Governor told: Lobbyist needed

On the heels of relentless and damaging attacks on the Northern Marianas, several local lawmakers have prodded Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio to hire a public relations firm or a lobbying group to defend the island and balance what maybe an irreparable stain on its image in the international community.

The local tourism industry, already battered by the prolonged recession in Asia where major haul of its visitors come from, faces serious threat in view of the media firestorm that swirled around the recent lawsuits against Saipan’s garment business, according to Rep. Oscar Babauta.

The chair of the House Commerce and Tourism Committee also warned against potential impact of the negative publicity in the efforts to attract foreign investments and help spur the local economy.

“It’s high time the government must stand together in a firm foundation and support the idea of having a public relations firm to counteract the continuous bad publicity on the Northern Marianas,” he said.

According to the House representative, U.S. federal officials have done nothing but snubbed reforms implemented by the island government to correct deficiencies in local labor and immigration standards.

“We need an active public relations, not necessarily a lobbying firm,” Babauta explained, “someone that could tell the world, in particular the United States which we are part of, that what’s happening in the CNMI is not what is painted in the media.”

The $1 billion class suit filed against local garment manufacturers, their U.S. buyers and retailers in federal courts in California and Saipan has described the CNMI as “slave island” — a reputation detrimental to the tourism economy, according to Marianas Visitors Authority.

While garment companies here have denied allegations of labor abuses on their contract workers from China, the Philippines and Bangladesh, the lawsuits have tarnished reputation of the commonwealth in the international tourism market, MVA said.

Information campaign: House Majority Floor leader Ana S. Teregeyo underscored the need to undertake an information campaign to show the measures put in place by both the government and the garment industry to improve living and working conditions for foreign workers on the island.

“The CNMI has done a lot but you have a union backing up certain members in the U.S. Congress, which is against the apparel industry here,” she explained. “It’s like we are David fighting Goliath.”

The White House is pushing a proposed legislation in the Congress that will place control of its immigration and minimum wage standards under federal authority in what many CNMI leaders believe is an attempt to kill the self-sustaining economy of the commonwealth.

Because of this persistent move, the Tenorio administration should weigh seriously the importance of a lobbyist in Washington, according to Rep. Melvin Faisao, House Federal and Foreign Relations Committee.

He cited the success of the Preston Gates, whose services were terminated last year by the current administration due to lack of funds, in staving off previous attempts of a federal takeover of the CNMI in the Congress.

“The executive department should re-engage the services of a lobbying firm because we cannot do it alone when the federal government doesn’t even want to listen to us,” he said.

CNMI and Washington last month held 902 consultation talks last month on Saipan, but Edward B. Cohen, President Clinton’s special emissary, told local officials he would propose a takeover legislation in an apparent sign that appeals for understanding by island leaders went unheeded.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Karl T. Reyes, on the other hand, tied the need for a lobbyist to the current efforts by the White House to cut federal funding to the CNMI by 51 percent under the capital improvement projects beginning next fiscal year.

He said the government must oppose the proposal in the Congress against risking the loss of the badly needed financial assistance which serves as its last hope to stem the tide of the worst economic crisis to hit the island in years.

“We have to do something to fight the issue at hand. We need to counter the negative publicity,” Reyes pointed out. “If we lose without a good fight, maybe we will end up sour because we did not try our best.”