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Demapan: SOCA reflected very promising future for the CNMI
Demapan says what really stood out is reduction of crime rate, reduction of unemployment rate
Rep. Angel A. Demapan, 3rd from right, in this file photo with Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres, Lt. Gov. Victor Hocog, Senate President Arnold Palacios and other government officials. (Ferdie de la Torre)
Rep. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan) believes Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres’ message during his State of the Commonwealth Address reflected a very promising future for the CNMI.
Demapan said that people have come a very long way and that the governor’s SOCA outlined all of that.
“What really stood out to me is reduction of crime rate, reduction of unemployment rate, and more of our students going to college and more of our college graduates coming back to work,” said Demapan in an interview after the SOCA event.
Demapan, a Republican Party candidate, is running against fifth-term incumbent Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Ind-MP) in the Nov. 6 general election.
Aside from the CNMI’s overall economic revitalization, Demapan said what stood out for him were “those personal connections that really give reasons for our people to…come back home and stay and work,” he said.
In his SOCA, Torres said the crime rate is down by 65.3 percent from 2013 and that in five years, domestic violence decreased by over 78 percent and property crime is down by 58 percent.
Torres said more people are finding jobs as the CNMI, as shown by a decrease in the overall unemployment rate of more 2 percent this past year.
The governor said for the first time ever, the CNMI had more U.S. workers than foreign workers at the end of 2017—54 percent of the Commonwealth’s total labor force.
Marianas Visitors Authority board member Cinta Kaipat said Torres SOCA was “uplifting, outstanding, and very informative.”
“I am very happy to be in the audience to receive it first-hand,” Kaipat said.
