Lawmakers shoot down ‘Chamorro initiative’

Due to potential racial conflict, the House of Representatives yesterday voted down a legislative initiative seeking a constitutional amendment to refer to Chamorro as indigenous people of the Northern Marianas.

“It’s sad that we have to make the distinction between the Chamorros and the Carolinians,” said Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, who acknowledged that he may be biased for disapproving the proposal because he has a Carolinian blood being part Yapese.

He stressed that both races are minorities on the islands, noting that there are about 38,000 people here with Chamorro or Carolinian blood as opposed to 73,000 total population.

But Rep. Frank G. Cepeda, proponent of the initiative, maintained majority of the people who attended a public hearing on the issue approved the measure because they didn’t want to refer to themselves as indigenous but Chamorro.

He also said that since there is the Carolinian Affairs Office to take care of the concerns of the Carolinian community in the CNMI, the Indigenous Affairs Office should be changed to Chamorro Affairs Office to address the needs of the Chamorros.

“It’s about time,” Mr. Cepeda told his colleagues during the House session.

House Speaker Diego T. Benavente, however, junked the attempt to alter the present setup as he explained that it would only involve a name change and not the functions of those offices.

CAO is currently under the Department of Culture and Community Affairs while the IAO is directly under the authority of the Governor’s Office.

According to Mr. Cepeda’s proposal, the amendment was intended to “clarify that it is the Chamorro and the Carolinian people of the Northern Mariana Islands who separately need an office entrusted…to nurture, preserve and promote their separate and distinct languages, culture, customs, traditions and practices.”

The initiative also noted that because of the distinct differences in the two indigenous population, both have appeared weak in preserving their native ways and culture.

“[B]oth indigenous peoples have become the minority population in the Commonwealth and their languages, cultures, customs, traditions and practices are being eroded to the point that if not nurtured and preserved would face the risk of extinction,” it said.

The initiative had sought changes to Article III, Section 23 of the Constitution which created an office for indigenous affairs, replacing the word “indigenous” for Chamorro to refer to the people of NMI descent.

In voting against it, Rep. Manuel A. Tenorio warned that the proposed amendment would have greater impact more than just a name change, saying it could lead to various misinterpretations of such provision.