SPEAKER Edmund S. Villagomez has asked House Minority Leader Angel Demapan to submit the names of three minority bloc members who will be part of the ethics committee the speaker intends to form.
In an interview on Wednesday, the speaker said his goal is to complete composition of the ethics committee by Friday.
Under House rules, seven members must comprise the committee.
Villagomez said the committee will look into the ethics complaint against Rep. Edwin Propst — and any other ethics issues that may arise.
“My intent is to establish this committee so that if any further ethics issues come up in the future, we will have a committee already in place,” the speaker said.
“I know that the public perception is that this will be an investigatory committee on Rep. Ed Propst, but it is really not,” he added.
Although the formation of the committee is in response to an ethics complaint against Propst, the speaker said, “it’s not just for him.”
Once the committee is done with Propst, “I’m not dismantling it. It will be in place for the rest of the term,” Villagomez said.
It was Grace Sablan-Vaiagae who, in a letter, urged Villagomez to investigate the sexual assault and abuse allegations against Propst.
Sablan-Vaiagae was the NMI Republican Party candidate in the recent Precinct 3 special election. She lost to Democrat Corina L. Magofna.
Propst, for his part, said he is being targeted for “investigating [Gov.] Ralph Torres for corruption. Nothing new here.”
Edmund S. Villagomez
