Shaking them down before kicking them out

They never teach you this in college but one of the most common rules when resigning from a job is to never burn one’s bridges. This means that one should always leave a job on the presumption that, in this unpredictable journey that we call life, the possibility exists that, sometime in the future, one may still go back and work with that same company you are now leaving. Maybe you may not work for them again but there is that off chance that you may work with them on some project, or collaborate with some of their people on an assignment. Refraining from bad-mouthing one’s ex-employer is, of course, well nigh impossible; that’s why you are resigning in the first place. People leaving their jobs love to trash their former employers. However, by not burning your bridges behind you, you do not completely empty out your options box, such that you can still go back, or at least obtain references when you need one.

The same rule applies in business relations. Breaking off a business relationship demands that one should behave in a manner that is decorous, circumspect, with the over-arching assumption that, in the small world of business, odds are more than excellent that you will still be doing business with that company somewhere along the way. This rule is even more sacrosanct when it comes to business, with its strong word-of-mouth culture and the premium it places on an excellent reputation. In the world of international finance, you wouldn’t want to obtain a reputation of being unfriendly, of being a hard place to do business with. Which begs the question: Why is the Marianas Public Lands Authority making it so hard for Verizon to transfer its leases on public lands to prospective buyer Pacific Telecom Inc.? Why is it burning its bridges with this company? It’s not as if Verizon is building a new project such that new environmental impact studies need to be done. It’s not as if Verizon is leasing new public lands such that negotiations need to be done on fees and charges. It’s not as if Verizon has been remiss in paying off its lease charges. This is a company that has built for itself an impeccable reputation of corporate responsibility, community outreach, and one of the few companies in the CNMI with a predominantly local workforce. Now that it has made a decision to spin off its Pacific operations, it is being put through the wringer and made to jump through hoops, as if MPLA can afford to treat this company shabbily since it is already on its way out of the CNMI. A simple transaction that should have been routine is being inflated into a full-blown opera of Wagnerian scale, the likes of which would have prompted any other company to just throw up its hand and pack up, leaving us to stew in this mess of our own making.

Sure, MPLA is sticking to its line that it is doing this to protect the interest of the indigenous population. However, it sure looks different from my side of the fence; its action in this case is definitely NOT indicative of such noble intentions. Forgive me if I’m wrong but it’s as if the MPLA is trying to bilk Verizon of all the last cent it can get before the company says sayonara to the CNMI. Regardless of what MPLA terms it, what is happening with Verizon appears much like a corporate shakedown, a check on all its pockets to collect any stray bit of coins before sending it on its way.

However, by hindering the smooth flow of a private business transaction, the MPLA is adding one more nail into the coffin of the CNMI, further cementing the islands’ reputation as a place where plunking down a wad of cash is as good as giving oneself a headache of major proportions. Who will then get hurt in the end? The indigenous population! When businesses are pulling out left and right, when luring in investors become an exercise in futility, who will be left holding the empty bag? Definitely not the nonresident workers, who will just go home or go someplace else; most assuredly not the businessmen and women who left, who will just set up their companies in more lucrative markets. It will be the indigenous population who will wind up with astronomical unemployment figures and long lines at the food stamp office. In fact, we don’t have to look too far; the hurting is going on right now: Had the Verizon-PTI deal gone through by the Sept. 1 deadline, people on the islands would not be paying inter-island toll fees right now. Calling Tinian or Rota would be the same as calling from Garapan to Chalan Kanoa. However, because of MPLA’s delaying tactics, it is still a lot cheaper these days to place a call to the U.S. mainland or Hawaii than it is to call your parents in Songsong village on Rota.

This is not smart business-making. What is the reputation that the CNMI is trying to build here? That it is as hard to get in as it is to get out of the CNMI? That people here engage in corporate thuggery as a matter of course and principle? What makes you think that no one will ask Verizon what it’s like to do business in the CNMI? And what do you think will Verizon say to these people? One should always remember that in the close-knit world of business, reputations are made or broken through word-of-mouth; in the world of backroom wheeling and dealing, a reputation of being a good place to do business in is an extremely valuable piece of currency.

We have a choice here. We can either become the economic powerhouse in the Pacific like Hong Kong and Singapore are in Asia or the next failed experiment like the Solomon Islands. Either way, it will be how we behave toward investors—past and future—that will swing things our way. It makes sense to always remember what one Japanese businessman told Japan Today: “It is so hard to do business in the CNMI that, if they continue the way they do things there, the place will soon become a true paradise: empty, with no people, and just sand and rocks for the crabs to clamber on.” Is this really what the CNMI wants?