Demonstrating our ability to self-govern

In Section 103 of the analysis of the Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, it is quite clear in its provision that guarantees the right to self-government for the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. For those individuals who continue to claim that the Commonwealth of the NMI is a U.S. territory, let me bring your attention to Section 103, which states that under a territorial relationship, the people do not have their own constitution and any right to local self-government is dependent upon an organic act, which can be amended unilaterally by Congress. Under the Commonwealth relationship embodied in the Covenant, however, people of the NMI explicitly have the right to self-government, which, under Section 105, cannot be altered without mutual consent of both the Commonwealth and the United States. And having been included as part of an insular area by the United States does not in and of itself make the Commonwealth of the NMI a U.S. territory. Instead, we are in political affiliation, by virtue of Section 103 and 105. Having stated this, let me now direct the above subject matter to the attention of our Executive and Legislative branches of government as to why it is incumbent upon them to start representing the true intent of self-government as it was embodied in the preamble agreement. They are as follows:

Upon the establishment of our political union with the U.S., it was agreed upon by the United States government that aid would be provided in terms of direct and indirect assistance to the Commonwealth for the purpose of social and economic development. Since 1976, the U.S. government has already provided in excess of $1 billion dollars in monetary assistance. Now here we are, several years later wherein one would think that both our social and economic development would’ve produced positive results within our internal affairs, given the fact that we’ve been receiving so much monetary assistance from the U.S. government throughout the years. Yet to this day, we are still heavily dependent on federal aid to help us with our internal affairs. And, although federal assistance was also incorporated into the agreement by the U.S. government, our government was also obligated to prove that we as a Commonwealth can in fact govern our internal affairs properly. Yet to date, all that we can show by way of results is a liability amounting to the tune of $113.3 million, of which $79.1 million dollars (or 70 percent) represents overdue Retirement Fund payments accumulated from 10-years ago to date. The balance of $34.2 million dollars is the amount representing debts owed to other agencies and private venders.

What’s the source of our problem? It’s our local government’s continued fiscal mismanagement that has unfortunately run rampant throughout the years. Who’s to blame? We the registered voters of the Commonwealth, because we allow such activities to take place within our government by electing and re-electing public officials who continue to promise sincere commitments to our people during election campaigns, yet forget everything they promised once seated into office.

What’s the solution? We the people of the Commonwealth have the power to wake our local leaders up, so they can start realizing that it’s time for them to become more responsible and accountable toward our social and economic development (meaning it’s time that voters demand nothing less of our elected leaders). It’s time that these public officials understand as well as practice the true meaning of self-government and begin to live up to their responsibilities, as embodied in the Covenant agreement. To start realizing that self-government has to do with being able to govern both social as well as economic development properly. It is having to eliminate physical mismanagement, misuse and abuse of public funds and being accountable to the public through means of transparency. To be able to ensure that local government debts are paid on time or in a timely manner, not by continued reprogramming of funds but through sound and proper physical management. Because stealing from Peter to pay Paul is not the answer to our current internal problems. It is high time that our local government start acting more like a self-governing entity, rather than that of an extended family to the United States and begin to more responsible for paying its debts and, at the same time, strive to rely less on federal assistance.

Once these factors have been accomplished, our local government can then truly claim that we as a Commonwealth are truly self-governing as agreed upon in the Covenant provisions. Until this fact is truly understood and becomes a reality, our Commonwealth will always be under threat of a federal takeover as a result of our inability to govern our own social and economic development even after so many years of federal assistance to help us along the way.

Jack T. Quitugua
Garapan, Saipan