A focus on four ‘hot-button’ issues of the day

“Lessons learned and a way forward” was the theme that welcomed nearly a hundred to the Northern Marianas Descent Corp.’s inaugural Marianas Indigenous Conference, which raised issues concerning people of the CNMI.

“Understanding the fundamental premises of our constitutional form of government and the vital historical context on which our self-government and relationship with the U.S was negotiated will help better form our value judgments and perspectives for a healthier democracy,” NMDC president Herman R. Deleon Guerrero said in his remarks yesterday at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

The conference promised to educate the public on important and so-called “hot-button issues” affecting CNMI.

With several members of the CNMI’s 18th Legislature, government officials, students, and the public attending—including about 385 people from around the world streaming the conference live—the conference focused on four fundamental topics: the political status of the CNMI’s Covenant agreement with the United States, federalization, Article 12, and submerged lands and adjacent waters.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos said this kind of event honors and embraces the indigenous identity and celebrates CNMI history as well as those who have made the CNMI their home. He said the issues discussed are critical and important today.

“How do we move forward in the global society as an indigenous people, with the shared responsibility and shared opportunities with those who have made these islands their home?” Inos asked. “How do we celebrate our diversity yet uphold what is unique to each one of us? These are issues that we must discuss among ourselves and at the same time, embrace inputs from everyone in the community.”

The keynote speaker, former Guam senator Dr. Hope A. Cristobal, said that people should embrace the indigenous people and its culture and should be aware of the issues confronting them.

Cristobal said that Guam changed the moment the United States made it part of its territory and the CNMI should not follow in the same footsteps.

NMDC president Deleon Guerrero said that in 1978, when the CNMI entered into political union with the U.S., legal-minded scholars started to redefine the meaning of the Covenant to suit their motives.

Deleon Guerrero also said the U.S federal government “side-stepped” the Covenant and issued major policies and policy directives without meaningful consultations that run contrary to the promise of the Covenant.

He hopes that the conference will help foster a deeper appreciation, strengthen respect, and rekindle lasting hope among the CNMI’s indigenous people.

“I challenge us to be more assertive as NMDs and residents by proactively participating in constructive civic discourse and positively contributing to the formulation of more sensible public policies based on sound and in-depth understanding of our Covenant and our rights guaranteed by it,” he said.