FOR his apparent refusal to appear before the House Ways and Means Committee, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert A. Guerrero should get a $1 salary for the next fiscal year, Rep. Celina Babauta said. CNMI law states that a DPS commissioner’s annual salary shall not exceed $54,000.
Rep. Tina Sablan said her fellow Democrat’s suggestion was “not unreasonable.”
For his part, the committee chairman, Rep. Donald Manglona, said there may be a need to “issue another round of [Section] 1301 to 1309 letters.”
He added, “If it works for the Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, maybe it can work for Ways and Means.”
Sections 1301 to 1309, which pertain to legislative investigations, refer to CNMI law that authorizes lawmakers to summon public officials and documents.
Earlier this month, Manglona scheduled another budget hearing for DPS because Guerrero did not show up in the first one.
The committee also received notice from Guerrero that he would be on medical leave for two weeks, which ended on June 30.
Manglona said he was told again that the commissioner was asking for another two weeks of medical leave and that Guerrero wouldn’t be able to attend the next budget hearing.
Rep. Celina Babauta, who chairs the JGO committee, said they should “demand a medical slip from the doctor about the commissioner’s alleged medical leave.”
For her part, Sablan said Guerrero is not helping his department by not being available to participate in the budget hearing and answer questions that the committee may have about DPS.
She said the commissioner is able to answer questions from the community and members of the media, and yet he cannot attend the House budget hearing.
“I think we need to get an audience with him,” she said.
During last year’s House budget hearing on DPS, Commissioner Guerrero walked out of the House chamber after a heated exchange of words with Sablan.
Robert Guerrero
