Kilili files leave of absence, to undergo back surgery
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C Sablan (Ind-MP) has filed a leave of absence, citing medical reasons. The CNMI’s four-term delegate to Congress will undergo back surgery on March 2.
In a statement, Sablan said he will “be in recovery for about two months” after the operation.
Sablan said he has been shuttling back and forth between the Commonwealth and Washington, D.C. in the last six year and that took a heavy toll on his back.
“These last six years in the U.S. Congress have been filled with success, but they have also been hard on my health,” Sablan said. “Now the doctors tell me that my only choice is surgery to fuse some of the vertebrae in my lower back.”
Sablan said the operation will be at George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. He expects a full recovery.
The lawmaker said he will “not be able to keep a full schedule at the House of Representatives” during his recovery period, but he will try to keep in touch though email and telephone.
Sablan just recently begun his fourth term as the CNMI nonvoting representative to the 114th House of Representatives.
He was sworn in last January and is the first and only official ever to represent the people of the CNMI in Congress.