Eloy Songao Inos

Accolades pour in today as the funeral of a sitting governor transforms an island into a rainfall of tears. The tears are for real; they are also obligatory in the rite-and-ritual laden soil of the Marianas.

Dignitaries from around and abroad will attend the funeral to offer their respect and honor one whose style of leadership was openly without question, much discussed and analyzed in the press. Unanimously selected to be lieutenant governor by the Legislature after serving as Secretary of Finance, and upon the resignation of then-lieutenant governor Timothy Villagomez from office, Eloy continued his role in public governance that began with his work in the Trust Territory administration. (Funeral details are in the news account on this paper.)
He was a great friend to many, warm to his immediate and extended family, dedicated as a public servant, and admired as a tireless leader working far beyond his immediate interests. Brother-in-law to the beloved Education Commissioner Rita Inos, he too showed a lifestyle as a «person for others» par excellence.
But we focus on the man, his life and the completion of it unto death. 

At 66, he is a decade short of the average male life expectancy in the United States but ahead of the diabetes-inflicted population of Micronesia. He was definitely a local Marianas boy. Schooled at Mt. Carmel High School on Saipan, he earned his bachelor›s degree in accounting cum laude at the University of Guam while also taking courses in business administration. The young soon-to-be politician and finance wizard knew Marianas well and evidently applied his learned finance talents into many tasks and functions.

Eloy’s personal life cannot be separated from his life of service. He also served as a VP for Tan Holdings, and not only for joining the family company that we honor his memory with this reflection, he was on his own a virtue worth emulating, hence of great value to the CNMI that he had faithfully and effectively served.

We ask our reading audience for a moment of silence, not just in memory of Eloy but on the mirror reflection it might elicit on the lives to those who reflect. Longevity is a preoccupation of Europe and though Eloy was of age, there will be those who think he went too soon. Our role in place is a quality of oriental living, and Eloy expended his widely, and extremely well, hook, line and sinker.  There is no doubt that he was a most likeable fellow.

We are sure he has his detractors, and he would not be Eloy if he did not stimulate diversity of thought processes and evoked multiple feelings from others.

For now, in the revered metaphor of this occasion, he is being laid to rest. Thus, we stand in revered and solemn attention for the being that he was, wart, woof, and wool. We thank him for being a comrade in the journey called life.

Si yuus maasi!

© 2016 Saipan Tribune