2 lawmakers object to Friday’s Rota session

Lawmakers yesterday raised objections to the speaker’s call for a session of the House of Representatives on Rota this Friday.

Rep. Stanley Torres questioned the need to conduct the session on Rota on the eve of All Saints’ Day, an important tradition in the Catholic-dominated Commonwealth. Rep. Tina Sablan said having the session on Rota does not make fiscal sense, especially since 18 of the 20 House members have to travel from Saipan to Rota for what is expected to be a four-hour session.

Speaker Arnold I. Palacios defended his decision to call for the Rota session, saying it is “good public policy” to occasionally bring the Legislature to the other islands, not only Saipan. “The people of Rota are just as entitled to see the lawmaking process happen on their soil as the people in any senatorial district,” he said.

He noted that the House has not held a session on Rota for over two years. He said the 16th House, since taking office in January, has postponed a Rota session twice already. “We need to bring this body to Rota,” he said.

Palacios denied that House members want to take up a highly controversial issue away from media scrutiny, a common notion that many people following local politics get whenever the CNMI Legislature meets on Rota. He said there are numerous pending matters on the bill calendar, but there is “nothing very controversial.”

Torres said he will not attend the session because it’s Halloween. “Who is his right mind would go away from his island on the eve of All Saints Day? I would like to go to Rota but not this weekend. After the election, maybe,” he said.

For Sablan, cost is the main issue.

“We are talking about possibly 20 members flying out to Rota, at over $200 each for airfare, plus food, plus hotel accommodations, plus transportation. Some of the members are flying out on Thursday morning or Thursday evening and will be staying overnight. Others will be flying out on Friday morning for the session, which starts at 10am. The speaker has indicated that we will meet for two hours, break for lunch, then meet for another two hours and catch the evening flight back. If the Friday evening flight is booked, as the Thursday evening flight is, then some members may have to stay overnight again. All for a four hour session? It doesn’t make sense,” Sablan said.

She added, “The fact that we haven’t had a House session on Rota in over two years is probably attributed to the fact that the CNMI is in dire fiscal straits. Things are worse than ever, and this is probably the worst possible time to needlessly send 20 politicians over to Rota at taxpayers’ expense so they can have a four-hour meeting.”