Fitial vetoes measure allowing DPL to pay land compensation

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Wednesday disapproved a bill authorizing the Department of Public Lands to pay land compensation judgments, saying it is unconstitutional.

Fitial said there is nowhere in Article XI of the CNMI Constitution that mentions land compensation payments as one of the allowable expenses from moneys received from public lands.

DPL’s duties are limited to funding itself and the Marianas Public Land Trust.

“This section [of the CNMI Constitution] clearly lists what expenses are allowable from moneys received from the public lands. It does not list land compensation payments as one of the allowable expenses. As such, this legislation must be disapproved,” Fitial said in his two-page letter to House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios and Senate President Pete P. Reyes.

House Bill 16-206, offered by Reps. Heinz S. Hofschneider and Stanley T. Torres, authorizes DPL to pay for land compensation judgments using its operations fund bank accounts “in cases where land exchange is not a viable or desirable option.”

It said DPL has been sued over land compensation payments.

For example, on Jan. 8, the CNMI Superior Court ordered DPL to pay $1.8 million to the heirs of Rita Rogolifoi as compensation for the family’s As Mahetog lands that were used by the government for public projects in 1976 and 1992.

“Land compensation judgments usually include interest which is compounded until the judgment is paid in full, thereby making it imperative that the judgments are paid as soon as possible,” said the bill, adding that DPL has the ability to satisfy land compensation judgments.

Earlier, DPL Secretary John S. Del Rosario Jr. wrote a letter to then acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez, asking him to veto the bill because it is unconstitutional.

The Constitution states that the Marianas Public Land Corp., now DPL, “shall receive all moneys from the public lands except those from lands in which freehold interest has been transferred to another agency of government…and shall transfer these moneys after the end of the fiscal year to the Marianas Public Land Trust except that the corporation shall retain the amount necessary to meet reasonable expenses of administration and management, land surveying, homestead development, and any other expenses reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of its functions.”