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Senate bill seeks to counter conflicts of interests
A bill proposed by Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan) seeks to counter future conflicts of interest such as the most recent instance in the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s procurement of a diesel engine.
Igisomar, who chairs the Senate Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications Committee, released his committee’s report on CUC’s procurement of an 8- to 10-megawatt diesel engine only last Friday.
Possible conflicts of interest between the CUC board and vendor General Pacific Services Marianas Inc. prompted oversight hearings by both the Senate and House PUTC.
The committee recommended that legislation be introduced to mandate public officials and vendors to declare a conflict of interest through the requirement of submitting a conflict of interest questionnaire form.
Also known as Senate Bill 20-44, the bill seeks to target both public officials and businesses to complete a conflict of interest questionnaire to determine any possible relationships between both parties.
The bill defines relationships as either a business relationship or a family relationship. The former refers to a connection between two or more parties based on a commercial activity of one of the parties while latter refers to relatives, whether by blood or adoption, and includes parents, children, siblings, nieces or nephews, brothers- or sisters-in-law, sons- or daughters-in-law, stepparents, stepchildren, and even half siblings.
The questionnaire also includes the possibility of governmental entities receiving a type of benefit offered such as food, lodging, transportation, and entertainment accepted as a guest. SB 20-44 did clarify, however, that it does not include benefits offered independent from the official status of the recipient.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres asked the former CUC board to submit their resignations last May 12, 2017. Torres has nominated Weston Thomas Deleon Guerrero and Matthew Holley to fill the CUC board slots. The Senate has yet to approve their appointments. As of publication, Torres has yet to announce the remaining members of the board.
