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protest infront of the governor's office

protest infront of the governor's office

THE GOVERNOR RAN AWAY FR THE BACK DOOR.

THE GOVERNOR RAN AWAY FR THE BACK DOOR.

HEADLINE!

STRIBUNE

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Group holds rally, dares Fitial to talk to them
By Agnes E. DonatoReporter


The community group Taotao Tano held a rally outside the administration building yesterday to demand the resignation of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and all of his appointees.About 15 Taotao Tano members, their children in tow, stood for four hours in front of the Governor's Office, shouting calls for the governor to step down, or at least to come out and speak to them. Fitial and his police escorts reportedly left the building through the back door without addressing the small crowd.“It's very disappointing he had to get four police officers to escort him. We are not a radical group; we even came with kids. We just wanted to talk to him about the CUC [Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] contracts,” said Taotao Tano leader Gregorio Cruz.Taotao Tano has questioned CUC's $5.1 million contract with the Guam-based DCM Group for the repair of Saipan's Power Plant I, and the $885,000 contract with the Commonwealth Industrial Supply Co. Inc. for the repair of Power Plant II. Both companies have failed to complete their work on schedule. The continuing repair at the power plants has prompted CUC to hire the U.K.-based Aggreko International to provide temporary power to Saipan at a cost of $6 million.“Where is the rehabilitation that was supposed to take place? What is the administration going to do with those contracts? Are we going to continue spending money to repair something that should have fixed already?” Cruz asked.“If these officials can't do their job, they don't belong in office. They should step down,” he added.The Saipan Tribune tried to get comments from CUC executive director Tony Muna, but he has not responded at press time. Muna has called the DCM contract “a mistake.” He has also reported that CISCO's work, which was supposed to have been completed in 2006, has been put on hold.It is not clear what CUC's next step will be on DCM or CISCO.Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. Reyes said he knew little about the March 2006 contract with CISCO, which had been given 120 days to fix Power Plant II. But he played down the contractors' faults.“Maybe the engines are in a worse state than they expected. Those engines had been neglected for many years. Unfortunately, the mistakes of the past are coming back to haunt us. We're just trying to deal with the bad circumstances,” he said.Reyes also called Taotao Tano's rally “a publicity stunt.”“They're exercising their right to free speech. That's all right as long as they do it peacefully and they are not disturbing the peace,” he said.

MVARIETY

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Reyes: Governor’s office not affected by protest Tuesday, 08 July 2008 00:00 By Junhan B. Todeno - Variety News Staff

THE leader of Taotao Tano does not “represent the indigenous people” and his protest action that demanded the resignation of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial is “unreasonable,” Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said yesterday. A Taotao Tano member holds a placard critical of the administration during their rally outside the governor’s office yesterday. Photo by Mark PeñarandaThe Office of the Governor is “not affected” by the rally spearheaded by Greg Cruz. “We will continue to work,” Reyes said, adding that they have no time to have a dialogue with Cruz. “We talked with him before and we gave him an opportunity to be heard,” Reyes said. “But he has become critical and unreasonable,” he added, when the Fitial administration did not give him a government job. Cruz, in a separate interview, said Reyes should stop acting “as if he is the governor — he only wants a show on island.” Reyes should prove that Taotao Tano does not represent the indigenous people of the CNMI, Cruz said. Their call for Fitial’s resignation is reasonable, he added, and Taotao Tano will continue its protest “until something happens.” Cruz and his group gathered outside the governor’s office on Capital Hill at 1:30 p.m. yesterday. The rally was supposed to start at 10 a.m. Cruz was with eight children, 12 teenagers and seven other adults. The group displayed their banner which stated: “We are all suffering. Fuel is a global issue but ismanagement, incompetence, sweetheart deals, under the table deals is not. If you guys cannot fix CUC step down.” They chanted protest slogans from time to time. The Reyes sisters — Tacia, 16, Estela, 19, and Angie, 18 — said their demand was reasonable “because we have suffered a lot.” Christopher Ayuyu, 33, who has been with Taotao Tano for a year now, said people are paying CUC’s debt and the price of fuel is more than the minimum wage. Aaron Arthur, 15, said the governor is not addressing the pressing problems of the islands. Another local group, the CNMI Descents for Self-Government and Indigenous Rights does not support Taotao Tano’s cause. Former Speaker Oscar C. Rasa, spokesman and adviser of the CNMI Descents, said they are only concerned about issues affecting the rights of the indigenous people. “We are not involved in one way or another with the demand for Fitial’s resignation,” Rasa told Variety, adding that their group now has 2,300 members. Reyes said Cruz enjoyed the support of the local people, but most of them have formed their own groups. “He is inconsistent,” Reyes said. “He might be supporting you in one day and next week attacking you — completely npredictable.” Taotao Tano’s demand for a complete revamp of the cabinet members is also unreasonable because some of those officials are performing well and have nothing to do with Cruz’s problems, Reyes said. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Clyde Norita and Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Dr. Ignacio Dela Cruz are doing well, Reyes said. CUC Executive Director Antonio Muna, he added, is trying to address a difficult situation. Reyes believes that Cruz is being fed information by some politicians or groups that want to express their sentiments but don’t want to be identified. “He is not a very knowledgeable person but sometime when you look at his press releases it sound like it came from somebody who is knowledgeable,” Reyes said. “I have seen his writing and he often has grammatical errors. He’s not a good writer.” Cruz said politicians do not support their group because “they are afraid of us.” He again challenged Reyes to prove that he applied for a job with the Fitial administration.

