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Torres says he will take ‘appropriate action’ once served with JGO subpoena
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres speaks before naming Senate floor leader Vinnie Vinson Flores Sablan as his running mate for the 2022 gubernatorial election .Joining Torres on the stage at his residence in As Teo Sunday afternoon are his family and GOP board president James Ada. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said Friday that he will wait to be served first with the subpoena of the House of Representatives’ Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee before he can discuss what his next steps would be.
Asked during a radio press briefing about the JGO subpoena and if he will speak at the JGO hearing, which is investigating Torres’ travels and expenses, Torres said he was informed that the JGO had voted to subpoena him to show up at the hearing.
“I’ll wait for that subpoena to be served,” the governor said. He did not elaborate as to what action he will take once served with the subpoena.
The JGO, chaired by Rep. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan), approved last Thursday subpoenas that will require Torres and Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert A. Guerrero, and several others to testify before the JGO in its probe on Torres’ expenditures of public funds and travels.
Babauta said the date of the witnesses’ testimony would be subject to the availability of the House chamber and the JGO members’ schedules.
As of last night, Babauta said they have yet to finalize the subpoenas.
Meanwhile, Torres described as “another misleading information” Rep. Edwin Propst’s (D-Saipan) statement on social media that the governor is spending the CNMI’s American Rescue Plan Act funds by raising the salaries of Cabinet members.
“There is no Cabinet members’[salary] that’s been raised through ARPA funds. So I don’t think it’s appropriate to be making comments when it’s inaccurate,” Torres said.
Showing a copy of the administration’s “Business Unit Position Costing Summary,” Propst said Torres is lying.
