Article 12 should allow locals to choose any partner

The CNMI Constitution’s Article 12, which entitles people of NMI descent to own land in the Commonwealth, must be modified to allow local people to choose partners of their choice.

The suggestion was one of the three major recommendations of the Northern Marianas College class PS 101 Principles of Democratic Institutions under the instruction of Sam McPhetres. The class presented the recomendations yesterday morning at the NMC A-7 classroom.

“Modifying Article 12 to accommodate all descendants of the original 1950 inhabitants would allow our children to choose their partners,” said student Patrick Guerrero, adding that the small community has developed over the years and that the CNMI now embraces the multi-cultural environment that has become to be known now as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The presentation also had a short skit depicting a dilemma where a woman was not allowed by a father due to the percentage of NMI descent of the partner.

In the skit, the daughter introduced the boyfriend to the father but the father asked for any proof of NMI descent percentage.

Then the father discovered that the boyfriend does not meet the 37.5 percentage requirement to own land in the CNMI; thus, the father disapproved his daughter’s relationship and tried to arrange a marriage for his daughter.

“Our island in the year 2040 has new customs, families offer dowries to improve their family’s bloodline for land ownership,” said Guerrero.

The class is also recommending the government to implement a “real education program” to increase local awareness on Article 12. The presentation, led by Guerrero, said the programs would provide the CNMI community a better understanding of Article 12. Out of 250 local people surveyed, over 200 of the respondents said they were not aware of what Article 12 really is about.

The class also recommended that Article 12 should be modified to accommodate all people who could provide any proof of their NMI descent cases and not to limit them to a 25 percent of NMI descent status for land ownership.

Marianas Public Lands Authority-Northern Marianas Registry chief Jesse Palacios, former MPLA commissioner Bertha C. Leon Guerrero and Marianas Visitors Authority vice chair Marian Aldan Pierce also attended the presentation.