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OUR CNMI LEADERS activities and accomplishments

Introductory, pending and passage of house bills

Saturday, November 24, 2007

RESPONSE FROM: Rep. Taman on HB15-246 / PL 15-94.

mv-Friday November 23, 2007

Letter to the editor: Taotao Tano, H.B. 15-246 and P.L. 15-94

I KNOW I have some explaining to do here, but I am an elected public servant and part of my elected duty is to ensure that I provide such accurate information and I can when going public with my opinions.
First, I am trained to listen, and I accept criticisms as a public servant, and I will engage in any retaliatory mode of public criticism because I know that if I make mistakes, I will humbly accept responsibility and try to correct them. However, I will react and respond to any unreasonable, unjustifiable and unfair accusations, in order to enlighten the truth of the matter and not contribute to misinformation and confusion in the community.
Therefore, let’s clear the record here so the people can get the benefit of accurate public information in order to make some good judgments.
Let me take you, Mr. Guru Cruz, back to Oct. 3, 2007, when you and members of the Taotao Tano were sitting in the House gallery anxiously waiting for us to override the governor’s veto of House Bill 15-246. Like you stated in one of your news articles, when you claimed that it was the Taotao Tano’s insistence that the Legislature overrode the governor’s veto, yes, we all were united on this issue and wanted the override because we all felt it was necessary for the people.
Let me also remind you in case you have forgotten that the House unanimously voted for the override with 16 voted yes and 2 members absent. The Senate then overrode the same veto on Oct. 4, 2007 in Rota with 8 members voting yes and one member absent. Of the 27 members of both houses in the 15th Legislature, 24 voted for the override, and this override included your voice for the people, many CNMI residents, and the rest of the Taotao Tano. If what you said is true that your association represents the voice of the people, then this is a testimony that this override was necessary and was the right thing to do for the people. Please try to keep yourself focused on what and how things transpired, and then decide where you stand. You can’t be in two places at one time.
Furthermore, please note that the current proposed increase in the electric rate by the governor, is the emergency regulation proposed to be implemented by the “Customers Using Candles,” also known as CUC. The governor did not invoke his emergency power like you claimed in your letter. But even so, this proposed emergency regulation is still in violation of Public Law 15-94. But of course, with all the legal scientists in the governor’s office, he will still disagree with us. Then he will continue to publicly profess that he is very much willing to work with the Legislature, like Charles continues to repeat himself. This will be a good definition of your favorite word, DECEPTION.
Mr. Cruz, I firmly believe that the best possible way that we in this poor CNMI can solve some of our problems and move forward toward economic recovery is when we have peace among ourselves and work together in unity and harmony. I want you to know that the newly elected Republicans are trying to do just that. We have a consensus that the hard working Minority Leader Rep. Arnold I. Palacios will be our next speaker for the 16th Legislature. Even the Honorable Rep. Stanley Torres happily consented to this choice. So please try not to disrupt this peaceful process. Please try not to single out people in your praises or accusations because I believe we’re all in this together whether you like or not.
By the way, I wonder why are you guys so obsessed with only the Legislature? Don’t you think everyone is equally responsible in the quest to find solutions to our problems? You are beginning to sound like T.H. & A. the other three Goros, duh. Please quit contributing to the glory of, you know who.
Greg, I don’t know if you realize that you have tremendous leadership potential. You probably won’t believe it but people are talking all over the island about how much potential you have. But they strongly recommended that you learn the Art of Listening to more realistic advice so that you may nourish and nurture your potentials. Try to be more discrete and prudent in your choice of words. You will begin to realize that you are more mature and diplomatic, and by the time the year 2009 kicks in, then you’re good to go. Don’t forget that you are a public figure. See you later. Oops, don’t forget to take the P.I.O. with you.
REP. CANDIDO B. TAMAN
Capital Hill, Saipan
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New law tightens definition of "loitering"

120107 st- Local Saturday, December 01, 2007 By Agnes E. DonatoReporter


A GOOD LAW!!

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has approved a bill strengthening the law against streetside solicitation of customers in the Commonwealth.The newly enacted law provides a clearer definition of acts of loitering.Under the legislation, attempting more than one time to lure a customer into a commercial transaction, whether legal or illegal, through shouting, calling, or beckoning, is prohibited.Also banned is grabbing or touching of potential customers for commercial gain.A person convicted of loitering may be fined up to $1,000 or sentenced to up to 30 days in prison.Public Law 15-113 was enacted in a bid to clarify two previous statutes against loitering. The Legislature said that P.L. 14-50 and P.L. 14-93 had been ineffective in curbing the aggressive street-side solicitation of tourists and other people in the CNMI.The governor noted the previous laws required that there be “repeated” attempts or acts of loitering, but failed to define “repeated.”“This measure clarifies the language, which in turn will assist law enforcement officers when determining if a person is loitering or attempting to loiter for commercial gain,” Fitial said.