An equitable solution to Article 12

I just finished reviewing House Legislative Initiative 18-1. I have a number of concerns and I would like to seek the help of our elected leaders to help me find the answers. I am sure there are others who are also in the same predicament and we need clarification on some of the concerns listed as follows:

Words used in the Initiative include “culture” and “tradition.” How are these words tied to the land that individuals own? The Chamorros and Carolinians who live abroad practice our culture and tradition no matter where they are. There are many CNMI folks living in the U.S. (Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, and elsewhere) and they maintain their culture there. Some of our people on Saipan are saying that we must keep Article 12 of our Constitution because we do not want to lose our culture.

The concern I have has something to do with mixing culture and land tenure. Ironically, I too want to keep my land for my children and their children and the generations that follow. I am perfectly aware of my obligations toward my family and children. I don’t need Article 12 to protect me from losing my land. I think I can do a better job protecting my private land and be able to convey my land to my children, their children and their children’s children without Article 12.

I get the impression that those who are in favor of retaining Article 12 have no confidence in themselves and might feel threatened that they might be easily persuaded to do something else with their land other than to keep it. I am sure there are still many landowners who would like to be protected by Article 12.  There are also those folks who prefer to be free from the protection of Article 12, like me. Both sectors of the spectrum must be accommodated and I offer something for all of us to consider.

Keep Article 12 to protect many of our landowners who wish to be under its umbrella. Provide a fair and equitable solution for those landowners who prefer to handle the fate of their fee simple land. Those that want to be perpetually free from the protection of Article 12 should be required to file a declaration with the Commonwealth Recorders Office.

The above methods will definitely accommodate all of the landowners in the CNMI. I therefore would like to impose on the goodness of our legislative leaders to introduce a “legislative initiative” that will take care of our total needs and satisfactory to all our landowners in the CNMI.

The children of my wife and I are 50 percent NMD. We have grandchildren who are 25 percent NMD. Some of our grandchildren are married and have children of their own, which makes us great-grandparents. They are now 12.5 percent NMD. Our great-grandchildren can no longer own land that we passed down to them. This is the problem that many of us in the CNMI are facing today and it will continue to get worse in the future.

HLI18-1 requires anyone (Chamorro and Carolinian) to prove that he or she has “some degree of Northern Marianas Chamorro or Northern Marianas Carolinian blood…to provide evidence to the Superior Court.” I suspect that if there is any question about your blood quantum, the court will require you to provide proof that you have some degree of NMD in you. It might be easy at this point in time. But in the future generations it is going to be extremely difficult to prove that you have NMD blood in your body. Without exaggerating, it is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove that you have NMD blood in your system. This process is going to cost unnecessary legal and medical expenses to prove to the court that you are an NMD.

The economic situation and the lives of our people here in the CNMI will definitely improve once Article 12 is repealed. The bank will have the option to engage in the Federal Housing Administration Program, which is part of HUD and insures mortgage loans made by private lenders. Residents of the CNMI are currently not eligible to participate because of the restriction on conveyance of title and restriction imposed by Article 12 on lenders, which must be able to convey marketable title to HUD in the event of foreclosure or default.

Here is another headache: A person who is not NMD is hospitalized and needed blood. The local blood bank only has NMD blood supply. The hospital gives a blood transfusion to the patient who is a non-NMD. When that patient gets out of the hospital, he now has NMD blood. Can he own land fee simple in the CNMI?

I better stop here and ask the leaders of this Commonwealth to be fair to all private landowners.

  By DAVID M. SABLAN SR.
  Special to the Saipan Tribune

  David M. Sablan Sr. is a former president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and former chairman of the Marianas Visitors Authority board of directors.