Resolution being readied for late ex-senator

Herman R. Deleon Guerrero

Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) is preparing a commemorative resolution to acknowledge and honor the services to the Commonwealth of the late former senator Herman R. Deleon Guerrero, who recently passed away in Guam, reportedly due to heart attack.

In response to Saipan Tribune’s inquiry, Sen. Edith DeLeon Guerrero said yesterday that the family of the late senator is busy preparing for the funeral and the Senate counsel still needs to reach out to the family for more information to finish the commemorative resolution when everything is done with the funeral.

Former House of Representatives speaker Pedro R. Deleon Guerrero confirmed in an email yesterday that his 84-year-old brother, Herman, passed away last March 11. He said his brother’s remains will arrive on Saipan today, Tuesday, at 1:30pm. Mass and funeral services are scheduled on March 31 at 3pm at the Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Chalan Kanoa.

Pedro Deleon Guerrero said he does not know exactly the cause of his brother’s death as he himself is in Honolulu for a hip replacement surgery.

“I had a phone conversation with him the night before, just a few hours before his passing,” the former speaker said.

Pedro Deleon Guerrero said he learned of his brother’s death early in the morning in Honolulu.

“I was in great shock and pain, with disbelief that my brother Herman is gone,” he said.

Due to his health and medical condition, Pedro Deleon Guerrero said he is saddened and hurt that he will not be on Saipan for his brother’s funeral to bid him farewell.

“However, I am very happy and appreciative for the many families, friends, and people who have expressed their condolences, love, and prayers to my brother Herman and his family,” he said

Herman Deleon Guerrero, known by his friends as “HR,” was elected to the first CNMI Senate in 1977.

Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) said yesterday that he was Herman R. Deleon Guerrero’s colleague in the 6th and 7th Senate, beginning in 1988.

Prior to that, Herman R. Deleon Guerrero served in the Saipan Municipal Council and the Congress of Micronesia, Manglona said.

“Sen. HR was a true public servant of the Northern Marianas for decades. One of his impressive virtues, I remember vividly, was his willingness and ability to reach across the political divides to promote the public interest in the legislation he advocated,” the senator said.