IF you want to be amazed and enlightened at the same time, you should read any of the very old issues of the NMI’s oldest newspaper.
The banner headline of the Jan. 7, 1983 Marianas Variety was “Tinian Lease Signed.” The “long-awaited 50-year, $33 million lease of lands on Tinian, Saipan and Farallon de Medinilla” was signed on Jan. 6 before Governor Teno delivered his State of the Commonwealth Address at the Mt. Carmel School auditorium. The lease was for 50 years with an option to renew for another 50 years. The annual interest from the $33 million lease payment, which was deposited in a trust fund, was estimated at $3.5 million. There were no inhabitants on the Tinian lands leased by the military, and most of them would continue to be used for agricultural and grazing purposes. The Saipan land to be leased was American Memorial Park.
“No military use is contemplated at this time for the majority of the acreage on Tinian or any of that on Saipan; both are reserved for contingency purposes should future developments in the Pacific area so require. The U.S. will lease back to the Northern Marianas approximately 12,000 acres on Tinian and retain approximately 5,300 acres which are periodically used for training exercises by U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine units. [FDM] has been used by [the military] as an air and naval ordnance impact range since 1971.”
Besides Teno, the CNMI officials who signed the agreement were Senate President Olympio T. Borja, Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, Marianas Public Land Corp. Chairman Antonio R. Sablan and Commonwealth Ports Authority Chairman Jesus M. Guerrero.
In other news: a death threat was made against a Rota doctor, one of the two teens charged with raping a San Vicente woman admitted his involvement, equipment worth $16,000 was still missing from the Legislature, and a local man pleaded guilty to unlawfully using and possessing a firearm on the night a Micronesian boat captain “was shot to death in the House of Chiang bar in Garapan.”
Teno in his address admitted that “power generation problems continue to plague us.”
On Pagan, CRM and Fish and Wildlife personnel conducted a “seven-day expedition…to determine if there was sufficient lobster population to begin commercial operations” there.
A new company opened, Marianas Protection Service Inc., to “fac[e] up to the increase in violent crimes on Saipan.”
The reply of the CNMI Democrats’ (remember them?) to Teno’s State of the Commonwealth Address was featured in our Jan. 14, 1983 issue (the MV was a weekly paper). They said there seemed to be more power outages and that the Retirement Fund “has become a drain in our budget”: “What is needed now is a serious effort to come to grips with a funding solution. This might entail reducing retirement benefits, eliminating doubledipping and increasing contributions. Otherwise we will wind up with not only a bankrupt Fund but a bankrupt government as well.”
According to the Democrats, “We must move away from the MORE GOVERNMENT to the LESS GOVERNMENT philosophy, from GOVERNMENT AS THE EMPLOYER OF FIRST RESORT, to the GOVERNMENT AS EMPLOYER OF LAST RESORT thinking. As a people we should begin to learn to stand on our own two feet, as individuals and as private organizations, and not depend on the government for everything.”
Did I mention that this was coming from Democrats?
In our Jan. 21, 1983 issue, it was reported that the House passed a budget amounting to $50 million: $17.65 million for personnel, $20.8 million for operation, $3.5 million for the Economic Development Loan Fund (now known as CDA) and $8 for CIP’s.
A week later, MV reported that war hero Guy Gabaldon submitted an application to open a floating casino. He said casino gambling “is good for the commonwealth, will supply needed income and will allow the CNMI to become self-sufficient.”
Three months later, Gabaldon was again in the news, this time asking the feds to investigate “the dastardly situation” in the CNMI. He said Teno had “surrounded himself with a bunch of alcoholics, incompetents and power-mad individuals,” and that the government had been turned over to the governor’s brother-in-law, Jesus “Yes Jess!” Mafnas, the chief of personnel. Gabaldon blamed “ultraliberals” such as the Peace Corps volunteers and the generosity of Uncle Sam. “Why do we continue destroying these people by pampering them?” He said he would send photos of people feeding USDA cheese to pigs and people standing in the food stamp line whose spouses were gainfully employed.
The Feb. 1983 visitor arrivals to the CNMI were up 9 percent and Speaker Fitial said gas prices were expected to drop by 12 cents per gallon. The previous last change was in 1981 when the price dropped from $1.24 to $1.22.
