Judge finds Filipino woman heir to estate of late lawmaker

The Superior Court has ruled that a woman who lives in the Philippines and was born out of wedlock is the biological daughter of the late former representative Benjamin Ayuyu Sablan and is therefore an heir to Sablan’s estate.

In an order last Wednesday, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho found 26-year-old Eunice Jean Yurong Basa to have proven by clear and convincing evidence, by means of a DNA test and sworn testimonies and admitted exhibits, that she is the biological daughter of Sablan.

Camacho said Sablan, also known as Benjamin Kappon, accepted and supported Basa by treating and holding her as his biological daughter.

The judge said Basa, for her part, acknowledged Sablan as her father and addressed Sablan as “Dad” or “Daddy.”

Camacho said he heard testimony that Basa’s mother had sex only with Sablan during the period of Basa’s conception and that a DNA test by the LabCorp. determined that there is a 98.71% probability that Sablan is Basa’s father.

Sablan was a member of the 9th CNMI Legislature. He died on May 16, 2016. Sablan’s wife Josephine died in 2013.

Last Nov. 14, Camacho heard an evidentiary hearing on Basa’s claim that she is the biological daughter of Sablan.

Basa appeared at the hearing via Skype. Former CNMI chief prosecutor Clyde Lemons Jr. appeared for Basa.

Charity Hodson appeared for Sablan’s estate administratrix, Kimberly Songsong Sablan. Kimberly Sablan, who is the daughter of Sablan, was present during the hearing via Skype from the U.S. mainland, but she did not testify.

According to Camacho’s order, Basa’s mother, Evangeline, came to Saipan in January 1992, to work. She met and had a relationship with Sablan, who was already married at that time. Evangeline’s relationship with Sablan resulted in a pregnancy. At Sablan’s insistence, Evangeline returned to the Philippines, where she gave birth to Basa on May 25, 1993. Sablan visited Evangeline and Basa three or four times in the Philippines while he was on business trips.

Sablan’s sister, Belinda Sablan Tenorio, had written to Basa on Facebook that she was trying to find her brother’s daughter. Tenorio asked if she is the Basa that she met in 2014 at Asian Hospital in the Philippines and if her mother is Eva. Tenorio then informed Basa that Sablan had passed away.

A DNA analysis report generated by LabCorp., a laboratory testing company in Burlington, North Carolina, analyzed DNA specimens collected from Basa at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Philippines and DNA specimens collected from Tenorio by the Commonwealth Health Center lab on Saipan.

The DNA analysis determined that there is a 98.71% probability that Tenorio is the paternal aunt of Basa.