Questions that need answers

Efrain Camacho writes that repealing Article 12 is not about selling land; it’s about giving job opportunities to Northern Marianas descents. This is just the first in his convoluted and factually inaccurate justifications for repealing land protections.

Just how many job-intensive industries are waiting to move to the CNMI upon the repeal of Article 12? None that I know of. In the garment days, did any factory owners complain about the lack of landownership? In the days of peak tourism, did hotels close down because of Article 12? And currently, exactly what economic opportunities would abolishing land protection provide our people? Please be specific. Without specifics, your argument is no better than any other pie-in-the-sky “recovery plan.”

The only industries that are attracted to landownership in the CNMI are golf courses and vacation home developers. This is true not only in the CNMI, but in similar island destinations, such as Hawaii. What “job opportunities” will our local people be provided by some outsider’s mansion home? Maybe a butler and a gardener? Is that reason enough to give up our island home?

Lastly, Mr. Camacho claims that abolishing Article 12 doesn’t mean actually selling the land to outsiders. It’s only about having the opportunity to do so, not about taking the opportunity to sell land. Really? So if Article 12 is abolished, NMDs will not sell their land, only will proudly enjoy their opportunity to sell it? And outsiders will not actually buy land, only enjoy the theoretical opportunity to buy it?

None of Efrain Camacho’s story makes sense. The real story is much simpler. There is a land grab by real estate and hotel developers, and their accomplices are a few landowning locals who are eager to sell out our island. That’s a much more straightforward and honest account of the situation, isn’t it?

I urge everyone who cares about Saipan not to fall for the stories people like Efrain Camacho are weaving. Their real motivations are much simpler than what they claim. They say that locals aren’t foolish. We non-foolish locals indeed should realize when someone is trying to trick us. If you sign the anti-land-protection petition, you’ll be the one being taken for a fool.

Diego C. Blanco
As Lito, Saipan