Saipan Tribune

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Thursday, February 21, 2013

WORD OF THE STREET

By HAIDEE V. EUGENIO and CLARISSA V. DAVID
haidee_eugenio@saipantribune.com
clarissa_david@saipantribune.com
Reporters

“The governor's resignation is very good for the CNMI. I really appreciate his resignation. It was better for him to resign because the money they will use for the trial and to hire lawyers would be taxpayer's money. Now that he has resigned, I want to see the government fix our problems with the Retirement Fund and the hospital. Even though the governor already resigned, we still have problems. All elected officials have caused us problems but they keep blaming one another for these problems. Their bad habits are still there.”-Joe Cabrera, San Antonio

“I hope the new leaders can make the island economy better. If they do it right, we'll have a chance. But if they do the same things that Fitial did, then we have nowhere to go.”-Karl Litulumar, Kagman

“I'm glad we're moving on; hopefully, change is for the better.”-Jack Guerrero, As Teo

“It's very surprising. This is the first time in the CNMI that a governor resigned.”-Gerald Guerrero, Kannat Tabla

“The day the governor resigned is the best day. It's great news for everyone. After the resignation, I want to see new things-changes-in the CNMI. I think there will be lots of improvement. I hope the new governor and lieutenant governor will do what he's supposed to do and make better choices.”-Andres Halaby, Capital Hill

“I learned about it during class Wednesday afternoon. My AP U.S. Government and Politics class teacher, Mr. John Davis, told us about the governor's resignation. For me personally, I was kind of expecting it. He resigned before he would go to trial.”-Don Sulat, 15, Marianas High School

“For me it's a sad day. I'm sad for him to leave us, given his years of service. But him stepping down, as what they say, is for the betterment of the community as a whole.”-Jordon Kosam, Commonwealth Ports Authority Police Chief

“Gov. Fitial's resignation is a great thing. When he was governor, bad things happened: we lost many jobs, there was corruption in the government. Now that he resigned, the islands will improve.”-Amberlynnn Kazuo, Marianas High School

“Fitial's resignation is good for everybody. Hopefully after this, we'll have better economy. But it's going to take a while and it would depend on the new governor and lieutenant governor. If they could do their jobs, they maybe they can win back the trust of the people and we can all prosper.”-Schneider Ongiil, Garapan

“I believe it is something unexpected by the community.”-Juan T. Dela Cruz, Commonwealth Ports Authority Ports Police Assistant Chief

“I am not surprised. A lot of people wanted him out and if that's what the people wanted, he had to follow that.”-Jessica Bigueras, 16, Marianas High School

“I was surprised. That's all I can say.”-Joe Demapan, Chalan Kanoa

“He should have resigned a long time ago.”-Amelia Jamila, San Antonio

“We thank the governor for his courage and humane decision. We are now at a starting point wherein the new leader of this Commonwealth will be more sensitive in everything they do for the best interest of the people of the commonwealth. This is also the right time to call on our new governor, Inos, and our legislators to revisit and amend the recommendation about the immigration status of long-term legal workers, to be granted a pathway to citizenship.”-Rene Reyes, founding president of Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd.

“If he wasn't guilty, he shouldn't have resigned and he should fight to the very end. Fitial was unable to deliver his promises to the people of the CNMI.”-Melchor Tenerife

“I think he's just serving his own self-interests with his resignation. He knows he's going to be found guilty at the trial so he resigned. It's going to be a tough job for the new leaders but I'm sure they will do a better job than Fitial.”-Amelia Johnson, Capital Hill

“On Tuesday, we had our new DPS commissioner. Now we have a new governor. But is it really going to be a new CNMI? I don't think so. Nepotism is still No. 1 in the CNMI. I think if we have new leaders from our younger generation, then we'll have a new CNMI. So we should put education at the top of our agenda. PSS lost a lot of funding over the years. How can we present smart, educated kids to the world if we don't invest more in education?”-A relative of newly sworn Gov. Eloy S. Inos