Efrain F. Camacho, executive director of the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the chairman of the nonprofit group called the “Citizens for Change of Article 12,” said their goal is to educate the local community about the many myths and misinterpretations circulated to keep the land alienation rule.
Among the group’s members are Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan, D-Saipan, the CNMI’s first Washington Rep. Ed Pangelinan, Tan Holdings vice president David M. Sablan, Vincent J. Seman of Carlsmith Ball LLP, and Saipan Chamber of Commerce past president Alex Sablan.
In an interview with the local media on Wednesday night, Camacho said they want to educate the public about the implication of keeping the land alienation rule.
The Covenant allows the CNMI to revisit Article 12 in 2011.
“Article 12 ought to be abolished,” Camacho said. “Something must be done to stimulate the discussion about it.”
Pangelinan, a member of the 1985 Constitutional Convention, said the political definition of the NMI-descent under the CNMI Constitution is not exclusive to 100 percent Chamorro and Carolinian people.
The plain definition of NMI-descent also includes persons who had established residency in the CNMI during the Trust Territory time like migrants from different islands in Micronesia and those who inherited the indigenous bloodline through adoption.
“Article 12 actually also allowed persons of any national origin through adoption, and even corporations to be officially designated ‘persons of Northern Marianas descent.’ The argument that the end of Article 12 is the end of the Chamorro and Carolinian cultures is a myth and unrelated to the issues surrounding Article 12,” said the senator.
David Sablan said many children of indigenous people who married non-NMD people will naturally have children of mixed blood, and under the land alienation rule they are not entitled to own land in the CNMI.
“This is a big problem. Article 12 in our Constitution forces people to marry people of the same ethnicity because the land goes back to the government if the owner is not 100 percent NMI-descent,” he said.
The local community, he added, should discuss the complex land alienation rule with an open mind.
“I want to die knowing that my land will be left to my family and not to the government,” he added.
Alex Sablan, for his part, said the land alienation rule was created some 30 years back to protect uneducated locals from being taken advantaged of. But, he said, times have changed.
Seman said the future generations in the CNMI who have been exposed to different cultures will suffer the consequences of the land alienation rule.
He said their group is eager to hear groups or individuals who support the retention of Article 12.
“We welcome opposition. We don’t want to make them feel that we’re just trying to brainwash the kids,” he said.
Their members are also available to speak before groups or organizations about the land alienation subject.
For more information, call 234-0609 Ext. 147.
