30-year wait is finally over

Department of Public Lands Secretary Marianne Teregeyo, right, briefs Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on yesterday’s lottery drawing of revoked lands at the DPL office in Dandan as Dino Manning, who participated, looks on. (Jon Perez)

Mary Eleanor Kapileo still remembers the time when she submitted her application to avail of a homestead lot. That was in the summer of 1987.

Thirty years later, she is finally getting the property she has been dreaming of. Kapileo and 12 others participated in yesterday’s homestead lottery drawing and are now proud landowners.

Kapileo was among the applicants that participated in yesterday’s homestead lottery drawing of revoked lands at the Department of Public Lands’ office in Dandan.

Kapileo could not hide her emotions when her turn came to pick from the 41 repossessed lots that were at stake. An overwhelming feeling of relief enveloped her.

“It feels like my birthday and this is the gift for me. I just hope that there’s already a house that’s built so I would no longer build one. Finally, I can chase my kids out of the house,” Kapileo said in between laughs.

For 55 years, Kapileo had stayed in Chalan Kanoa but now she managed to pick one of the mostly scattered lots in the eastern part of Saipan at Kagman III’s Phase II. One lot was offered in As Matuis.

She never knew that this day would come. “I had my doubts. I thought I’m going to wait another 30 years. But finally, here it is and I have my own land.”

“I do follow up on my application every year. I was thinking that because I was single, I don’t have the privilege to come and pick,” Kapilelo added.

This was the first lottery done since 2014 and there are still leftover lots that DPL would distribute, with the drawing scheduled at another date.

Most of the lots are scattered and had been revoked from previous owners, who neglected the property or have never built homes on the property—as required by the homestead law.
 
Trying to clear backlog

DPL Secretary Marianne Teregeyo said their agency is working on applications that were filed long ago. The next batch will be those who have been on the wait list since 1991 and 1992.

“In December, we notified people on the 1990 list, telling them to come to DPL and update their application. The names are going to be selected in a pool, like what we did today,” said Teregeyo.

She advised those who applied for homestead lots to update their applications “because we’re moving forward and our goal is to issue more lots and reduce our waiting list.”

As much as possible, DPL tries to contact the applicants, Teregeyo said. However, most of them have no return addresses or just never pick up their mail.

“There’s always questions about, ‘where’s my homestead. When am I going to get my homestead?’ It is unbelievable that these folks would not come in to [avail of this]. What we’ve done is close out 1990 but there are individuals still going to be on the list but we moved on to 1991.”