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Palacios to pursue his candidacy
Says he made the decision to pursue his candidacy after much reflection
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Posted on Jul 20 2022
Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios holds a press briefing yesterday afternoon at his office on Capital Hill. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)
With a lot of time to reflect during his recovery out of the hospital and even while he was still in the hospital, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios said yesterday that he made the decision to pursue his candidacy for governor because there are so many people “committed to the cause.”
Speaking at a press conference in his office on Capital Hill, Palacios, 66, said he and his running-mate, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, are going to offer what they’ve been offering from the start—an alternative to what the CNMI administration has today.
“And we’ll let the people make that decision,” he said.
Palacios and Apatang are running in the Nov. 8 general election on an independent platform.
After more than 40 days of being away, Palacios arrived on Saipan last Saturday aboard a flight from Hawaii where he had been medically transferred last June 3.
Palacios said he was mulling over that decision for days when he was by himself in the hospital as his family couldn’t even visit him because there was a COVID-19 lockdown.
Palacios also observed that, because of the election period, people “are kind of bashing each other right now” and he said he is going to recommend to his team that they tone down their rhetoric and concentrate on the issues.
He said he wants their team to be a lot more civil with the teams of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres of the Republican Party and Rep. Christina E. Sablan of the Democratic Party.
“I think we can get it done without creating such divisiveness in our community,” Palacios said.
He said the challenge is to try to tell the people and the individual teams to be as civil as much as possible.
As for his health condition, Palacios said there is no timeline in terms of what he needs to follow up. “I just need to…stay out of high-sodium diet and change my diet,” he said.
Palacios said he is taking medications to bring down his high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
He said he just got to get to a physical therapist on Saipan to continue the therapy sessions that he started in Honolulu.
“It was quite an ordeal, to say the least. But I am certainly happy to be home. I’m also happy that I am okay. I’m recovering fairly well,” Palacios said.
