By Emmanuel T. Erediano
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Variety News Staff
SENATE President Karl King-Nabors on Thursday defended the Senate’s rejection of Mariana Eland Corporation’s proposal to lease the 1.4 million-square-meter property previously occupied by Kan Pacific’s Mariana Resort & Spa in Marpi.
Attorney General Edward Manibusan, in an April 7, 2026 letter, followed up with King-Nabors and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez regarding his Jan. 6, 2026 correspondence informing them that a joint session is needed to decide on Mariana Eland Corporation’s bid for the Marpi property.
“As of the date of this follow-up letter, the Legislature has not held a joint session to address the proposed lease,” the attorney general said.
As of Friday, May 22, 2026, no joint session had been held to decide the fate of the lease bid, which the Senate rejected through Senate Resolution 24-10 on Sept. 15, 2025, in response to strong opposition from some local residents.
In his response to Manibusan, King-Nabors argued that “the only statutory requirement to transfer more than five hectares of public lands is approval by the Legislature sitting in a joint session. There is no explicit statutory language requiring the Legislature to ‘disapprove’ the transfer of more than five hectares of public land for commercial purposes in a joint session.”
He added that the joint session rules of the 24th Legislature “do not provide for a process to review public land leases,” and said there is no legislative record of the Legislature sitting in joint session to disapprove a public land lease proposal. Instead, he said, joint sessions have historically been used only to grant approval.
The Senate president said that because Section 5(d) of Article XI of the NMI Constitution, 1 CMC § 2608(d), and the Legislature’s joint rules do not explicitly outline a process to disapprove a public land lease, the Senate acted through resolution to express its position on the Mariana Resort lease proposal.
He noted that although the House of Representatives has not adopted a similar resolution, the Senate has already expressed its disapproval through S.R. 24-10, “which constitutes an official act of the Senate.” With its adoption, he said, “the Senate disposed of the proposed lease pursuant to the Senate Interim Rules of Procedure.”
King-Nabors also said the CNMI Superior Court’s order following the Dec. 16, 2025 status conference “appears inconsistent with certain statements in your letter.” He cited language in the attorney general’s letter stating that the court would not take further action until the Legislature addresses the lease in a joint session, and that a joint session is needed to either approve or formally reject it.
However, he said the court order does not explicitly state such an intention. Instead, he noted, the order references the requirement under 1 CMC § 2806(d) that legislative approval in joint session is required for leases transferring more than five hectares of public land for commercial use.
King-Nabors maintained that the Senate has already rejected the proposal and that no joint session has occurred.
He stressed that “there is no explicit statement in the court order that the court will not take further action in the litigation until the Legislature addresses the proposed lease in a joint session.”
“Unless there is a specific constitutional or statutory provision that requires the Legislature to formally disapprove the proposed lease for Mariana Resort in a joint session, the Senate’s action in adopting Senate Resolution 24-10 is sufficient to officially disapprove the said proposed lease agreement,” King-Nabors said.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