Monsignor Tomas Camacho noted that the family system was breaking down.
Then-Representative Kilili, Democrat from Chalan Kanoa, proposed a switch to a unicameral legislature. He said bicameralism was “too expensive, too unresponsive, too political.”
A letter to the editor complained about the government’s failure — yes, failure — to collect power bills. “The best alternative would be for the CNMI to sell their power plant to private investors. A private company could do no worse than the government has done….”
From the MV’s April 8 front page: “Rapist inmate escapes twice in 9 days.”
A week later, “NMI Declared Duty Free to U.S.” U.S. Customs Service provided this information to a Guam businessman by the name of Jerry Tan, “who plans to establish a garment factory on Saipan.”
On April 29 it was reported that the Hyatt slot machines “are now for hotel guests only due to the public outcry against their use.” The permission to install the machines were granted by AG Peter Van Name Esser. The House led by Speaker Fitial passed a bill to ban poker machines. “I am against gambling, period,” Uncle Ben said. “I think anyone who has any public responsibility should respect the will of the people,” referring to the 1979 referendum that repealed the casino gambling law. “Those people who brought in those machines should be castigated.”
Rep. Vicente “Pacho” Sablan, the Democratic leader of the House, predicted that people would suffer. “There has to be a policy decision from the Legislature” against gambling machines, he said.
MV’s editorial thundered, “Slot machines: Remove them!” The editorial cartoon depicted a giant slot machine running for its life while being chased by the people.
The Variety also carried a special report on guest workers recounting horror stories about their employment — and employers: “They only get $1.35 an hour.” “She worked during rest hour.” “The boss can’t pay them.” “They were scared of him — he carries a gun.”
On May 6, 1983, plans regarding a $5.8 million art and cultural center were disclosed.
Sen. Froilan C. Tenorio, D-Saipan, said gambling “can reduce local tax burden.” He wanted gambling revenue to go to medical referrals, the Retirement Fund, scholarships and private schools.
Variety reporter and columnist Ruth Tighe said “let’s stop condemning all travel,” referring to junkets. “All travel is not bad, all travel is not a waste.” Her column was called “Counterpoint.”
MV’s May 30, 1983 edition quoted a 1975 report titled “Gambling in Micronesia: An Ad-Hoc Committee Report to the High Commissioner, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,” which disclosed that crimes on Saipan had increased since the introduction of slot machines. 132 percent increase in burglaries, 84 percent increase in grand larceny, 400 percent increase in forgery, robbery, attempted burglary, attempted grand larceny and petit larceny. Establishments with slot machines had been burglarized once or more.
On June 3, 1983: the MV featured “The Commonwealth Energy Conservation Newsletter,” which reported that an experimental windmill in Kagman had shut down and that a biomass project was proposed on Rota.
Our June 10, 1983 editorial: “Crime is rampant in Garapan.”
At that time, the AG’s office reported on island crime each week with Assistant AG Tim Bellas conducting the press briefing.
The June 24, 1983 MV editorial praised Governor Teno for “opening door to press and public.” “Thanks Pete. Keep the sunshine coming.”
On July 15, 1983, the banner story was “CNMI Senate bankrupt.” “Despite the money crunch, six Senate staffers just left on a three-week trip to Syracuse, New York to learn how to ‘draft legislation’ at a cost of $25,000 in plane tickets, per diem, land transportation and training costs….”
On Aug. 10, 1984, MV quoted visiting Assistant Interior Secretary Richard Montoya as saying that the island’s power plant, hospital and garbage collections service should be transferred to the private sector to minimize government spending.
Aug. 24, 1984: “A still unidentified male believed to be a sexual pervert…dragged a seven-year-old girl in a forest along Beach Road and raped her repeatedly.”
A Rota shooting incident resulted in the death of a 12-year-old. The suspect was 15 years old.
A week later, MV reported that Teno, in his State of the Commonwealth Address, said the islands’ growth “spurs crime rate hike.”
Sexual abuse of children had reached serious proportions, said Rep. Benigno M. Sablan. “It shows the breakdown of morals,” Monsignor Camacho said.
In the same issue, Representative Kilili called for the immediate suspension of the hiring of alien workers in the face of an “alarming rate” of increase in the nonresident labor force in the CNMI.
Guess what happened next.
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