Verizon workers slam ‘vendetta’

Over a hundred Verizon employees signed a petition asking Gov. Juan N. Babauta to intervene in the dispute between the company and the Marianas Public Lands Authority and demanding that the CNMI government stop engaging in political vendetta that may result in massive job losses at the telecom firm.

Verizon’s spokesperson, Carlene Reyes-Tenorio, said the employees would hold a peaceful assembly in front of the Governor’s Office at around 10am today. She said the employees have volunteered to join the petition and assembly. Tenorio is the daughter of Public Works Secretary Juan S. Reyes, the Republican Party’s chair who leads Babauta’s reelection campaign for the upcoming November polls.

“As employees of MTC [Micronesian Telecommunications Corp.] and Commonwealth taxpayers, we are extremely dismayed that this government and the MPLA have never stopped making life difficult for MTC, our source of livelihood. Everywhere MTC turns, this government and the MPLA block its way, unless MTC makes substantial concessions,” the petition states.

“This has been the experience of PTI [Pacific Telecom, Inc.], our parent company. After investing $60 million in the CNMI because of its faith in the future, what MTC and PTI got in return were demands after demands and opposition after opposition. This must stop or the CNMI economy will surely hit rock bottom and all of us will suffer dire consequences,” adds the petition.

The employees said the government’s “vendetta” is not only hurting the economy, but puts their jobs at risk. They said the company is likely to relocate its facilities to Guam if evicted.

Earlier this month, negotiations between Verizon and MPLA resulted in a deadlock, prompting the MPLA to file last week a civil suit against MTC and its new owner, PTI, seeking to evict the companies from their main Susupe offices and other facilities. The MPLA and its board also asked the Superior Court for still unspecified damages for Verizon’s use of public lands where the telecom firm’s cables are buried, among other causes of action. The MPLA had demanded Verizon to pay it some $2.1 million for public lands easement related to the underground cables.

The governor also asked the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission last Friday to slap PTI with monetary fine of at least $170,000 regarding incomplete submission of certain financial documents before the deadline—at least 10 days before the company acquired MTC’s common stocks last Sept. 20. Verizon assured that it would submit all required documents and cooperate with the CTC.

Verizon’s employees asked Babauta to intervene on their behalf in connection with the MPLA suit, pointing out that the governor appointed the MPLA’s board members. The petition asks the governor to have MPLA’s lawsuit withdrawn to prevent a scenario where he would have to declare an emergency to take over the public lands agency. It also said both the executive and legislative branches of government should look into the issue.

The petition shares the company’s position that the right-of-way to bury cables under public lands was part of the franchise granted by the government to the telecom firm. It branded the MPLA’s $2.1-million demand as unfair, saying that the agency was imposing an easement fee about two decades after the fact.

“Whenever a government agency tries to take advantage of a public utility company or threatens to evict the company from all of its public land leases based on an unfounded basis for back-rental for the past use of the government’s public utility right-of-way which was given to MTC, the executive and legislative branches of government have a solemn obligation to look into the matter and investigate it immediately,” the employees said.

“The consequences of the recent lawsuit filed by MPLA would be enormous, far-reaching, and devastating for the entire Commonwealth. For if evicted from its premises, there will be massive disruption of telecommunications services in the Commonwealth. Government operations will be extremely handicapped, business operations will be paralyzed, and local residents will not have access to make much needed phone calls. The Commonwealth will literally be disconnected from the rest of the world. This scenario is not a make-believe one; it is real, if MPLA’s threat is carried out. Is this what we want to happen?” asks the petition.

Meanwhile, former CNMI Chief Justice Jose Dela Cruz said he was disappointed with the MPLA’s public statement that Verizon has been spreading lies about the MPLA issue.

“I’ve never been called a liar before. That’s really what’s the statement is. It’s very demeaning to say the least. It’s the first time for two attorneys to question my integrity after serving the Commonwealth as a trial judge and as the first [CNMI] Chief Justice. It’s just amazing—the audacity of people—to make remarks like that. It’s indicative of what’s happening here in the Commonwealth and it’s sad because it is a reflection of things that have gone bad and we need to turn this negative thing around. In the long run, it’s the people who will get hurt,” Dela Cruz said.

He said Verizon never wanted the MPLA suit, but favored a resolution of the issue, without conceding that the agency’s $2.1-million demand was appropriate. He said the company’s goal is to have a state-of-the-art telecommunication system in the CNMI.

“Even though we disagree with MPLA, it doesn’t mean that we don’t want to resolve the issue,” Dela Cruz said.

On the allegation by MPLA attorneys Matthew Gregory and Ramon Quichocho that he displayed unethical conduct by issuing media statements about the issues related to the suit, Dela Cruz said the attorneys should have verified his position with Verizon first, pointing out that he is not chief legal counsel but a board member of PTI. He said the company’s attorney who handles the MPLA suit is Colin Thompson.