On my mind

A lot of people put in a lot of time and effort this past week in support of all the activities connected to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the battles for Saipan and Tinian, from those staffing the “media center” at the Victoria Hotel and the “MASH” unit at the edge of Memorial Park to the backstage crew at the Amphitheater and the many troubleshooting “go-fers” seemingly all over the place, not to mention the actual participants—from speakers to performers—and the planners who put it all together.

Except for the rain, and the apparent lack of preparedness of the USO show (judging from its first night performance, which not only started more than 1?2 hour late but was disappointingly slow of pace)—and even though it wasn’t my “cup of tea”—it all appeared to go smoothly, to hit all the right notes, to touch everyone concerned. All in all, a masterful production, deserving of praise and congratulations to all involved.

Of the few events I myself attended, the high points were Angel Santos’ outstanding dance performances at the USO show, and Fred Kluge’s wonderful, witty, satirical comments on ‘Saipan then and now’ at the last of the “History Alive Seminars.” (It was Kluge who pointed out that the U.S. military did not invade Saipan and Tinian for the purpose of freeing the islanders, but because it provided them with a base within bombing range of Japan.)

I did not go to the parade, or attend General Tibbets’ presentation, but did manage to catch the interview of Tibbets and his crew by Sam McPhetres and Bill Stewart that was re-broadcast over KRNM during the week. Tibbets sounded curt and testy, his navigator far more thoughtful, but there seemed to be just a hint of defensiveness even now. I’m sorry I missed the mass at the Chamorro-Carolinian memorial—I wasn’t sure how to get there, where it was located, where I could park. And I’m sorry I missed Dave Sablan’s presentation. I also missed Guy Gabaldon’s. What a pity he wasn’t able to be here!

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In terms of the overall production, though, I would cavil at two points, one major, one less so. The major lament has to do with the fact that the extensive and outstanding WW II-related exhibits at NMI Museum of History and Culture received no attention, no publicity at all. Noel Quitugua, exhibits coordinator, has done a masterful job of arranging hundreds of photographs of all aspects of the war here—as well as some of its relics—a truly eclectic collection depicting the lives of the islanders, the Japanese, and the American military. That no attention was given to this exhibit, except a single page in the commemorative program (which received limited distribution), is a shame.

The minor lament: that the phone numbers for the Commemoration committee were so hard to find. They are not at all in the Commemorative Program (nor are the “creators” of the program—bibliographically speaking, the program is badly flawed), nor on the brochure, nor on the “Schedule of Events” handout. Future editors should take note: hard copy (that is, on paper) of mementos—flyers, programs, posters, etc.,—are a researcher’s treasure. Witness the efforts to put such things in time capsules. But without “provenance”—an indication of the date, the source, the origin, the creator, the publisher, the artist, the writer—they become only pretty paper, not meaningful sources of information.

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Despite the protestations of General Tibbets and his crew, and the statements by ‘President Harry S. Truman,’ however, I still could not bring myself to accept the necessity for dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not until I read Hiroo Onoda’s No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, a tale of Onoda’s survival in the Philippine jungle for 30 years after World War II ended, believing he was still under orders as a guerilla fighter. In the book he describes his certainty that Japan must be winning the war because the newspapers left for him as proof the war was over (which he steadfastly rejected as propaganda) showed pictures of a prosperous Japan. If Japan had lost the war, he wrote, he knew there would not have been a single survivor, since all Japanese had vowed to fight until the last one of them was dead. The book was on sale during this past week by the Arizona Memorial Museum Association.

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In the meantime, the governor is back on island, temporarily at least, the House has passed a bill calling for an evaluation of Pagan’s ash before any mining permits—except the existing one—can be issued, the Senate has sent back to committee a bill passed by the House that would have made mandatory child support payments, and the CNMI has again escaped a threatening typhoon.

Particularly noteworthy is the Department of Labor’s patience and diligence in providing to interested members of the public ample opportunity to comment on its proposed revision of labor rules governing alien workers, as evidenced by its second hearing on Monday of this past week. After providing a 30-day comment period for its first draft of the proposed revisions, the department will now offer a second 30-day period for comments on the second draft. The new 30-day period starts with the publication of the new draft in the Commonwealth Register on June 26.

Department officials, particularly attorneys Kevin Lynch and Jay Livingstone and Director Dean Tenorio, have been very open, forthcoming and accommodating throughout the process, a refreshing change from the often tight-lipped and obstructive behavior of other agencies in similar situations. A copy of the 100-page document can be e-mailed to those interested upon request.

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Also up for comment are the proposed regulations regarding protection from “refoulement”—the CNMI’s answer to mainland concerns about asylum issues. Refoulement—a term so arcane that it shows up in neither my American Heritage College Dictionary, 3rd edition, nor in my Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law—means the non-voluntary return of a person to that person’s country of origin, where they might face persecution or torture, according to the explanation in the Commonwealth Register.

The Attorney General’s Office’s proposed procedural mechanisms for implementing certain nonrefoulement protections (that is, the spelling out of the procedures to be followed when a person who has been ordered deported requests asylum) appeared in the 5/24 issue of the Commonwealth Register. The general public has 30 days in which to make comment.

The most egregious aspect of the regulations would appear to be the fact that while it is the Office of the Attorney General that decides whether a person requesting “nonrefoulement” will be given asylum, it is also the Office of the Attorney General that decides any appeal of its decision not to do so by the person denied asylum—sort of like asking the fox to guard the chickens. Almost as disturbing is the proposed rule that the appeal decision of the Attorney General is not further appealable.

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Another event worth noting was the decision by the Retirement Fund Board to—at least temporarily—extend its contract with Hawaii Pacific Medical Referral of CNMI. This leaves in place, at least until end of February 2005, HPMR’s processing of government health insurance medical claims. It is not clear whether the problem is a weak board, a weak Fund administration, or the micro-management of the governor, but it appears that HPMR’s services, which available records appear to indicate have provided the CNMI with substantial savings, is in its death throes. And that would be a pity.

The Office of the Public Auditor has issued a report that found flaws in the original contract let by the Retirement Fund, and that quarrels with the right of the Retirement Fund to conduct its own procurement and supply procedures, but not only have some of those flaws since been corrected, but when one looks at the alternative—the governor’s proposed “cafeteria-style” health care system—the services offered via the HPMR contract would appear far more preferable. At least it provides professional control of services and billings. From the sound of it, a “cafeteria-style” operation might offer variety, but not the necessary comprehensive control.

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Noteworthy, also, was the Saipan Tribune’s masthead during the days of the commemoration of the 60th—it was overlaid on a picture of American Memorial Park’s Court of Honor and Flag Circle. Nice graphic!

(The writer is a librarian by profession, and a long-term resident of the CNMI. To contact her, send e-mail to ruth.tighe@saipan.com.)