Senate to Fitial: Don’t wait for the last minute to submit board nominations

Senators took turns yesterday afternoon urging Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to submit nominations to various boards and commissions at least 90 days before the expiration of terms and not wait for the last minute as has been the practice recently, including the case of members or nominees to the NMI Retirement Fund board of trustees.

The governor submitted to the Senate on April 30 his renomination of Fund board chair Bernadita C. Palacios and trustee Marian DLG. Tudela, just a few days before their terms expired on May 3 and 4.

Right now, the Fund does not have quorum after two members’ terms expired last week, and Sen. Frank Cruz (R-Tinian) said the governor and the Fund board should take this seriously.

Fitial’s renominations came a few days after he recalled the renomination of former Fund board chair Sixto Igisomar so he could re-appoint him. A Senate panel was poised to recommend rejecting Igisomar’s nomination.

Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota) said that critical boards and commissions like the Retirement Fund lack quorum mainly because the governor does not nominate or renominate individuals to the board in a timely manner.

Ayuyu, during discussions on the governor’s communication to the Senate, said the Senate has been blamed for delaying confirmation of the governor’s nominations, when it should be the governor to be blamed for submitting nominations or renominations late.

“We ask the governor to submit 90 days before expiration,” he said.

Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Governmental Investigations, as well as Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota), echoed Ayuyu’s request to the administration.

Press secretary Angel Demapan, when asked for comment, said yesterday that “while the governor strives to make appointments as early as possible, it is important to note that part of the process of submitting a nomination is the period of assessment of the potential nominees’ qualifications and willingness to serve on the board.”

“The irony at hand, though, is that when the EAGI elects to reject a nomination of the governor, the body resorts to either waiting for the eleventh hour or letting the nomination nullify itself by taking no action during the prescribed timeframe the committee is allotted to approve or disapprove,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

He also said the submission of executive appointments to boards and commissions is a function of the Executive Branch. In turn, the action of whether to approve or disapprove executive appointments is a function of the EAGI committee of the Senate, he added.

Cruz also said the Fitial administration’s appointees have not been promptly submitting the required documents to the EAGI panel, making it hard for the committee to make final recommendations to the full Senate to confirm or reject their nominations.

He said there were at least two vacancies in the Fund board for quite sometime, but the governor also waited for the last minute for re-appointments or replacements.

Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), for her part, asked the EAGI chairman to also provide committee members with all the documents submitted to the panel so that they could also review the nomination ahead of the public hearing.

Taimanao said if there are still documents not submitted, the EAGI chair should contact the nominees to remind them about the submission.

Senate floor leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan) asked the EAGI Committee to complete its investigation on the nominees before holding a public hearing on their nomination.

Reyes also said the Senate should not reject individuals even before their names reach the Senate, citing a letter from a constituent. He said he is willing to discuss this with the committee on another time.

Last week, Fitial made five nominations and renominations-two to the Fund (Palacios and Tudela) and three to the Board of Professional Licensing, including Herman B. Cabrera, Candido I. Castro, and Roman S. Demapan.