Babauta, Torres file candidacy

Former governor Juan Nekai Babauta and former senator Juan Sablan Torres filed yesterday their candidacies for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, at the Commonwealth Election Commission in Susupe. The two longtime Republicans are running as independents.

Babauta and Torres filed their candidacies along with Benjamin Cepeda, their lone candidate for House of Representatives for Precinct 1.

Former governor Juan N. Babauta and former senator Juan S. Torres pose for a group photo with family members, relatives, and supporters shortly after they filed yesterday their candidacy before the Commonwealth Election Commission as governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Babauta, Torres, and Cepeda trooped to the commission at 9:40am accompanied by family members, relatives, and supporters. Juan “Liling” Reyes, chairman of the Committee-to-Elect Babauta and Torres, was also present.

The Babauta-Torres tandem is the second among four gubernatorial teams to file their candidacies for this November elections. On Thursday, Gov. Eloy S. Inos and Senate President Ralph Torres (R-Saipan) led the filing of candidacies for 26 Republican candidates at CEC.

The filing deadline is Aug. 6.

In an interview, Babauta said he and Torres propose to build a strong middle class, which is one of the things that the CNMI economy is lacking.

“Pay our workers as they rightly deserve a higher wages so they can be more productive and more prosperous,” Babauta said.

He said that ever since the islands became a Commonwealth, the economy has been built based on low wages.

“We started with a labor force of garment workers. We started a labor force of low-paid construction workers and even in the service industry,” he said.

The former governor pointed out that the CNMI has very little at the extreme end of the economic scale of high-paying jobs.

“Over the last 36 years we created a vacuum in the middle where there is no middle class,” he said.

For the Babauta-Torres tandem, there has to have a strong middle class in order to have a strong economy.

“We don’t want to go back to the days of low-paying jobs,” Babauta said.

The former governor said he and Torres are in the process of finalizing their platform.

He said they are going to convene a press conference not just to present their platform but the general offer of their positions on issues and also the specifics of their proposals and plans.

Babauta said it’s going to be a platform that will address the suffering of the community from high utility rates and health care costs.

Babauta said they would also deal with the trust in governance issue.

“We both feel that the people of the CNMI deserve a more transparent, more open government,” he said.

Babauta said they will be offering a platform that addresses the critical needs and the suffering of this community.

“The people need relief from the suffering. And we’re going to address those suffering that need to be resolved years ago and could have been prevented,” he said.

Torres stated that their solution is more concrete and long term, unlike the casino industry that may falter. One of their solutions? Alternative power energy.

Torres said alternative power is a sure thing as this will generate income for the government.

“We have an investor that can invest, at their own risk, $300 million and the savings that will be generated from the usage of power from that alternative power will be savings that the government can realize,” the former senator said.

The savings can be translated to paying the Retirement Fund, said Torres, who is also a former representative and former administrator of the Fund.

Torres also noted that about $70 million has been spent by the government each year to buy oil and that could be a savings for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

“That can be also translated into having a sure revenue that’s coming into the government. That would assure the retirees or for that matter the entire government,” he said.

Torres said a casino may falter because there are so many outside factors that the CNMI cannot control.

Babauta said it’s a tremendous feeling of pride to see the support they’ve been shown by their supporters.

“We have friends and family members who are here. We really appreciate that. I feel that enthusiasm from them and I hope that we can carry that enthusiasm all the way to elections,” Babauta said.

As to the issue that they have only one candidate for the Legislature, Babauta said they don’t expect a complete slate.

“But whoever joins our team and gets on board with us, we really appreciate that,” he said.

Babauta and Torres are running as independents because the GOP rejected their request for a primary race.

Babauta served for 12 years as CNMI resident representative to Washington D.C. before being elected governor in 2001. He served from 2002 to 2006.