‘AG also flew premium class’

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, through his lawyers, claims that Attorney General Edward Manibusan helped pave the way for government officials to fly first class in their official capacities by flying premium class himself.

According to the motion to disqualify the Office of the Attorney General from the criminal suit filed against Torres, Viola Alepuyo and Matthew Holley claim that the OAG did not only provide legal advice in the drafting of the CNMI’s travel regulations, but he himself flew first class on official business, paving the way for others, like Torres, to do the same.

“Based on the legal advice provided by the OAG on the travel regulations, and on AG Manibusan leading by example and flying premium class, the way was paved for numerous government officials and across several government agencies, to obtain premium class in their official capacities,” the motion stated.

Manibusan

Public Law 15-86 was enacted on Sept. 26, 2007, codifying airfare restriction, and imposing a civil penalty on a government employee who “caused the issuance” of a premium air class ticket. However, when P.L. 15-86 was enacted, the Department of Finance did not have a uniform travel regulation in place, Alepuyo and Holley said.

The two noted in their motion that on or about Feb. 16, 2016, Manibusan travelled on premium class authorized by the Office of the Governor.

“Manibusan, the Commonwealth’s chief legal officer, demonstrated that he too must follow Department of Finance’s travel regulations by obtaining approval for his government-sponsored travel. Naturally, anyone authorized to sign off on Manibusan’s Travel Authorization would not question the legality of his premium class travel, given his position as the chief legal officer,” the lawyers stated.

Then, in 2017, the Executive Branch created the Travel Regulations Steering Committee to address travel regulations, they said.

“The committee was organized to allow premium class for the effectiveness of agency goals and strategic objectives, including a policy allowing premium travel for the governor and lieutenant governor, and to allow all others the option to upgrade at the government employee’s own expense,” they said.

On June 6, 2017, Epiphanio Cabrera Jr., the Office of Grants Management administrator, issued a memorandum to all government agencies on behalf of the Travel Committee seeking input, suggestions, recommendations, or improvement metrics from all agencies to better improve and update the CNMI’s travel regulations.

During this time, the OAG provided legal advice and approved the policy and regulations drafted by the Travel Committee. That same draft included specific language that the governor and lieutenant governor were allowed to travel first class.

“The allowance for persons traveling for the government, including the governor’s spouse, shall equal to the number of days of authorized office travel multiplied by the current per diem allowance rate, contained in the Joint Travel Regulations, to its employees for the respective travel destinations when engaged in official business, except for the governor and lieutenant governor, who are allowed first class travel; all others are economy. Upgrades shall be borne at the traveler’s personal expense,” the draft Travel Regulations state.

The lawyers added that at no point during the OAG’s legal advice and consultation with the Travel Committee did it ever recommend the removal of the provision allowing the governor and lieutenant governor from traveling first class.

The Travel Committee’s Travel Regulations, with the OAG’s approval, was implemented by the Department of Finance soon after.

The Office of the Public Auditor eventually became aware of the government’s non-uniform travel policy and the widespread use of premium class travel among government officials. OPA investigated the Commonwealth’s travel policy and found numerous violations and, by auditing several Commonwealth agencies, OPA found that not only was there no uniform policy regarding premium class travel, but several government officials were also using premium class travel in their official capacities.

“The lack of a uniform premium class air travel policy rests with the OAG. The OAG provided legal advice and supervision on the development of premium class air travel. The OAG’s prosecution of Gov. Torres based on alleged violations of §7407(f) is directly contrary to the advice and guidance it gave in assisting the Executive Branch in developing regulations for §7407(f). This circumstance presents a situation which requires automatic withdrawal or disqualification,” the motion stated.