SENATOR Pete P. Reyes has contacted the Office of Public Auditor and is claiming some kind of impropriety regarding my daughter’s employment. I wish to make it clear that I have no problem with any investigation into my daughter’s employment status. She did graduate in the top 10 of her class at Tinian High School and is now finishing her junior year at the University of Guam. She is not receiving any benefits for which any other student would be eligible. There is no reason to punish her, simply because she happens to be the daughter of an elected official.
It is not surprising to me that Senator Reyes is attacking my family and me. Although only last week he attempted a coup by offering me the Senate presidency, I knew that it was a false promise. I knew that this was only done in attempt to break up the new majority. And, I knew that at their first opportunity, they would attempt another coup to put themselves in the leadership. That is why I stuck by my commitment to Senate President Paul A. Manglona and the incumbent leadership.
It is unfortunate that Senator Reyes has turned his loss into a personal vendetta. Other than for Senator Paul, the delegations from Rota and Tinian have suffered in the minority since the commonwealth was established. Now, all of a sudden, because of his own lack of political acumen, Senator Reyes finds himself in the minority. And, he just cannot handle it. This is the mark of a shallow politician.
We can expect more rhetoric from Senator Reyes. He thrives on publicity. The media can either feed his ego through publicity, or take the time to analyze what he is saying, examine his motives, and disregard his disruptive antics.
My colleagues in the Legislature and I are committed to passing the best budget we can this year. I have been in contact with my counterparts in the House of Representatives, and in particular Rep. Stanley T. Torres. We have agreed to move forward, regardless of the petty political bickering from Senator Reyes. If our efforts fail, it will because Senator Reyes has gone out of his way to torpedo us.
I hope that eventually, Senator Reyes will come to agree that we have one commonwealth with one people. Everyone else seems to have agreed that we need to develop all our islands, just as has Hawaii. Leave the politics for campaign time. Let’s get down to the job at hand—dealing with our people’s needs.JOSE M. DELA CRUZ
Vice President
13th CNMI Senate
