Prayers pour in for Flores

Prayers and well wishes for speedy recovery are pouring in for Saipan Mayor Donald Glen P. Flores, who was rushed to the Commonwealth Health Center on Saturday morning, reportedly after a massive stroke. As of Sunday, he remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit surrounded by family and friends.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos himself visited the mayor and his family at CHC.

“I ask the people of the Commonwealth to keep Mayor Flores and his family in their prayers as he continues to be treated at the Commonwealth Health Center,” the governor said last night.

Henry Hofschneider, the mayor’s special adviser, said the mayor, as of yesterday, was “non-responsive” and “on life-support.”

“I ask the public to pray for his recovery. The family has been talking to him. He’s non-responsive but he’s still alive,” said Hofschneider, who visited CHC late Sunday morning.

According to one of the family members who was at the hospital yesterday, Flores has not “woken up” since he was brought in on Saturday, May 31. The family member said the mayor suffered a stroke and that Flores’ wife, Cecilia, is with him at the hospital.

Hospital personnel refused to talk about the case, as per standard hospital practice.

Hofschneider said Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council Ramon B. Camacho will be acting mayor while Flores remains at the hospital.

“The mayor’s office will continue to be in normal operation,” he added.

On social media, prayers and well wishes for the mayor also abound.

“The mayor is still fighting,” one of them said. “We will keep you in our prayers, Mayor,” another said.

According to other sources, a moment of silence was held yesterday during one of the high school girls’ softball games at the Oleai Sports Complex in honor of Flores.

Flores became Saipan mayor in January 2010, succeeding Juan B. Tudela. He ran as a Republican in the 2009 general elections. In April this year, Flores declared his re-election bid, this time as an independent.

On the day he announced his re-election bid, Flores said despite the obstacles and challenges that the mayor’s office faces, they continue to persevere and serve the community.

He said he has promoted and supported programs that have directly benefited the community with emphasis on children, safety, environment, preservation, and tourism. In 2011, for example, he launched a large-scale tree-trimming project along the Saipan Beach Road Pathway, has overseen the planting of flowers in the road medians and enhanced the U.S Armed Forces Memorial by the Beach Road-Microl intersection.

Under his term, his office secured a federal grant that advanced the Saipan Dog Control Program, and initiated construction of the island’s first Animal Control Shelter. (With Jayson Camacho)