Torres scores Fitial nominees to CPA board

Rep. Stanley Torres (R-Saipan) dropped a Chamorro version of the F-bomb on Gov. Benigno Fitial Thursday in a letter urging the governor to reconsider two of his recent nominees to the board of the Commonwealth Ports Authority, citing potential conflicts of interest.

At issue in the letter are two employees of Tan Holdings subsidiaries nominated along with several other candidates to replace the recently dissolved CPA board: former congressman Absalon Waki Jr., now the advertising sales manager at the Saipan Tribune, and Frank B. Camacho, manager of Pacific Orient Inc., a company with contracts to provide technical services at the local airport.

“They are both employed by subsidiary companies of Tan Holdings, a major tenant of the Francisco C. Ada, Saipan International Airport and contractor for handling aircraft maintenance and ramp services for most of the major airlines, specifically, POI,” Torres said in the letter. “These nominees are clearly in conflict.”

Torres wrote the remainder of the letter in Chamorro, saying the governor should appoint a CPA board without any vested interests in the Commonwealth’s ports, according to several translators. The letter concludes, “[Chamorro expletive], esta do-dos un-nae, basta adai, nae ya siha lamon todu.”

The expletive Torres employed is a discourteous choice of words for someone speaking to the governor, the translators noted. Although it lacks a direct correlation in English, they said, it is somewhat akin to the “F-bomb.”

“Everyone has a right to speak their minds,” Waki said in an interview after declining to “dignify” Torres’ letter with a response.

Camacho, however, answered the letter by saying his experience with POI will prove a major asset to the board rather than a conflict of interest, adding that he would consider the appointment only because the CPA board is in dire need of members.

Meanwhile, the governor’s spokesman, Charles Reyes, defended the Fitial administration’s choice of nominees but had no direct comment on Torres’ language.

“The governor is responding to an urgent request by the legislature for nominees to fill the CPA board and that’s what he provided,” Reyes said. “It’s up to the Senate to either reject or confirm them.”

Reyes noted Waki’s “experience” in business matters and “leadership qualities” as traits that warrant his nomination to the board. Similarly, he said Gov. Fitial wanted “to have someone with experience in the air transit industry” like Camacho on the board so that it could benefit from his knowledge as a “stakeholder.”

Torres’s letter comes after the Senate earlier this week voted unanimously to confirm former Tinian Sen. Manuel Villagomez as an appointee to the CPA board. Villagomez joins former CPA chairman Joe Lifoifoi, who was asked to rescind his May 16 resignation and stay on the board. The remaining nominees yet to be confirmed are Miriam Seman, and Barry Toves.