Saipan Tribune

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Saturday, October 20, 2012

All set for tomorrow's 'rally against corruption'

All is set for tomorrow's “rally against corruption” being organized by private citizens, including Glen Hunter and Ed Propst, four days after the defeat of a House of Representatives resolution impeaching Gov. Benigno R. Fitial for 16 allegations of corruption, neglect of duty, and felony. The rally will also be held days ahead of the Nov. 6 mid-term elections.

Hunter said the result of Wednesday's session “sparked a rise in an already overflowing sense of civic duty and our fight against corruption.”

“We are expecting a good showing at this Sunday's rally against corruption. We are inviting the nine noble members of the House that voted 'yes' and any other candidates that would like the governor to be held accountable to come out and join us at this celebration,” Hunter told Saipan Tribune.

The so-called “Noble 9” include House minority leader Joe Deleon Guerrero, main author of the impeachment resolution, along with Reps. Ray Tebuteb, Ray Yumul, Frank Dela Cruz, Tony Sablan, Janet Maratita, Trenton Conner, Ralph Demapan, and Edmund Villagomez.

Sunday's anti-corruption rally will be from 10am to 12pm at the Microl Intersection in San Jose, the same spot where a pro-impeachment road waving was held last Sept. 16.

Hunter said he agrees that “the issue now goes before the public and can be decided on in the Nov. 6 vote.”

“We know all the facts involved in the 16 articles of impeachment and we know that we must replace 10 members of the House that embrace the corrupt practices and have denied the public closure on these sensitive issues by sending it to the Senate,” Hunter said.

Yumul said he will join this rally against corruption. Yumul and Maratita, along with the Senate, sued the governor over a sole-source $190.8-million power purchase agreement. The court granted a temporary restraining order on the 25-year deal involving a 50-megawatt diesel power plant.

This $190.8 million PPA is among the issues included in the impeachment allegations against the governor.

Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota), in a separate interview, said that, while the impeachment resolution was defeated at the House, “it is good that people already know who to vote and not to vote [for].”