Another lawmaker volunteers to sign off on certified question

More than three months have passed since a bill appropriating $800,000 for land compensation payments became law but landowners whose properties were taken by the government for public use have yet to receive a single cent under Saipan Local Law 18-19. That’s because the Executive Branch believes earmarking proceeds from Managaha landing and user fees to pay for land compensation is unconstitutional.

Now another member of the House of Representatives wants to break the stalemate between the two branches.

Rep. Christopher Leon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) has volunteered to sign off on a certified question that will be submitted to the Supreme Court to hopefully put finality to the issue.

“It’s the opinion of the AG’s Office that it’s unconstitutional and since then there have been talks that someone from the Legislature should sign off on the certified question. So if nobody wants to do it from the Legislature, I’m willing to do it so we can finally file the certified question before the court,” he told Saipan Tribune last night.

Leon Guerrero said he brought the issue up during the House’s last session because he received numerous calls asking why the Legislature is not acting on the certified question.

“I really want this over with and in the event Public Law 18-19 prevails, we owe people their money. The government already took their land from them and failed to compensate them. That’s the priority there. I had discussions with [Department of Public Lands] and they told me they’re just waiting on a member from the House of the Representatives to sign off on [the certified question].”

Leon Guerrero is the fourth member of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation who have signified their willingness to sign off on the certified question.

House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) and Rep. Anthony Benavente (Ind-Saipan) have also volunteered, while SNILD chair Ramon Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) was the Inos administration’s first choice before Tebuteb begged off and described it as “moot and pointless.”

“If the AG comes to me tomorrow with a certified question, I’m willing to sign off on its immediately. In fact I’m waiting for them now. Definitely I’m willing to move things forward and if the public law does not work, at least we know because it’s been interpreted by the courts that it’s not,” added Leon Guerrero.

He said the $800,000 is only chump change compared to the actual amount the government owes landowners, some of whom have been waiting for decades to get their hands on the money that rightfully belongs to them.

“The government owes this people land compensation monies. It’s only a drop in the bucket. Better some than nothing at all.”

Under the $800,000 land compensation payment local law, at least 223 Saipan landowners will get anywhere from 89 cents to over $190,000, based on DPL data.

Besides those owed land compensation payments on Saipan, other intended beneficiaries of Saipan Local Law 18-19 are the NMI Museum of History and Culture and the Northern Marianas Descent Corp., which were supposed to get $100,000 each by mid-October.

DPL, in an earlier statement, said OAG advised the department that making payments from the Managaha landing and user fees pursuant to SLL 18-19 “would be an unconstitutional act.”

The department said the question revolves around whether the Managaha landing and user fees are revenues generated from the management and disposition of public lands, which DPL is constitutionally required to remit to the Marianas Public Land Trust, or whether the Legislature may appropriate such funds.