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Inos set to deliver SOCA
Gov. Eloy S. Inos has accepted the Senate and the House of Representatives’ invitation to deliver a State of the Commonwealth Address pursuant. This will be Inos’ first SOCA since he became governor on Feb. 20, 2013.
House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) and Senate President Ralph Torres (R-Saipan) invited Inos to appear before a joint session of the Legislature to present a SOCA referred to in Article III, Section 9 (b) of the NMI Constitution.
Press secretary Angel Demapan, when sought for comment yesterday, said the governor “will accept the invitation to deliver a State of the Commonwealth Address.”
“The administration will work with the speaker and the president to identify a date for this event,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.
The Legislature also invited Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) to participate in the SOCA and “report on the accomplishments of your office and your goals and objectives.”
The last time a CNMI governor delivered a SOCA was on Jan. 8, 2013. At the time, some House members walked out of the joint legislative session when governor Benigno R. Fitial delivered his SOCA. Over a month later, Fitial stepped down after he was impeached by the House and before the Senate could hold an impeachment trial.
As of yesterday, there’s no firm date yet when the joint session of the Legislature would be to receive Inos and Sablan’s addresses, months ahead of a general election in November.
This also comes at a time when the CNMI is seeing increases in its tourist arrivals, expansion of existing hotels, construction of new ones and the establishment of a casino on Saipan as a result of a new law legalizing casino gaming on the island. For years, casino gaming was legal only on Tinian and Rota.
