Villagomez wonders: Why now?

The tie-breaker rule of the House of Representative has been on its books for at least the past two legislatures, so House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) wonders why the Republican lawmakers of the minority bloc are now raising questions about its constitutionality.

“As far as we see it, we’re not wrong,” said Villagomez yesterday when asked for comments about Attorney General Edward Manibusan’s opinion regarding the House of Representatives’ tie-breaker rule.

Villagomez questioned why the minority bloc did not complain about the rule when they were still the majority in the House.

The speaker said the Republicans pretty much had the numbers to say what the rules are going to be and they were fine with it, but now when the time came when they’re the minority it’s now unconstitutional, he added.

In his opinion issued last Friday, Manibusan determined that the House’s tie-breaker rule that allows the speaker to vote twice in the event of a tie contravenes the CNMI Constitution’s provision on the minimum vote requirement.

Manibusan also recommended that a certified question petition to the CNMI Supreme Court to resolve the dispute is a recourse that may be explored.

Manibusan issued the opinion after nine Republican representatives and one independent representative sought last March 25 his legal opinion on Article II Section 3 of the NMI Constitution pertaining to the principle of “one representative, one vote.”

Last March 19, Villagomez had to exercise his authority to break a 10-10 tie to pass a bill that mandates legislative appropriation for the estimated $515-million Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund that will be allocated to the CNMI.

Villagomez said yesterday that he will look into the AG’s opinion as he has not seen it until that morning from newspapers. The speaker said he might need to again seek legal clarity from House’s legal counsel Joseph Taijeron.

He said when they went about the issue, Taijeron advised that it’s constitutional.

Villagomez said they did discuss the tie-breaker rule with the majority bloc (Democrats) prior to the House’s session where he did vote twice.

As to Manibusan’s recommendation to bring a certified question petition, Villagomez said if lawmakers want to go that way, they will go that way.