Minority opposes CUC transfer

The House minority bloc is opposed to the administration’s plan to transfer the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to the Department of Public Works, saying that the former’s functions are far too great to be reduced into a mere division.

“I’m not in favor of CUC being put under DPW. CUC by itself is a stand-alone agency. It is a corporation. It’s a big function. Now if they want it under the Executive Branch, let them do it but let it stand alone, like the Department of Public Lands,” said House minority leader Arnold I. Palacios in an interview.

The Fitial administration signed a bill into law last month dissolving the Marianas Public Lands Authority and creating Public Lands Department in its stead, amid various allegations of improprieties leveled against MPLA officials.

Palacios said an emergency declaration over CUC during a power crisis is acceptable.

“To place it under the Executive Branch just as the Babauta administration did is fine. But if we’ve gone through the emergency, CUC should have some sort of autonomy. It should be a stand-alone agency,” said Palacios.

At the same time, Palacios called on the House leadership, particularly the Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications and the Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations, to present an assessment of the proposed CUC transfer to DPW as embodied in an executive order issued by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.

PUTC is chaired by Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz while JGO is chaired by Rep. Cinta M. Kaipat.

Palacios cited a lack of a report or some sort of an impact assessment of CUC’s transfer to DPW, “which is no trivial matter.”

He said the Senate has also been silent on the issue.

“The House leadership is not even looking at it. They are mum on this matter. Even the Senate is not talking about it. We intend to ask JGO and PUTC to give us a full position why we need to support the [executive order]. These two committees should explain why there’s a need to support the transfer,” he said.

Palacios said the minority bloc intends to block the executive order’s implementation or move to reverse it, but he admits that his group is simply outnumbered.

“We can reverse [it] if we have the votes, but the political reality shows we can’t. The governor’s people are controlling the House and the Senate. The Legislature can’t push for that change,” he said.

Majority members of the House of Representatives and the Senate belong to the governor’s Covenant Party.

Eleven members of the 18-member House of Representatives are allied with the leadership.