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Casino panel delays ruling on Rasa contract
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Posted on Feb 10 1999
The Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission yesterday deferred action on the consultancy contract of former House Speaker Oscar C. Rasa, whose termination has been sought on grounds that his employment was illegal.
Members of the commission met to discuss a letter of Tinian Mayor Francisco M. Borja seeking Rasa’s removal as consultant of TCGCC under a $100,000 a year contract because it violated a law that prohibits hiring of persons convicted for a federal offense.
According to TCGCC chairman Vicente M. Manglona, members voted to put on hold any decision until the commission’s legal counsel comes up with a recommendation.
Borja has been pushing the removal of the former speaker as consultant in fear that his presence in the commission would compromise the integrity of TCGCC in light of a law that forbids hiring of an ex-convict to the post.
Rasa, along with his brother Ponciano who was then Senate president, spent time in a federal prison in the early 1990s after he was convicted for receiving a payoff from a foreign construction firm that had been awarded a contract to build a government housing project in Koblerville.
Sen. Herman M. Manglona employed Rasa as TCGCC consultant when he was mayor of Tinian.
According to Borja, “It is clear that both the spirit and letter of the Act do not contemplate the hiring of a consultant by the Commission with this background” even in ancillary position.
Borja says it has “always been my opinion that Mr. Rasa’s employment by the Commission was improper.”
The Tinian mayor also ordered the commission to take back a government vehicle issued to Rasa which was temporarily assigned to the enforcement division of TCGCC.
He also told members of the commission that being the expending authority in the island municipality, he would no longer allow additional payment to Rasa.
