Why Article 12 should be abolished: A short story

Buenas yan saludo taotao Marianas. I am writing to share my reasons to vote to end Article 12 in November 2011.

First, I would hope that going forward those that may have an opinion to maintain the status quo or end Article 12 would conduct themselves professionally and not label or chastise individuals in a callous or derogatory manner. I agree with one and all this is a very sensitive subject but it does not need to be personal and everyone is respectfully entitled to their opinion.

I begin by telling you that my wife and I are ordinary hardworking blue collar to white collar individuals. When we returned to Saipan after pursuing our education abroad, I worked three minimum wage jobs to survive, we excelled quickly and over time out of a necessity to raise a family of three and we are now putting them through college. As with countless others in our community, my family personally struggled. Nothing was handed to me on a silver platter. I had to endure hardships to accomplish what I have and am not ashamed of the fruits of my labor. I don’t pretend to be unique; there are countless families and friends who have gone through the same ordeal.

My wife Nora (Palaksi) was diagnosed with cancer many years ago. We, like many families on island, were stunned by the news but the shock soon wore off to the realization we had to do something about it. No one at that time had access to a cancer specialist (oncologist) in the CNMI. Guahan’s cancer center was devastated by a typhoon and the nearest oncologist was in Hawaii. For some reason we did not qualify for the CNMI medical referral committees’ requirement to be sent off-island for medical care. The Administration also stalled our request for (medical emergency) access to our tax rebate, which was two years delayed. We eventually got it but not when we really needed it.

At this point you may be asking yourself, “What do all these have to do with Article 12?” Well, if Article 12 did not exist, then like many Americans across the United States, we would have access to credit markets that would normally permit you to borrow against the equity in your home. Most of our banks no longer offer a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) portfolio because of the restrictions imposed by Article 12 should a client default on their loan. And as point of information, when banks did offer HELOC loans in the CNMI, it was 50 percent of the equity value and an excessively high interest rate, which isn’t much when all is said and done.

So without much in the way of cash, we, as many families in the CNMI, emptied our savings, bloated our credit cards and had creditors coming after us from all sides over the years. Also, our only asset, our home, was on the brink of being foreclosed. Through it all, nothing was more important than Nora’s life and despite our financial challenges she saw her oncologist every quarter. I did not care about debts (reckless I know) but her life meant everything and at that time creditors became an unfortunate distraction.

Thanks to our immediate families, CNMI Medical Referral & Committee, the current Administration, my employer SAISHIP and wife’s employer FHP Health Clinic/Take Care Insurance, we hope the worst is behind us. We’re getting back on our feet physically and financially. But I often wonder what other families have to go through when their government does abandon them, when they have no access to HELOC credit markets and are scraping by just to stay alive? For our family, this was an incredulous experience, to say the least.

Let me reiterate why we should do away with Article 12 from a recent letter to the editor, with regard to keeping the status quo. There are apparently over 3,000 applicants for the homestead program in the CNMI. The majority of these applicants reside on Saipan and the truth of the matter is there is clearly not enough public land to go around. So what does the future hold for adults young and old to break out and own their own home? Well, unless they have rich parents, inherit an estate, or win the lottery, at this stage “nothing”. Why nothing? Because most banks in the CNMI will not lend money for mortgages unless you have an impeccable credit score of 720 and over, a co-signer, reasonable collateral, a 30 percent to 50 percent down payment and closing costs for the mortgage. What do current and future generations have to look forward to without access to credit markets? Living with Mom and Dad is not a sustainable solution.

It is no secret that land values are distinctly lower in the CNMI than our neighboring island of Guahan. Our depressed real estate market has a great deal to do with Article 12, our limited access to a current local market and not to a global market of fee simple buyers, and also our failure to maintain past zoning and building codes in the CNMI. But let me focus on Article 12. A couple of years ago, before the recent real estate market speculation boom, my good friend from Guahan, his parents’ federal government retirees, in their early 70s, used their property on the outskirts of Mecheche – Dededo Village to build a modest two-bedroom home with all the bells and whistles. They did not have to put a penny down for their $130,000 mortgage loan, as their 1,000 sq. meter raw property, which was appraised at $55 a sq. meter, had sufficient appraised equity (collateral) to meet their bank’s down payment and closing costs. This scenario could and would exist in the CNMI if Article 12 did not exist. I ask all of you that are currently landless and homeless: How, are you going to own land and a home in the CNMI without access to credit markets and reasonable appraised land values to obtain a mortgage loan? Private land and condominiums will be your only options going forward.

My last reason for this letter is “fairness”. I believe Article 12 was a good thing when we started this wonderful CNMI over 30 years ago. The majority of people were not educated in the complexities of real estate transactions. Some may still not be. But that’s why we have realtors, bank advisers, attorneys and many individuals on this island that can be tapped for advice. You’re not alone anymore!

Further, we know many of our Chamorro and Carolinian people have married outside of our ethnicity. Their spouses and their children’s children are grossly disenfranchised in familial estates. I ask you why anyone brought into a matrimonial union and may have offsprings in the process, why we should continue to discriminate against our own? Why doesn’t this loving community of indigenous people not recognize that our people are choosing other ethnicities and are embracing them as a member of our society?

Why should we use culture in the discourse for keeping Article 12? Land has nothing to do with culture, it is an asset that should be shared amongst all that are in union with your family. How you choose to do so, absent Article 12, is your business. It should not be the business of our government! To be clear, I am speaking only about Article 12, which governs the ownership of private lands. Please resist the urge to confuse this with Article XI, which deals with public lands. I ask only that I be allowed to manage my private land as I see fit. There is no obligation for anyone to sell their land if they don’t want to.

I know my reasons may not be unique and may have been contemplated by most individuals that have sat and seriously thought this issue through. I hope we do not lose sight of the opportunities to grow our society, provide for that dream of land and homeownership and lastly, to cite a very pointed quote I believe in, “No man is an island.”

Alexander A. Sablan is the marketing manager of Saipan Shipping Co. Inc., a former president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and a member of Citizens to Change Article 12. He lives in Kagman II.[/I]