CCC, CEC, MVA officially gain new board members

The Commonwealth Casino Commission, Commonwealth Election Commission, and the Marianas Visitors Authority officially gained new board members yesterday to represent the island of Rota following a Senate confirmation hearing yesterday.

Yesterday, the Senate held a regular session where they officially confirmed Thomas A. Manglona, Kurt John O. Maratita, and Dwayne L. Maratita to the CCC, CEC, and MVA board respectively.

During yesterday’s hearing, the only nominee present was Manglona while Kurt and Dwayne Maratita were unable to make it to the confirmation hearing.

While Both Kurt and Dwayne Maratita gained a unanimous 5-0 vote in favor of their confirmation, Manglona gained three yes votes, one abstention, and one present vote.

Specifically, Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) abstained from voting for Manglona, while Sen. Donald Manglona (Ind-Rota) voted present.

In an interview with Manglona, he shared that he appreciates all the Senators for fulfilling their role in his confirmation as well as the CNMI administration for their trust in him.

“I’m very appreciative of the appointment of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and our Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang. I’m also very appreciative of the confirmation process and the Senators for confirming me this afternoon,” he said.

When asked what his first course of action would be as a newly confirmed and sworn-in CCC commissioner, he said he intends to collaborate and communicate with sitting commissioners to move forward with current issues plagues the Commission.

“I look forward to working with the other commissioners to move forward through the many issues we are currently facing. With a lot of collaboration and communication with stakeholders, I think we can move forward. First, I have to sit down with all of the members to discuss what issues we have to tackle first,” he said.

As for the ongoing revocation proceedings in regards to Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC’s exclusive casino license, he said he reserves his comments for a later time.

“As you know, the case remains active in court so I’d prefer not to comment at this moment. Maybe at a later time,” he said.

CCC chair Edward Deleon Guerrero, in is public comments, stated that he looks forward to having another commissioner on the CCC board as it would finally establish quorum allowing the CCC to push forward with important matter such as revocation proceedings, as well as finding ways to acquire more funding for the CCC.

Up until Manglona’s confirmation yesterday, the CCC had two commissioners and one chair while it needed three commissioners to establish quorum.

While he is happy that CCC now has a Rota representative, Deleon Guerrero also urges Gov. Arnold I. Palacios to fill the commission’s Tinian position.

Meanwhile, CEC board chair Susan Babauta also provided public comments in support of Kurt Maratita’s confirmation.

She stated in her comments that now more than ever, it is important that CEC fill its vacant Rota seat as elections are coming up and the CEC is in need of all the help it can get to smoothly run the long-anticipated event.