NMHC’s Civic Workshop ends today after 3 days

With the goal of teaching participants how the CNMI government operates, the Northern Marianas Humanities Council is concluding today its three-day Civics Workshop with the hope that attendees will become informed, effective, and empowered citizens.

As the first of its kind, the five-session workshop at the Azucena Hall of the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan in Garapan started last Wednesday and included topics like Dean Palacios’ lecture on how laws are created and how community members may be involved, and former CNMI governor Juan Babauta’s explanation of the history and evolution of the CNMI government, to yesterday’s discussion with KUAM’s Thomas Manglona on how the media is important to democracy, and former representative Tina Sablan’s strategies for scrutinizing political decision-making processes in a democracy, specifically the Open Government Act. Today’s concluding session with Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero will be focused on ethical rules in government.

In an interview with NMHC program coordinator Leeani Villagomez yesterday, she said they saw the largest crowd that morning and that the sessions so far had been engaging and informational.

“We want to see where this will lead,” said Villagomez.

She had seen a lot of engagement with participants, and that, if the demand is there, they plan to develop more of these types of workshops in the future.

In Sablan’s presentation, she shared the importance of the OGA and her personal stories involving the law, and the importance of citizens to know their rights when it comes to government’s openness.

“It’s been really helpful over the years to learn what exactly is the Open Government Act, so that we know what our rights are and what we are entitled to demand,” said Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ special assistant om Climate Policy and Planning Program.

“The sessions have been really engaging and the whole overarching goal of this program is to empower more citizens to get involved, to challenge anything that they’re not comfortable with, with any topics that concern them personally, so they can navigate better, whether speaking to their precinct representatives or getting access the resources available, websites and petitions,” said NMHC program manager Naomi Tudela. “With these sessions, we learn a little bit where to begin and who to reach out to when they feel passionately about making a change in the CNMI.”

She said the workshop feedback had been good. “I just spoke to one of the participants and they said that the sessions have been both interesting and interactive, and they have learned something new. At the end of each session, I ask: Did you learn at least three new things you didn’t know before, and a majority of them would agree.”

Originally, the NMHC team came up with 10 topics, but they were about to narrow it down to the Top 5 that “we felt would be most effective to really engage the CNMI citizens.”

Tudela said that workshop participants included various groups of CNMI residents, from college students, to government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. “This is just a way to educate and bring awareness to the power you have as a voting citizen in the CNMI,” she said.

Today’s session with DeLeon Guerrero will be focused on the ethical rules in the government, and the lecture is set to begin at 9am.