THIS refers to your report on Page 3 of the Thursday issue that flashed the headline “Reyes Says He has Evidence vs Manglona, Dela Cruz.” For the most part, the report was accurate. However, I have clarified that initially our information alleges the use of Senate President Paul A. Manglona’s account in the hiring of Sen. Dela Cruz’s daughter. We were mistaken. The account used belongs to another senator and not Senate President Manglona’s account. I thought I should clarify this matter. This statement can be verified and confirmed as my interview was aired on KMCV and on KZMI-FM and KCNM-FM news on Wednesday.
Senate President Manglona is correct. There is nothing in his account that can be referenced to the hiring of Senator Dela Cruz’s daughter. He probably is also correct that he has no control over the contracts of staff employed by other senators. As President, however, he has the responsibility to ensure that public funds are spent properly and that all senators must be accountable.
In response to Sen. Dela Cruz’s statement about my lack of acumen, I say that it is very easy to be a part of the leadership. If the good senator remembers, he invited me into the leadership and the condition of that offer was not appealing to me. I quote his own statement to me: “If it is necessary to dance with the devil himself to advance politically, you must do it.” Well, I am not a good dancer to begin with and secondly, the devil definitely is not the right dancing partner for me. It is either to waltz with the leadership and condone all these things that are happening or represent the interests of the public. I chose representing the interests of the public over a position in the leadership. I decided to let Senator Dela Cruz go steady with the devil and I’ll just go on serving the people’s interest to the best of my ability because I sleep well at night.PETE P. REYES
Minority Leader
13the CNMI Senate
