‘Palacios, Rasa, others assisted SU’

Former congressman Herman Palacios and Oscar Rasa were allegedly among key personalities who provided assistance to Saipan University in its efforts to bring in and accommodate Chinese students on Saipan.

In her testimony in the U.S. District Court last week, former SU president Jullie Ulloa said that Palacios provided housing to some SU students at his Her Joy Apartment in San Antonio.

The congressman was then the chairman of the House committee on labor and immigration.

“It was understood that Koresco should get the overflow (of students) but they were placed instead at Her Joy Apartment (owned by Palacios),” said Ulloa during a direct examination.

Ulloa’s testimony also indicated that Palacios and Rasa were giving advice to SU representatives and officials, including its founder, defendant Soon Kyung Park, when it faced various complaints from students.

Ulloa testified that Palacios had discussed study-work program options with SU to resolve students’ complaints about the lack of work on the island.

“Students were aggressive. Some of them insisted that they came here to work, not to study. They had contracts,” she said.

She said that during a discussion with Palacios, the former lawmaker told SU that it was important to come up with money to pay the surety bond.

At the same time, Palacios allegedly said that while students cannot work outside SU, “institutional study-work program may be okay.”

It means that SU would have to provide work assignments to students and in return they would get a non-cash allowance, most likely in the form of tuition.

This plan, however, did not succeed as students decided to come out in public to protest SU’s alleged abuses, leading to the filing of their case in federal court and the eventual arrest of Park by federal authorities late last year.

Meantime, Ulloa, who was hired by Park in July or August 2003 through SU consultant Agnes McPhetres, left the newly established institution in October 2003 citing several reasons.

She testified that SU was not just prepared to accept foreign students, citing the lack of operational funds, instructional materials, library resources, and functioning laboratory computers.

She said that Park never gave her authority over budget in the first place.

She said that the defendant even failed to grant her request for $1,000 to buy some basic instructional materials.

She said that at one time, SU’s office cashier had only $200.

Further, she said that SU had no money to pay its vendors as well as its landlord in As Lito.

The owner of SU’s three-floor building in As Lito had taped the building and evicted its occupants after SU failed to pay rent for three months last year.

She also testified that SU’s 20 to 30 laboratory computers were “inoperable.”

“They’re configured in foreign language (Korean). They can’t be used. Some can’t even turn on,” she said.

Ulloa said she had no idea where the students’ money went.

SU collected $5,000 to $10,000 from each of nearly 100 recruits from China.

These students claimed that Park promised them study and work program on Saipan, which did not materialize.