Social, personal impact of Article 12

Last week there were two articles on the paper about Article 12. One of them was rather lengthy and stated that Article 12 has nothing to do with the economy. I do not agree with this statement and believe that Article 12, especially now, plays a critical role in hampering economic growth. I will talk about this in the future.

In this article, I will focus on the social and personal aspects of what Article 12 has done, is doing, and will continue to do. In fact, it will get worse in the future if Article 12 is to remain. No modifications to Article 12 will satisfactorily address all possible cases.

Let us take adoption. Under Article 12, if NMD parents adopt a child under the age of 18 from anywhere in the world, that child will become 100 percent NMD. Under these terms, the adopted child that has absolutely no Chamorro or Carolinian blood now becomes full NMD with all its rights and privileges.

However, children born of a 100 percent NMD but adopted by a non-NMD or a percentage NMD will take the status of his or her adopted parents. There is at least one person that I know of that is 100 percent NMD but because one of the adopting parents is a non-NMD, Article 12 says that that 100 percent NMD child will now be only 50 percent.

How can this be? There are talks of reducing the blood quantum required from the current 25 percent to the lowest possible value with the court possibly making the final decision. Why in the first place must one spend time and money to defend one’s identity as an NMD? Incidentally, will DNA be required? What is the cost of a DNA test? As time goes by, our bloodline will be much more diluted as many of us will be marrying non-NMD. This is a fact of life. The world has gotten smaller in that we are free to travel, meet other people, and seek other opportunities. This is happening now.

One sure way to hold on to NMD status is not to marry anyone but another NMD. There is nothing wrong with that. It is after all a very personal choice. However, take a look around. There are many diverse families among us. The number of 100 percent NMD will continue to decrease as time goes by. We can learn a lot from our youth who are comfortable with NMD and non-NMD alike. Are we a community that wants laws that discriminate among the people that become our family?

Under Article 12, a husband and wife with one being a non-NMD and working together to acquire properties will have no problem giving the non-NMD full property rights if he/she passes away but only if there are no children. If there are children in the marriage and the NMD spouse passes away then the non-NMD cannot be considered an NMD and own land fee simple of the very properties the NMD and non-NMD spouse worked together to acquire. Is this what marriage is? I do not believe it is fair nor in agreement of what marriage is about. Again, does our community really want to have laws that discriminate in this way?

What I have learned through my involvement in the Citizens for Change to Article 12 and that still continues to make an impression on me is that the intent of Article 12 was to give people time to become more sophisticated in terms of land value and land transactions.

I think it is safe to say that Article 12 has served its purpose. The time has come to acknowledge that private landowners are capable of deciding what to do with their land. In addition, our island community has changed so much since the inception of Article 12 and the circumstances and reasons why NMD landowners want to sell their land are just as varied. No law, including Article 12, can address the different circumstances that private landowners find themselves in and the reasons they may have to sell their land. Just as importantly, should the law dictate to whom the private landowner can give ownership of their land to? Should a law tell an NMD landowner that they cannot leave their land to their spouse? Laws are created and abolished to serve the interests of the majority of the community affected by them. Clearly, the right and just action is to abolish Article 12.

I welcome comments from the community. As I stated at the beginning of this article I will write about Article 12 and how it affects our economy. In addition, I will share my thoughts about Article 12 and culture.