I WOULD like to extend my utmost respect and appreciation to Mr. Jack Tenorio, currently acting secretary of labor and immigration for his honesty in admitting that there is an existing problem at DOLI. Mr. secretary, I salute you because very few and far between if any, had there ever been a nominee who displayed the courage and tenacity to express what is in his heart to an entire committee of public officials who hold the key to his nomination. And along with our honorable governor, lt. governor, legislators and those citizens who supported your nomination. I also support you because you have proven yourself as a man with courage, sincerity and integrity.
Mr. Secretary, my name is Jack T. Quitugua, and contrary to what Mr. Alfred Pangelinan might have told you about my behalf or been led to believe regarding my previous letters to the editor with respect to the system and its employment services director, I sincerely stand my ground on the merits and facts of what I had presented to the general public.
To come straight to the point, my previous comments concentrated on the subject of fiduciary duties and responsibilities of DES to resident jobseekers, as mandated by the Non-Resident Workers Act.
In my previous letters, I recited 3 CMC, Div. 4 along with specific articles, and paragraphs to the director of DES pertaining to his division’s lack of compliance in the handling of resident referrals. Additionally, I had challenged him to answer vital questions pertaining to the division’s current policies and procedures and his plans for resolving such a dilemma. However, instead of answering the questions presented to him by virtue of being a public servant, Mr. Pangelinan instead chose to evade answering or making any clarifications. And in doing so, he has displayed himself to be very unprofessional and quite inconsiderate to the interest of an inquiring citizen and in particular, resident jobseekers.
It has it been nine months now since I’ve sought the assistance of DES with respect to referral but to no avail. It seems now that because of my initial letter to the editor in March expressing my frustration with DES’s handling of my referral, Mr. Pangelinan has also saw fit to instigate the practice of vindictiveness. I have received absolutely no further correspondence from DES regarding any further referrals on my behalf. However, I want Mr. Pangelinan to know that I am a survivor with or without his assistance, and it is my hope Mr. Secretary that you investigate such practices so that other resident jobseekers will not be subjected to the same experience.
I’m sure you’d agree with me that any citizen, regardless of who they are or where they come from, is entitled to be kept informed of their current status with public service entities like DES. And to retaliate in such a manner as to completely close a referral file on a CNMI citizen without further due process merely because he had expressed frustration is very unprofessional and improper. Yet, Mr. Pangelinan has accomplished this without hesitation or consideration to his status as a high-level government official obligated to conduct himself professionally. Mr. Secretary, this individual can definitely pick up some pointers from you about courage, sincerity and integrity. The multiple problems you identified during your confirmation hearing is nothing new as you stated, which only confirms my frustrations with DES even more in the handling of my referral process.
And although you mentioned DOLI in general terms, my frustration and dissatisfaction lies with DES. I do not claim to know every existing local law currently in effect today Mr. Secretary, but the Non-Resident Workers Act is an Act which I am thoroughly familiar with especially in areas that refer to resident workers including the duties and responsibilities of the labor chief. And if Mr. Pangelinan insists that I am solely to blame for the end result and lengthy period of my referral’s due process, then I am requesting and issuing a formal challenge to Mr. Alfred Pangelinan to a public debate, if this is feasible. I want to debate him on the issues and provisions of the Non-Resident Workers Act as it applies to resident workers, including the law’s enforcement and compliance. The grounds of such a request is to provide an opportunity for the public to witness who between Mr. Pangelinan and I is incorrect on the provisions of the existing law affecting local residents. I would very much like for Mr. Pangelinan to face me eye to eye as well as the general public and prove that he is quite competent and deserves to be retained as director of DES. In closing, I would like to state for the record, that Mr. Pangelinan and I can both agree to disagree on a professional level.JACK T. QUITUGUA
Garapan, Saipan
