Kiyu defends Art. 12 restriction

Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez yesterday defended the proposed constitutional amendment restricting the right to vote on land issues to only indigenous residents, saying such a right must be exclusive to those who are allowed to own lands in the Northern Marianas.

Legislative Initiative 11-1, up for referendum in this Saturday’s midterm elections, is not an amendment to Article 12, but to Article 18 under the CNMI Constitution, which provides for voting rights of the people, according to the senator.

Its intent is to limit the decision on issues affecting the protections on land alienation, such as land ownership, to persons of Northern Marianas descent in line with the Article 12 provisions.

Villagomez, proponent of the initiative, argued that the constitutional prohibition against permitting non-indigenous people from owning lands on the island should be extended to voting rights on any land issues.

“Those people who can own lands should be the ones to vote on these issues,” he said in an interview. “Why would I let you decide when you are not entitled to own land?”

At present, any U.S. citizen or national residing in the CNMI for at least 45 days is qualified to vote in referendum and elections without any restriction.

But if the initiative is approved by the majority on Nov. 6, it will bar from voting on land issues those citizens who do not have at least a quarter of Chamorro or Carolinian blood or are not adopted by somebody who is NMI descent before reaching the age of 18.

If the initiative is approved, it will be a crucial issue in the year 2011, when Art. 12 is presented again to the public for ratification on whether it will be retained to keep land ownership strictly to indigenous people.

“Without this restriction, anybody who’s not even entitled to own land will be voting to decide on the future of the island,” said Villagomez.

Opposition against the proposal has criticized the lack of public education on LI 11-1, which is one of the four proposed constitutional amendments included in Saturday’s balloting.

In an open letter to the CNMI voters, DFS Saipan president Marian Aldan-Pierce warned of potential costly court battles with parties contesting the future list of “authentic indigenous” if the proposal is ratified.

She said the restriction would result in depriving several individuals, especially those born to interracial marriages, their basic rights and freedom to own land, including the right to choose whom to marry.

But Villagomez maintained Art. 12 has been in place for so many years now that forbid non-indigenous residents from owning lands and yet a lot of Chamorros or Carolinians have entered into interracial marriages.

“Ms. Aldan-Pierce is trying to mislead (voters) on what is really the intent of the initiative — which is simply to extend that land ownership rights to voting rights on land issues,” he said.

The senator also decried the lack of public education on the initiative which passed the Senate last year, but waited months for House approval that came only last June.

He said he had asked the Board of Education to disseminate the proposal to the public, but was told the agency has no sufficient funding to undertake such an information campaign.

Villagomez last week initiated a hearing on the issue on his own time and resources.