By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
WHEN I first arrived on Saipan 32 years ago, there were still plenty of flights to and from the island, including a direct Manila-Saipan service. The flight schedules were “normal.” The Continental plane I boarded at the Manila airport that Saturday left at 12 noon and arrived here at about 5:30 p.m. (A three-and-a-half-hour flight plus the two-hour difference.) Before stamping my passport, the local immigration officer made a joke about my “local” surname — which I didn’t “get” — while the customs officer appeared amused or bemused at the sight of the books in my brand-new luggage, which I had bought at SM Cubao the night before. At the Saipan airport, an employee of my new employer picked me up and drove me to his apartment in Garapan, where I had supper (Calrose rice and corned beef) while watching a Philippine newscast that I had seen exactly a week earlier in Manila. At the time, the only “live” channels were CNN and the local cable newscasts.
In those days, there were several local newspapers, only one of which — Marianas Variety — was published Monday to Friday. The others were Saipan-Guam Balita, Marianas Review, Pacific Star, Saipan Tribune (still owned by Larry Hillblom), Pacific Chronicle, Voices, and the rag I would edit, The Marianas Observer. Also providing CNMI news were the Guam-based PDN, KZMI-FM, KSAI-AM, KMCV-7 (also owned by Hillblom), and Saipan Cable TV (whose Guam-based owner hated Hillblom). Fun fact: KMCV called itself “Unbeatable,” while Saipan Cable TV branded its rival “Uneatable.”
Tourism arrivals in those days increased almost every month, and most of the visitors were Japanese. Garment factories were also thriving. And, not surprisingly, so was the CNMI government.
It seemed that every day, new stores, restaurants, nightclubs, and other businesses were opening their doors. The Saipan cockfight arena on Middle Road in Garapan was alive and kicking, especially on weekend nights. Beach barbecues and gatherings were a common sight. In downtown Garapan, you had to drive slowly because there were so many tourist pedestrians. The clubs closed at 2 a.m., but the drinking sessions continued elsewhere. Saipan was the island of parties — and good food. D’ Elegance Restaurant was open 24/7, and so were J’s Restaurants. The servings were enormous, and the prices customer-friendly. Hyatt and PIC had the finest and most bountiful buffet spreads. (They were not inexpensive, but worth it.) During weekends, most everyone headed to the Hotel Nikko (now Kensington) and, across from it, the La Fiesta Mall, where several stores sold clothing and other items that were generally cheaper than those available at DFS Galleria.
On Sunday morning, my new co-worker took me on a round-the-island drive from Garapan to Koblerville, then to Obyan before turning north to Dandan (I finally got the immigration officer’s joke), and onward to Marpi. The Saipan lagoon was magnificent — like a big swimming pool, I thought. I get to live and work here and get paid in U.S. dollars?
On Saipan, there were only two traffic lights: one at the former Microl intersection and the other at Joeten Susupe. Later, more public roads would be widened and paved, and there would be more traffic lights. McDonald’s on Middle Road had opened just the year before, as had Joeten-Kiyu Public Library.
Covering the news, I would later learn, was not a hard grind. The governor’s office had a public information officer, and the governor himself regularly met with reporters. DPS conducted a daily media briefing, providing reporters with copies of the daily blotter. We were free to ask any questions about any cases. At the modest-looking courthouse, we were provided copies of public documents free of cost. On Capital Hill, the lawmakers’ offices were always open to reporters.
There was plenty of news to report — and plenty of media outlets to report them.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the first law signed by the new governor in January 1994 was the Open Government Act. “I have committed this administration to clean and open government and the public’s right to know,” Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio stated in his transmittal letter. He said the new law “will promote public knowledge and participation in government and will help prevent secretive and clandestine policy-making. I feel that it is better to have a law of this sort, and correct the problems [it may create] as we stumble into them, than not have one at all.”
That ranking government officials — including the attorney general — would not meet with reporters was unthinkable back in the day. And so were the alarming decline of the tourism industry, a 23% (!) hotel occupancy rate, the governor’s office not having a PIO, a four-day school week, and lawmakers whining about the criticism of ordinary citizens.
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Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
