Torres admin eyes harmonious relationship with Legislature

Angel A. Demapan, right, takes on the role of being the new chief of staff of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres in the next four years. (Jon Perez)

The administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is looking forward to working closely with the Legislative branch, especially with the Republican Party keeping the majority both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The local GOP holds 12 of the 20 seats in the House and six of the nine in the Senate.

Newly appointed chief of staff Angel A. Demapan said the administration is looking at longterm solutions aside from the continuing recovery efforts of the islands of Saipan and Tinian from the devastation of Super Typhoon Yutu.

“Obviously, is to continue the progress we’ve made. The primary goal is to stabilize the economy and address the workforce issues that we have,” said Demapan in yesterday’s interview when he accompanied Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero in visiting Guam Power Authority personnel who were assisting in power restoration on Saipan.

The CNMI economy took a direct hit in what Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios called the 1-2 punch of Typhoon Mangkhut on Rota and Super Typhoon Yutu on the islands of Saipan and Tinian last October. For almost a month, tourism—the CNMI economy’s major industry—was at a standstill.

Labor issues also continue to hound the CNMI as it needs a permanent solution to its lack of skilled workforce before the CW-1 program ends in 2029. The CNMI is also waiting for a legislative fix in the separate issue of those workers under the humanitarian parole program.

Demapan said that this is what they are hoping to capitalize on with the Executive and Legislative branches both under the local GOP. “The ultimate goal will be for longterm solutions; that’s the important thing to do.”

“Now, with the GOP leadership in the Legislature, we are looking forward of taking advantage of that. To be able to work harmoniously with the Legislative branch and to ensure the administration’s platform and promises for continued progress is carried forward.”

The Republicans originally grabbed 13 of the 20 House seats with Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz of Precinct 3, who unexpectedly died last Jan. 6. House Speaker Blas Jonathan T. Attao (R-Saipan) said they are drafting a letter to declare a vacant seat.

The letter will then be sent to Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to inform of the Executive branch of the vacancy at the House with the former calling for a special election in 30 days.

Demapan said that helping in the daily operations at the Governor’s Office will be one of his goals aside from keeping the mission and objective of the administration on track. “I’m happy to be of assistance to this administration.”

“We’ve seen a lot of progress, but we also have a lot of plans that the governor and lt. governor wanted to undertake. I’m very excited to be part of this team and to help continue moving the Commonwealth forward.”

Demapan, who lost to Delegate Gergorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) in the last elections, said that Torres and Palacios will be deciding on the composition of their Cabinet as soon as they finish reviewing the reports compiled and submitted by the transition committee. “They will be making assessments and upon completion of the review, they will be able to decide the composition of the Cabinet.”

He added that Torres and Palacios has not set a timeframe on how long it would take them to decide who would stay from the current Cabinet or who would be let go.

Demapan was also asked if the ongoing federal government shutdown would affect federallyfunded programs here in the CNMI. “[All] federally funded programs in the CNMI will continue to be operable.

“We just hope that they (U.S. federal government and Congress) can bring resolution to that [shutdown]. Because we don’t know at this point whether a prolong shutdown will eventually affect the operations here on the federal side.”

He added that, as of this time, they see no problems with the funds provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for typhoon recovery efforts and the Nutrition Assistance Program.