THE Office of the Public Auditor is conducting an investigation on alleged CNMI Ethics Act violation involving the Senate’s two highest officials—Senate President Paul A. Manglona and Senate Vice President Jose M. Dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz’s daughter is allegedly listed as a full-time employee of Manglona while attending the University of Guam.
Manglona, R-Rota, and Dela Cruz, D-Tinian, questioned the motive behind the investigation. Sen. Ramon S. Guerrero, American Reform-Saipan, and Senate Minority Leader Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, requested OPA to look into Manglona’s office account.
The two senators recently tried to oust Manglona from the Senate presidency.
Dela Cruz, in an interview yesterday, said he welcomes any OPA investigation, but added that Guerrero and Reyes “just want to get back at me.”
“There’s nothing to hide and I welcome any investigation on me or my daughter or any member of my family,” he said.
Dela Cruz added, “Before, they were willing to give me their support because they believed in me. But when I did not accept the offer, they are trying to get back at me, and they are dragging my daughter into this mess.”
The Senate “coup” failed after Dela Cruz declined to join the minority bloc.
Dela Cruz said his daughter has been studying on Guam for the past two years.
“So why are they making a story out of it just now?” he added.
Dela Cruz said his daughter is employed with the CNMI’s liaison office on Guam while studying at UOG.
Manglona, in a separate interview, said Dela Cruz’s daughter is not employed by his office.
He said Guerrero is making the issue a “political one.”
“Why are they making it a political issue when it is not?” Manglona said.
Guerrero and Reyes, in a one-page letter to Public Auditor Mike Sablan, said they wanted to know “if there are copies of payroll checks issued to (Dela Cruz’s daughter), and how long she has been employed under Senator Manglona’s account.”
Sablan, in a separate interview, acknowledged the receipt of Guerrero and Reyes’s May 16 letter, adding that OPA was conducting an investigation.
“These are all allegations. What OPA is doing is investigating whether there are violations of the Ethics Act, including possible conflict of interest. The results of the investigation would be submitted to the proper agencies once completed,” Sablan said.
Sen. David M. Cing, D-Tinian, said he had “nothing to do” with Guerrero and Reyes’s request to OPA.
It was Cing’s decision to leave the Senate leadership that sparked the failed coup attempt.
