clear and united position on this issue, on behalf of our constituents, to urge Mr. Villagomez, in the strongest terms possible, to resign from his position, or be removed.”
Rep. Victor B. Hocog, Ind.-Rota, said the House cannot force Villagomez to resign. “It’s his decision to make,” he added. He also chided Sablan for “always voting ‘no’ ” on several bills backed by the House leadership.
House Floor Leader Jose N. Camacho, R-Saipan and a lawyer, said Sablan made “very serious allegations,” and should just allow the legal process to “move forward.”
“Let’s not pre-judge,” he said. “Prosecutors can also make mistakes. The lt. governor might be acquitted. If we tell him to resign and then he’s acquitted, what should we tell him later? We’re ‘sorry’?”
A local resident, however, told the Variety that “if this happened in the states — a governor or a lt. governor getting indicted, he would have resigned. Look at what happened to [New York Gov.] Eliot Spitzer,” who resigned last March after it was revealed that he was a client of high-priced prostitutes.
Morally wrong
In her speech, Sablan said lawmakers must “challenge the increasingly autocratic methods of the governor. The people are clamoring for a recall, for impeachment, for the Legislature to take some kind of meaningful stance against the parade of weakly justified emergency declarations, unconstitutional executive orders, highly suspicious sole-source contracts, nonsensical threats of litigation against the federal government, failures to pay employer contributions the Retirement Fund or to pay down the deficit — the list goes on and on.”
According to Sablan, Fitial’s “actions might be, at the end of the day, technically legal. But they are fundamentally, ethically, and morally wrong. Taken together, they add up to dereliction of duty. Taken together, they add up to a staggering betrayal of the public trust.”
She added, “I do not deny the governor’s constant reminders that he inherited a mess of problems from previous administrations. But I do hold him accountable for making things worse during his administration, and I hold this body accountable for enabling him every step of the way when we have either ignored or outright endorsed his failed policies.”
Sablan said “there is no longer a question of whether or not we have the grounds to pursue impeachment proceedings against this governor, but whether or not we have the will and the courage to do so. But even if this body is not willing to do so, we can, at the very least, refuse to be complicit in the governor’s constant abuses of power and resolve to restore public confidence in the checks and balances of democracy wherever this governor — and we, by our consent — have shattered that confidence. We can, at the very least, cut his budget and restrain his ability to do further harm to the economy, to the morale of our community, to our relations with the federal government, and to the public trust.”
Blame game
Rep. David M. Apatang, R-Saipan, praised Sablan for delivering a “good speech,” but added that she should “back up” her “allegations.”
The governor, he added, is “trying his best — we need to work together with the administration. If we can’t, then we have a problem. Yes we know we have problems so let’s sit down to solve them”
“What do you want us to do” he asked Sablan. “What is your solution? We’ll look at it. [But] stop this blame game. Let’s put our heads together.”
Vice Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan, agreed that Sablan delivered a “very well prepared speech,” but said not everyone agrees that “impeachment is the way to go.”
“Some of us,” he added, “don’t want to point fingers. Working with the administration is the only option right now, especially in dealing with the power crisis. Some of us have decided to roll our sleeves up and not bitch about [problems].”
He urged Sablan to also “roll her sleeves up and put politics aside.”
Deleon Guerrero said he takes exception to Sablan’s saying that “we’re not doing anything,” and that not impeaching Gov. Benigno R. Fitial “is condoning” the governor’s actions.
Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan and the governor’s party mate, said the House “has no business to consider impeachment.”
Real evidence
Camacho said he sees no grounds for impeaching Fitial.
According to the CNMI Constitution, the governor and lt. governor can be impeached for treason, commission of a felony, corruption or neglect of duty.
“Show me…real evidence,” Camacho told Sablan. “We’re not there yet. Letters to the editor and opinions are not evidence. Impeachment is a serious action.”
He said lawmakers are “working every day — we’re addressing the problems and concerns of our constituents. We are doing our jobs. We’ve introduced 145 bills in eight months. Many of them are good bills. We’re doing our best to be transparent. Just because you’re not at the meeting it doesn’t mean it’s a secret [meeting].”
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said the CNMI is facing its “deepest crisis” following the “robust economy in the 1990s.”
“We see the economy collapsing and our power, our most important infrastructure, collapsing on a daily basis,” he said.
The House, he added, has challenged some of the governor’s actions, like the recent declarations of emergency, “but we must also try to help and cooperate. I’m still willing to cross the street and, with the Senate president, ask the governor what we can do to solve this crisis.”
For his part, Rep. Ralph DLG. Torres, R-Saipan, said although the people are “frustrated…we have to work with what we have and not just point fingers.”
FY 2009 budget
Sablan, in her speech, also asked her colleagues about the status of the fiscal year 2009 budget.
“The budget is essentially the government’s plan for the year. The silence about the progress we are making with respect to the budget for FY 2009 is deafening. Has the [Ways and Means] committee returned the budget to the governor to correct the serious discrepancies that have been identified in his initial submittal? Are meaningful efforts being made to prioritize essential services, cut costs, pay down the deficit, and remit employer contributions to the Retirement Fund? Whatever happened to public budget hearings? I am deeply worried that we will be repeating the budget fiascos of past years — which is that no budget was passed, no real government downsizing occurred, the deficit continued to balloon, pensions were denied to eligible retirees, and political hirings continued even as hard-working and competent government employees saw their salaries slashed.”
Hocog, the acting chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said government revenues are “way below our spending levels, but we’re working vigorously to balance the FY 2009 budget. We want to see a budget by September.”
FY 2009 starts on Oct 1.
Since 1998, the CNMI government has enacted only three new budgets. No new budget was passed last year, and this allows the government to continue operating on the spending levels set by the last budget law, which was passed two years ago.
Real change
“Our people,” Sablan said, “grow increasingly demoralized, increasingly angry, and increasingly restless. I have heard talks about mass demonstrations on the hill and in the streets, uprisings, and alarmingly, violence and sabotage. Our people are reaching a breaking point. They have had it with business as usual in this government. They have had it with misspent public funds and misdirected priorities. They have had it with rolling blackouts and contaminated water, or no water at all. They have had it with the soaring cost of living. They have had it with the petty games, the cronyism, and the short-sightedness of local politics. They are ready to do away with the politics of old, and embrace a new politics that is democratic, transparent, inclusive, and guided by a long-term vision for our future. They are ready for real change, and they want a real plan — not the shoot-from-the-hip strategy that has characterized local politics thus far. Planning takes leadership. It takes courage and political will.”
She added, “I hear these things every day. I think about them every day. And as discouraging as I have found the last eight months of this term, I continue to hope even now that it is still possible for change in our commonwealth and in the way we govern ourselves, to begin with this Legislature.”
According to Hocog, however, “We’re part of the problem but also part of the solution. We are committed to work together to solve problems. But it is next to impossible for this Legislature to change.”
