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Authority over Public Lands
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Posted on Dec 05 2004
Article XI of the CNMI Constitution transferred the commonwealth’s public lands to the then Marianas Public Land Corporation (now, the Marianas Public Lands Authority), the legal entity charged with the management and disposition of “public lands belonging collectively to the people of the Commonwealth who are of Northern Marianas descent.”
Now, I want to know whether this constitutional “authority” over public lands has been transferred over to Ms. Cinta Kaipat, Mr. Peter J. Pangelinan Perez, or the Pagan Watch Group? I ask this question simply because the island of Pagan sits on public land. And since it is entirely public land then naturally, the island belongs to NMI descents. Additionally, by Commonwealth law, it is MPLA’s duty to manage and dispose of CNMI public lands in the best interests of Ms. Cinta Kaipat, Peter J. Pangelinan Perez, or the Pagan Watch Group unless of course, this authority has been transferred over to Ms. Cinta Kaipat and company.
Therefore, I believe that as proud NMI descents and equal owners of the island of Pagan, we should allow the Marianas Public Lands Authority to continue performing its fiduciary duties in protecting and managing commonwealth public lands, all in our best interests.
Connie Blas Cabrera Togawa
Marianas descent
