From 25 pct. to just ‘some degree’ of indigenous blood

A committee report on one of four pending legislative initiatives on Article 12 recommends changing the 25 percent or one-quarter blood requirement to “at least some degree” of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination of these, in order to be considered a person of Northern Marianas descent.

“This is better than 25 percent blood quantum requirement,” Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan) told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Torres was one of those who signed off on the House Natural Resources Committee’s report recommending passage of vice speaker Felicidad Ogumoro’s (Cov-Saipan) House Legislative Initiative 17-3 in the form of House Draft 1.

Although he signed off on the committee report, Torres said he would also like to vote on another initiative on the repeal of Article 12, the constitutional provision that restricts ownership of land to people of Northern Marianas descent or NMD.

Two identical initiatives-one by Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) and one by House minority leader Joe Guerrero (R-Saipan)-seek a vote on whether to maintain or repeal Article 12.

The fourth one seeks to extend the cap on private land leases from 55 years to 99 years, among other things.

As of yesterday, there’s no telling which of these four initiatives will pass the House and the Senate.

Section 805 of the Covenant allows the CNMI to revisit its land alienation restrictions 25 years after the termination of the Trusteeship Agreement in 1986.

That 25-year period will end in 2011, and this is the reason why there’s as many as four initiatives seeking to tinker with Article 12.

Press secretary Angel Demapan, when asked for comment, said that given the many years that have passed since the inception of Article 12, “the administration agrees that it is an opportune time to revisit the issue of determining an NMD by way of the blood quantum.”

“While the administration agrees that descendants with less than the 25 percent blood quantum should be afforded the opportunity to inherit and/or own land, the broader issue of repealing Article 12 should be a matter that involves the participation of the stakeholders-the indigenous community,” he added.

Redefining NMD

The House Natural Resources Committee said that the land alienation provision of the NMI Constitution should be amended “to state that the restriction shall be subject to amendment only by virtue of an amendment to the Constitution by an initiative voted upon by persons of Northern Marianas descent only.”

Rather than repeal the whole Article 12, HLI 17-3 initiative seeks to amend the definition of NMDs.

Palacios’ committee acknowledged that many citizens today are worried that their “children’s children’s children” will no longer be able to own land because they no longer posses at least one-quarter Chamorro or Carolinian blood to be considered an NMD.

“The purpose of this proposed constitutional amendment is to amend the one-quarter requirement to ‘at least some degree’ of Northern Marianas Chamorro or Northern Marianas Carolinian blood or a combination thereof, or an adopted child of a person (removed 100 percent requirement) of Northern Marianas descent if adopted while under the age of 18,” the panel said.

The committee said in the event that the individual has less than one-quarter Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination of these, the individual claiming to be an NMD shall provide evidence to support that he or she possesses some degree of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination of these, to the Superior Court.

The Superior Court may grant or deny such claim.

If the court finds and agrees that the person in fact possesses at least some degree of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination, the court shall certify that the persons is an NMD.

Once the report is adopted, it goes to the House floor for voting.

If HLI 17-3 is passed by the House and Senate, the initiative will be presented to voters in the next election.

Voters will decide whether having at least some degree of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or a combination, or an adopted child of an NMD if adopted while under 18, can acquire permanent and long-term interest in real property within the CNMI and whether it’s in the best interest of the people of the CNMI.

Scrap whole Article 12

House minority leader Joe Guerrero’s (R-Saipan) HLI 17-7, which seeks to repeal Article 12, was also recently referred to the House Natural Resources Committee for review.

Guerrero said his initiative is almost identical to that of Senate President Paul Manglona’s (Ind-Rota) SLI 17-10, which had already gone through public hearings.

He said if SLI 17-10 passes the Senate and the House, then he will withdraw his HLI 17-7.

“Ending Article 12 is a recognition of the fact that people are now sophisticated, ready to handle the freedom and responsibility of disposing of their privately held property as they see fit. While the people are proud of their tradition and their culture that promotes family and faith over more materialistic concerns, the Legislature finds that Article 12 unreasonably restricts people’s freedom,” Guerrero’s HLI 17-7 says.

Options

Sen. Ralph Torres (R-Saipan), chairman of the Senate Committee on Resources and Economic Development Programs, said in a separate interview yesterday that the panel is now working on a report on the results of the public hearings they held both on SLI 17-10 and SLI 17-9.

SLI 17-9, introduced by Sen. Luis Crisostimo (Ind-Saipan), seeks to extend the maximum number of years that non-NMD persons can lease lands from 55 years to 99 years.

Just like Ogumoro’s HLI 17-3, Crisostimo’s SLI 17-9 also seeks to change the definitions of persons of NMD and NMD corporations.

Torres said the public hearings on SLI 17-9 and 17-10 brought out different options other than repealing Article 12, such as amending the definition of NMDs.

The senator said the committee and staff are also doing research on how other islands such as Guam, Hawaii, Palau, American Samoa and even the Philippines, deal with land issues.

“As chairman of the committee, as of now, I am not confident to say that we will move forward with this right away. There are still other issues like blood quantum and adoption issue,” he said.

Lawmakers interviewed yesterday said that if Article 12 is repealed in its entirety, then the changes in the definitions of NMD persons and corporations will also become moot.

Rep. Stanley Torres said he supports a total repeal of Article 12, even though he signed off on a report on another initiative that only seeks to amend the definition of NMD persons and corporations.

“I think I signed off on the report before I saw the minority leader’s initiative to repeal Article 12. It’s time owners can do whatever they want to do with their property,” he said.

Over the last 10 years, the Legislature has debated extensively on the merits of Article 12.

Non-government groups such as the Citizens for Changing Article 12 Inc. have also been helping educate the public on Article 12. CCART12 is educating people on the benefits of repealing Article 12.

CCART12 said repealing Article 12 is about giving landowners a choice and not having the government control that choice.

At the other end of the spectrum are those opposed to repealing Article 12. They argue that Article 12 is not the root cause of economic problems, and to not make political decisions to accommodate foreign investors.