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‘Grant funds for Labor stopped due to Benedetto’
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Posted on Feb 08 2009
The two top officials of the CNMI Labor Department believe that former federal ombudsman James Benedetto is to blame for the withholding of federal grant funds that were earlier available for the department’s operations. The funds, they said, have not been available since the end of Fiscal Year 2007.
Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas and Deputy Secretary Cinta M. Kaipat said this happened because the federal ombudsman sought control over certain Labor functions through the exercise of financial control over grant funds.
Benedetto was the federal ombudsman at the time. Last year, he moved to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor.
“The proposed conditions on the availability of grant funds, to be controlled by the ombudsman, amounted to a serious conflict of interest or appearance of conflict because the ombudsman sponsors cases and claims within the Labor Department system,” said San Nicolas and Kaipat in an annual report to the Legislature.
The two officials said Gov. Benigno R. Fitial rejected Benedetto’s demands and substituted local funding for part of the withheld federal funds.
They said these federal funds have not yet been restored, but Labor has a pending application to avail of the funds.
The Labor officials pointed out that, unlike relations with other federal agencies, relations with Benedetto “were unsatisfactory during 2008.”
Benedetto left the office in September 2008. To date, he has not been replaced.
With respect to their relationship with foreign agencies, San Nicolas and Kaipat said that in 2008, the Philippine Consulate General’s staff was consulted on the new employer qualification reviews and visited hearings to see the new Labor processes in action.
They said Philippine Consul General Wilfredo Maximo was also consulted during the process of drafting Labor’s revised employment regulations.
With respect to China, the Labor officials said, Labor coordinated with CEDA on matters affecting Chinese workers in the CNMI.
With Thailand, they said, the Department of Labor in Thailand sent a delegation to consult with Labor about workers from that country who are currently in the CNMI.
