FLASHBACK March 3, 1999-2003

Reforms to continue [/B]

After meeting with key members of the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C., the CNMI legislature is hoping to continue with reform measures to deal with concerns on local labor and immigration in an attempt to block a federal takeover proposal. Senate President Paul Manglona yesterday expressed optimism over the support of some U.S. lawmakers sympathetic to the conditions in the Northern Marianas, saying the meeting was a success. The CNMI delegation, led by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio who visited the Congress last week, provided updates on the labor and immigration reforms, the first since attending the oversight hearing by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in March last year.

The Commonwealth Development Authority has prodded the utilities company to include a refinancing clause in the future power plant construction contract with a Japanese conglomerate in order to ensure that power rates are maintained at the lowest possible level. CDA Board Chairman Juan S. Tenorio explained inserting such provision would give room to Marubeni Corp. and its US partner, Sithe Energies, Inc., to seek refinancing in the event the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation fails to meet its obligation to the power provider. Such flexibility, he said, would avoid possible sudden rise in power rates on Saipan.

Principal suspect in rape-slay freed[/B]

Thirty-six-year-old Asterio F. Bajo walked to freedom yesterday afternoon after spending 10 days in jail in connection with charges that he raped and murdered a waitress at Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino. The Superior Court ordered the release of Bajo following the recommendation by Kevin Lynch, chief of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office. In his motion, Lynch said the CNMI government does not intend to press criminal charges against Bajo as a result of additional investigation that has been performed. Sources said based on fresh information gathered by investigators, there were strong indications proving Bajo’s innocence.

The Attorney General’s Office yesterday contradicted earlier claims that Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez had been cleared of allegations linking him to bribery on the controversial Saipan power project. Testifying before the Senate Executive Appointments and Governmental Investigations Committee, acting Attorney General Herbert Soll and Alfred W. Teregeyo from the AGO’s investigation unit disclosed that the initial probe conducted on the charges has yet been closed. Mr. Soll told the eight-man panel that his office is awaiting result of a separate investigation being carried out by the Office of the Public Auditor to complete its findings on the accusations leveled against Mr. Villagomez by his ex-wife.

Business leader slams bloated bureaucracy[/B]

The Commonwealth has been trapped in a vicious economic cycle of rise and fall, mainly because the government has consistently failed to address the problems roots: Bloated bureaucracy. This, according to businessman and former Saipan of Chamber president Joe C. Ayuyu, has aggravated the adverse impacts of outside economic forces on the local business environment, which has been on the downside for the last five years. Ayuyu said recent efforts initiated by the private sector-mainly by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce-is gearing towards the right direction but added that the government must play an active and crucial role in spelling its success.

Board of Regents Chairman Vince Seman agreed that the BoR’s licensing authority governing private institutions seeking to establish postsecondary institutions in the CNMI is “overwhelming” in addition to the Regents’ major role in running the Northern Marianas College. The BoR chief, during the NMC’s Pacific Gateway presentation at the House Wednesday, has recommended that the Legislature set up a separate entity that will regulate private entities applying for licenses to offer college-level programs in the CNMI. The BoR, the lone public college’s policy-making body, is also the state postsecondary licensing authority.