DeLeon Guerrero: Economy is falling fast

The CNMI economy is falling into darkness so fast that there is a need to act quickly to get back Chinese tourists and revitalize the tourism industry, according to Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) yesterday.

In a meeting with officers of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association of the NMI in the Senate chamber, DeLeon Guerrero said it is quite urgent to organize a team for 902 consultations with the Biden administration to discuss the issues the CNMI is facing with the economy, the lack of airlines, lack of tourists and other pressing issues.

In line with this, DeLeon Guerrero disclosed that Gov. Arnold I. Palacios is organizing a 902 consultation for some time in January 2024. The 902 consultation is a provision in the CNMI’s Covenant agreement with the United States where they will consult on pressing matters affecting the CNMI.

Deleon Guerrero is hopeful that whoever the Commonwealth sends to Washington, D.C. for the 902 talks “will be able to articulate the issues that are facing the Commonwealth and that we could find a solution hopefully that would address the needs of our economy so that we can all survive what we are facing today,” she said.

She also believes it is quite critical that if the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revokes the discretionary parole program, DHS should also implement at the same time, if not sooner, the CNMI-Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program as its substitute.

The discretionary parole program allows Chinese tourists to enter the CNMI without a tourist visa. EVS-TAP will allow prescreened nationals of the People’s Republic of China to travel to the CNMI without a visa under specific conditions.

“I think that’s the ultimate direct solution right now, as we speak with the urgency of what we are facing today here in the Commonwealth,” DeLeon Guerrero said.

She cited a Commonwealth Ports Authority letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation that shows data provided by the CNMI Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which showed that the CNMI was reporting 185,526 tourists coming to the Commonwealth.

DeLeon Guerrero said the direct economic impact of that is $126.4 million, while the indirect economic impact is $204.7 million. She said the total economic impact is $331.2 million.

“That is way beyond what this government produces on its normal economy. This is serious. We are in dire straits,” the Senate president said. “This is the ripple effect of a dead economy. The ripple effect of the loss of the market.”

DeLeon Guerrero said she read the letter signed by U.S. senators and representatives dated Nov. 30, 2023, that requests DHS to revoke the discretionary parole program for the CNMI. She said she sees the reason behind that letter and that it’s understandable.

“We’re all concerned. We are flying the American flag. …The United States government has unilateral power over national security. That’s a given,” she said.

The reality is that the Commonwealth does not have the sufficient revenue to bring back the life that people once had before the pandemic and before Super Typhoon Yutu, DeLeon Guerrero said.

“This is serious. I could see the impact,” she said.

DeLeon Guerrero said without the private sector, there is no economy for the public sector.

She underscored the need to protect the private sector.

To ensure that the CNMI remains competitive and afloat, there is an urgent need to organize 902 consultations and act on a Senate Joint Resolution introduced by Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) to accelerate the process of the EVS-TAP implementation, she added.

That resolution asks Palacios to advocate for the increased security for the tourism industry through the promulgation of EVS-TAP.

EVS-TAP was one of the recommendations of 902 Consultation special representatives in their report dated May 15, 2019 to then-president Donald Trump.