AFTER TENO’S VETO House revives bill restricting nonresidents from hiring guest workers

A measure vetoed by the governor that had sought to forbid businesses owned by nonresident workers from hiring foreign manpower yesterday was revived by the House of Representatives in its bid to bridge loopholes in the existing laws.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio disapproved last week the bill due to possible legal questions and its failure to provide specific provisions regarding scope of the proposal.

Offered by Vice Speaker Jesus T. Attao and Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, House Bill 11-247 aimed to ban alien workers who entered the CNMI for employment before July 28, 1987 from bringing in foreign manpower for their own businesses.

But during a session yesterday, House members underscored the need to pass the legislation in view of the proliferation of this type of businesses and potential abuse of the law under the Nonresident Workers Act.

The joint committees on Labor and Immigration and Commerce and Tourism were instructed by the House to conduct study on the bill, including the number of nonresident-owned businesses which may be impacted by the proposal.

House Majority Floor Leader Ana S. Teregeyo blamed oversight by the government for the absence of a policy that would spell out guidelines regarding ownership of businesses on the island as well as hiring of guest workers.

She said that while the law provides protection for nonresident workers, it does not restrict them from establishing their businesses here and eventually using it as a shield to bring in contract workers from abroad.

“What was not envisioned that could be treated as a loophole was the privilege for these nonresident workers to find something that would help them become the employers,” Teregeyo told in an interview.

Since the passage of that law in 1987, hundreds of businesses were set up by alien workers to get a slice of the economic boom being experienced then by the CNMI.

According to legislators, while many of the companies were legitimate, the lack of clear-cut policy led to abuse of workers by their, such as non-payment of wages and other labor violations.

“This is what we are trying to address here,” Teregeyo explained. “It’s not to allow those who came in on workers permit to get into opening businesses for themselves.”

She added that it has been happening for several years as many took the opportunity “to hop on the bandwagon.”

Tenorio, in his veto message, prodded the Legislature to redraft the entire bill to address constitutional problems, foremost of which is a justification for enactment of such a law.

Teregeyo shared the governor’s concern, noting the Legislature failed to include inputs from existing businesses which may be hit by the restriction.

“Because they could affect our economic development, we terminate them now not knowing how much they have contributed to this economy. That major bulk will be lost and we cannot continue to decrease our economic base because we are in crisis,” she said.

“We need to come up with a unified position as to why we felt and what drove us to decide on why we should do this. It’s only appropriate that we do this,” added Teregeyo.