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Latest push for Kilili’s bill a ‘welcome development
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Posted on Oct 07 2011
The Natural Resources Committee’s unanimous consent to send Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan’s bill recommending a CNMI-only resident status for four groups of people to the full U.S. House of Representatives is a welcome development for the Philippine Consulate General.
“We’re happy that the bill is moving forward. We hope it will get approved very soon but Kilili already noted that it will take time and that it will not become law by Nov. 27,” Consul General Medardo Macaraig said yesterday.
H.R. 1466 would allow persons born in the Northern Marianas between 1974 and 1978, persons given permanent resident status under CNMI law, and their family members to continue to live and work in the Marianas. The bill also permits immediate family members of U.S. citizens to remain in the Marianas until they can adjust their status under U.S. immigration law.
Macaraig disclosed that there was a “misconception” among some members of the Filipino community that Sablan’s bill is “already with the U.S. Senate.”
H.R. 1466 still has to be passed by the full U.S. House of Representatives and then by the U.S. Senate before it gets to President Barack Obama for action.
Although many Filipinos will benefit from Sablan’s bill should it become law, Macaraig urged all Filipinos, especially those falling under any of the four groups in HR 1466, to “prepare for two eventualities.”
“If the bill becomes law, then thank you. But we should also be prepared if the bill is not passed by the U.S. Congress. Even if it is enacted into law, if it won’t be timely, we have to be prepared,” he told Saipan Tribune.
Labor representative Carmelina Velasquez, in a separate interview, is pleased that Sablan “was able to address the concerns” of the four different groups taken into consideration in his bill.
“While we’re happy with this development, let us not forget that what is important is for these groups to still have jobs so that they don’t have to rely on this bill alone,” added Velasquez.
