A quiet celebration on Monday

Three days from now, on March 24, the CNMI will mark—without any formal ceremony or fanfare—the 38th year of the signing of the Covenant, the document that made the Northern Marianas a part of the United States and later made its residents U.S. citizens. Some officials, however, said it is enough that the CNMI reflects on—and be thankful for—its political relationship with America to mark the historic date.
Covenant Day, as it is known, is an observed CNMI holiday.

“Thirty eight years ago, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands were joined with the people of the United States. On its face—in the Covenant—this joining was a ‘political relationship.’ But in reality, although sometimes contentious, this relationship is so much more,” Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos said that, while there have been “challenges along the way” since the political relationship was established, “we must still celebrate the vast opportunities we have reaped as a result of the Covenant.”

The governor also recognizes the “honorable framers of the Covenant.”

They include Edward DLG. Pangelinan, Vicente N. Santos, Juan LG. Cabrera, Vicente T. Camacho, Jose R. Cruz, Bernard V. Hofschneider, Benjamin T. Manglona, Daniel T. Muña, Dr. Francisco T. Palacios, Joaquin I. Pangelinan, Manuel A. Sablan, Joannes B. Taimanao, and Pedro A. Tenorio.

“These leaders worked long hours day in and day out to reach an agreement that would benefit us and our beloved islands,” Inos added.

On March 24, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed a joint congressional resolution approving a mutually negotiated “Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States.”

The Covenant defines the unique relationship between the Northern Marianas and the United States, recognizing U.S. sovereignty but limiting, in some respects, applicability of federal law. The Commonwealth accordingly enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than most U.S. territories.

Sablan said the Covenant signing “fulfilled our long held desire ‘to be a part of a nation with shared goals and values found in the American system of government based upon the principles of government by the consent of the governed, individual freedom, and democracy.’”

“And as we celebrate 38 years since the approval of the Covenant, I also remember with gratitude the members of the Marianas Political Status Commission, for it is they who worked hard in negotiations that brought about the relationship that I believe is the best between a territory and the United States,” he added.

Rep. George Camacho (R-Saipan) said yesterday he doesn’t believe there’s a need for a formal event to mark Covenant Day, so long as residents take the time to “reflect on” the CNMI’s relationship with the United States.

But he said it could also be time to reexamine that relationship, not necessarily change or cut the ties.

“What we have now is a good relationship with the United States. We are also appreciative of the U.S. citizenship. But there’s still room for improving that relationship,” Camacho said.

The CNMI will mark Covenant Day weeks after the House of Representatives passed a bill creating a Second Marianas Political Status Commission that would examine “whether the people desire continuing in a political union” with the U.S. under the Covenant.

Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan), a former CNMI immigration director, said the question should be brought before voters, and not pushed through legislation.

In previous years, when the Covenant Party was still alive, the party would mark the holiday with a gathering of families, friends, party members, and members of the public. The Covenant Party was recently dissolved, after it was absorbed by the Republican Party.

The Covenant was negotiated over the course of 27 months, from December 1972 to February 1975, by the Marianas Political Status Commission, made up of representatives of the Northern Mariana Islands, and a delegation representing the United States.

Of the 95 percent of all registered voters who cast ballots in the plebiscite, 78.8 percent voted to approve the Covenant.

The Covenant was subsequently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 21, 1975, and by the U.S. Senate on Feb. 24, 1976. A month later, President Ford signed Public Law 94-241 (90 Stat. 263), enacting the Covenant.

Some provisions became effective on that date, pursuant to Covenant Section 1003(a).

The remaining provisions became effective on Jan. 9, 1978, as well as on Nov. 4, 1986, when qualified residents of the Northern Mariana Islands became U.S. citizens.

Decades later, federal minimum wage applied to the CNMI. In 2008, a law was signed placing CNMI immigration under federal control, which took effect on Nov. 28, 2009. The same law allowed CNMI voters to elect for the first time their nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.