Brown moves to block release of land compensation

Attorney general Pamela Brown filed with the Superior Court Monday a request for preliminary injunction to prevent the release of some $3.45 million to the Malite estate from the government’s land compensation fund.

Brown’s attorneys, Benjamin Sachs and Jeanne Rayphand, said the CNMI government would suffer irreparable injury if the funds are released for an allegedly spurious land compensation claim.

Brown had the request filed Monday following a court order earlier that day directing her to do so, so that the matter could be heard on Thursday, when the effectivity of the temporary restraining order expires.

“Defendants intend to, and will, unless prevented from doing so by this court, draw down the Land Compensation Account and disburse $3.45 million to Jesus C. Tudela, the administrator of the estate of Angel Malite, for a spurious land compensation claim made by the estate, despite the absence of any public purpose and legislative authorization,” Rayphand stated in a 25-page submission to the court.

“The defendants are unlikely to be able to repay the $3.45 million, thereby depriving the Land Compensation Account and General Fund of funds for lawful purposes as determined by the Legislature,” she said. “Once the land compensation payment is distributed, the Commonwealth will effectively be deprived of remedy.”

Rayphand asserted that the government is likely to succeed on the merits, noting that the Trust Territory court, which awarded $3,682 to the Malite estate, had decided the claim with finality in 1978.

Rayphand also cited the constitutional requirement that public monies could not be disbursed except for a public purpose. She also said that the $3.45 million claim does not fall within the purview of the Land Compensation Act of 2002.

Detailing the legislative history of the statute’s enactment, Rayphand said that the law “was intended to compensate landowners for right-of-way acquisitions by the Commonwealth government during the past 10-15 years, more or less.”

The House of Representatives had explicitly rejected a Senate amendment to cover cases involving government taking of land for “public buildings and facilities,” before the legislative measure’s enactment into law, according to Rayphand.

In seeking an injunction order, Rayphand also cited the court’s TRO, which stated that the CNMI government would incur a large public debt that might take many years for the Commonwealth to repay.

“Defendants’ argument that this is not irreparable harm because the money could be recovered by subsequent suit is not convincing. Once the money is disbursed, it might easily be consumed by estate expenses and therefore be rendered unrecoverable,” judge Juan T. Lizama said in the TRO.

Brown had filed the lawsuit on behalf of the CNMI government, citing a “strong appearance of ethical impropriety and conflicts of interest.”

Defendants in the suit include the Marianas Public Lands Authority; its acting commissioner Edward Deleon Guerrero and its board of directors, including chair Ana Demapan-Castro and members Nicolas Nekai, Felix Sasamoto, Manny Villagomez, and Benita Atalig-Manglona; the Commonwealth Development Authority; and Tudela, the Malite estate’s administrator.

The lawsuit sparked the filing of a separate action by former Senate President Juan S. Demapan, which seeks to unseat Brown on the argument that she is holding the position of attorney general unlawfully. In that case, Malite estate attorney Pedro Atalig, a former Supreme Court justice, represents Demapan.

Atalig had argued that Brown has no authority to bring the lawsuit to court since her confirmation as attorney general was invalid.

He said the Trust Territory government, through a 1978 court order that awarded only some $3,682 to the Malite estate, had treated the Malite heirs like animals when it took over the property that is at the heart of the current controversy. The land now forms part of the Marianas High School in Susupe.

The suit had also resulted in the issuance of subpoenas to several government officials, including Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Brown, who are compelled to appear at Lizama’s courtroom on Thursday morning. The subpoenas directed the officials to produce pertinent documents and testify on Brown’s filing of the suit and the land compensation claim by the Malite estate.

Other officials subpoenaed by the court include Sachs, assistant attorney general Daniel L. Furrh, CDA board chair Sixto K. Igisomar and executive director Maria Lourdes S. Ada, and Finance Secretary Fermin M. Atalig.