‘We will make sure to get Atalig answers about BOOST program’

David Atalig and Celina Babauta

Finance Secretary David Atalig may have been excused once more from testifying before the joint committee that’s looking into the Torres administration’s Building Optimism, Opportunity and Stability Together, or BOOST program but he will sooner or later have to face the committee.

This was assured by Judiciary and Governmental Operation Committee chair Celina Babauta (D-Saipan), who said that the committee has provided Atalig more accommodations than anyone else who has been summoned to testify in these proceedings.

“We have patiently provided Mr. Atalig more accommodation than any other witnesses and we have granted him every extension reasonably possible,” she said.

Babauta hopes the numerous requests for extension isn’t a ploy to evade testifying before the committee. “Mr. Atalig has advised the committee that he will be off island next week and will not be returning until after the new year. I hope that he is not using this time to avoid this body or to let the clock run out in these proceedings,” she said. “But I want to assure everybody on this committee and the public that all hope is not lost. We have not run out of options. We will make sure that Mr. Atalig answers as to his involvement in the BOOST program. whether if it’s when he returns from his off-island trip, or when the next Legislature convenes. He May have dodged today’s hearing, but he cannot elude this problem forever.”

Babauta’s committee, together with that of the House Ways and Means Committee chaired by Rep. Donald Manglona (Ind-Rota), is looking into the details of the BOOST program.

Atalig sat before the joint committee yesterday, supposedly to speak of his involvement in the BOOST program. However, he informed the committee that he has yet to obtain legal counsel after the Office of the Attorney General authorized him to seek personal counsel.

After a brief recess, Manglona granted Atalig yet another extension, which raised concerns for some committee members.

According to documents acquired by the committee in relation to the BOOST program, correspondence between BOOST administrator John Arroyo and Atalig implied that the DOF secretary submitted documents for Saipan Surf and TROVE and was using his role as Finance chief to speed up the process for these companies.

The correspondence between Arroyo and Atalig also allegedly showed Atalig asking Arroyo when he could personally pick up the checks, just days after submitting the application packets for Saipan Surf and TROVE despite one of the packets missing a significant number of requirements for the program.

Babauta said the committee will convene tomorrow with Commerce Secretary Edward Deleon Guerrero and Jesus Taisague and that the committee has several other witnesses lined up.

“It is my recommendation as a suggestion to all witnesses who have not appeared before this body yet that it is in your best interest to come when we summon you,” she said.