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Castro: No hard feelings
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Posted on Jun 30 1999
Associate Justice Alex C. Castro yesterday gave assurance that he has no hard feelings about the appointment of Miguel S. Demapan as chief justice of the CNMI Supreme Court.
“I am sure the decision was a difficult one. Let us therefore respect and support our governor’s decision without question,” said Castro, who shared the chief justice position with Demapan in an acting capacity for five months.
When Chief Justice Marty Taylor retired last December, Castro and Demapan signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agreed to “jointly carry out the functions of the Office of the Chief Justice instead of making a big deal about it.”
“We placed the interests of our people and the continuity of judiciary matters ahead of our personal glory,” Castro wrote in a memorandum to the Superior Court judges and the Supreme Court staff.
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio officially nominated Demapan yesterday.
“I’m very happy,” Demapan said in a brief telephone interview.
As of yesterday afternoon, however, Demapan had yet to receive the official nomination letter from the governor. He has learned about the nomination through Castro’s memorandum.
Demapan refused to give more comments until “the Senate confirms my nomination.”
Castro congratulated Demapan and assured him that the entire judiciary “stand ready to assist you.”
“Justice Demapan and I were able to paddle the NMI Judiciary Canoe in one direction and we kept it afloat amid the storms or personnel, building operations and maintenance, and other budgetary nightmares,” Castro said.
“Unlike the Titanic, our Canoe (made in the Northern Mariana Islands’ manned by two indigenous captain) did not sink. We can therefore say that the Judicial Branch of the NMI government is unsinkable,” Castro added.
