GLOBAL Country tipped its hand when it was revealed that it wanted Rota to secede from the commonwealth in return for its promised economic development. I thought that was its game plan, but it would go about it more subtly, first by “influencing” most of the current Rota politicians and in 10 years by electing its own senators to the Commonwealth Legislature. Can you imagine having Senator Fishyfishy-fishnu, Senator Nannan-anownow and Senator Papa-ramadamdam of Luta? Good grief!
In a democracy when investors come visiting telling us that they are sovereign, that they make their own laws, have their own king, parliament, and government, and they want some public land for their own private spiritual use, we should quickly show them the door—especially when they dress like outer space characters from a Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon sci-fi series from the early days of television!
All it would take to completely control Rota politically is for 600 U.S. citizen members of Global Country to move to Rota, establish residency and register to vote. Their politics will be dictated by what their king wants and not by the needs of Rota or the CNMI. That’s a scary scenario and cannot be made better by some well-meaning Rotanese telling us not to worry and give them a chance.
I am certainly in favor of world peace, but have doubts whether Rota is the most suitable place for “World Peace Central.” A more challenging locale that needs all the peace the world can offer would be Ramallah, Palestine. And I have nothing against transcendental meditation. Indeed, almost all of our politicians could use a dose of it so they could learn to focus on the major issues, rather than the petty ones. What I am against is cults, blind allegiance to leaders, supreme beings disguised as humans, and people who accept anything and anyone if money is involved. I am also against being outnumbered by registered voters who really don’t give a damn about Rota or the CNMI.
What’s behind this? Will some connected Rota residents lease their lands and become millionaires? Will they sell their beloved island down the river for money? Why not? Many Saipanese would have made this entire island one big golf course and/or garment factory if they could have leased their land for a million. A few did. And, of course, there is Tinian where the lease-my-land crowd guaranteed that if casino gambling was approved, the casinos would financially take care of every resident of Tinian from life to death. That didn’t happen and now the only casino on Tinian is being sued by the feds for not paying proper wages and wants a qualifying certificate so it can get tax breaks.
Mayor Benjamin T. Manglona is an elected leader who will always have my respect. During his many years of government service, while others were getting rich on the side, all Benjamin Manglona cared about were the people of Rota and the CNMI. No one can doubt his sacrifices. But lately, in an effort to get something going economically on Rota, he has flirted with casino gambling and shooting galleries. His latest, Global Country, is the most dangerous because this organization knows how politics works, and in a democracy politics is controlled by having the most votes. Mayor Manglona thinks he can control them, but he’s wrong. I think he’s being used by them. It would be terribly disappointing to learn that he’s in this for land or other money.
The mayor’s best idea for Rota was his first—ecotourism. Unfortunately, ecotourism takes a lot of hard work and no one is going to be able to lease his land and become a millionaire overnight from ecotourism. It’s time for the people of Rota (and the rest of us) to realize that economic development cannot come from a quick fix, whether it’s gambling, shooting galleries or a group like Global Country. It takes hard work and it means everyone staying in the commonwealth, working together, keeping our islands clean and protecting our citizens from the legion of scammers out there who see us as easy prey for their own selfish purposes.
This newspaper has done an admirable job in writing about the things Global Country has done in Oregon and Iowa, but it has to do more. In the commonwealth, money talks and some hard heads have already been swayed. There is a wealth of information out there about Global Country and it should be complied, edited and printed for all your readers. No one else is going to do it. Our citizens and decision makers need information and they need to see it over and over again so it can sink in.
I commend the level-headed leaders of Rota, especially Senate President Paul A. Manglona and the rest of the Rota legislative delegation who oppose Global Country’s idea of development and believe in keeping this commonwealth together. The battle is not over yet because money will be exchanged and minds will be changed. Therefore, it’s time for Saipan to think about what it can get from Global Country if Rota changes its mind and decides to become a separate political entity under the control of Global Country. I suggest that Saipan not oppose Rota seceding from the commonwealth in exchange for $50 billion cash. Then we can let Rota go!
KENNETH L. GOVENDO
Dandan, Saipan
