REPRESENTATIVE Daniel O. Quitugua says CNMI officials “should not close the doors” on the Global Country of World Peace.
House Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider, R-Saipan, and Bishop Tomas A Camacho earlier said the group’s plan could do more harm than good, but Quitugua says he is keeping his options open and would like to know more about the group’s proposal.
Global Country intends to build a “peace university,” a “peace palace” and a “peace garden” on Rota.
“I respect the speaker and the bishop’s position. Like anybody else, they are entitled to their own ideas and opinions. But I’m not yet closing the doors on the group. As a representative of the island, it is my obligation, not only to promote the idea but also to make sure that I wholly understand the group’s plan,” Quitugua, R-Rota, said.
Being “skeptical,” he said, is a “natural tendency” for people to dismiss groups and ideas that are alien to them.
“This is what happens when we encounter new ideas. It’s practically a defense mechanism. You fear something that you do not know,” the chairman of the House Committee on Education said.
He said the Legislature’s briefing with Global Country last week should have thoroughly discussed the economic aspects of the group’s plan. These are more important than their beliefs and practices, he added.
“The presentation went quite well. But I think, most, if not all of the lawmakers are concerned about the economic side of the proposal—what they are offering Rota and the commonwealth in terms of economic benefits,” he said.
Quitugua said the “real challenge” is to fully understand the group’s plan before coming out with a decision. “I don’t want to prejudge this group until I am adequately informed about its intentions,” he said.
The lawmaker is proposing to have further discussions with the group. “They need to sit down again with lawmakers either in a gathering similar to the previous briefing or with a smaller group and be able to communicate their ideas more effectively and respond to specific questions,” he said.
