Humanities and NMC launch Ethics Project

The Ethics Project, a collaboration of the Council for the Humanities of the NMI and the Community Development Institute of the Northern Marianas College, was launched in three similar but separate presentations Friday and Saturday, April 29-30, 2005, at the NMC As Terlaje campus.

Meant to focus on the notion knowledge of the legal provisions of laws are not enough, that values guide one’s understanding of the concept of law, the Ethics Project is a year-long series of presentations on the ethical implications of social structures and systems—judicial, political, economic and cultural—on daily living.

Launching the first series of presentations were the team of Fr. Fran Hezel, S. J. and Jason Aubuchon, both of the Pastoral Research Institute of the Micronesian Seminar centered in Pohnpei.

The hour-and-a-half, PowerPoint-to-stimulate-broad-discussion presentation “On Good Governance,” was originally designed for high School and Junior College students in Palau, the FSM, and the Marshall Islands. It was adapted to the CNMI general adult population, government officials, and board members of both NMC and the NMI Council for the Humanities. It will also air as a program video in the local cable program.

The presentation was geared to engage the CNMI community in a continuing conversation on the basics of good governance, and the attendant accountability systems that go along with establish legal structures.

Rehearsing commonly conducted functions of government such as the delivery of public services, the maintenance of public order, and the establishment of international relations, Jason Aubuchon reminded the audience of images of governance such as the one used by President Lincoln when he identified the U.S. government as one by, of and for the people.

Providing the historical perspective on the evolution of self-government in Micronesia, long-time Micronesian resident and scholar Fr. Fran Hezel noted the different direction that the CNMI took among the Micronesian political entities towards the object of self-determination and their continuing relationship with the U.S. government. But across the board, each entity is struggling with the issue of accountability in governance that is devoid of political pressure and influence.

The meat of the presentation were a five-segment video clips that led to discussions on such practices as uneven delivery of services by bureaucracies, customary practice of gift giving and extension of favor prior to requesting for certain kind of decisions that determines bids on government projects or designation of kin to public offices. Dramatization of favoring the interest of one’s “in-group” and taking advantage of one’s position to benefit ‘extended family’ interests were lifted.

The benchmarks of good work ethics were broached after viewing a vignette of a young graduate entering the government workforce. The lingering influence of unexamined cultural practices, particularly the receiving of proffered gifts by those out to influence decisions were highlighted. The ethos of an informed self-government, and keeping the public informed of government activities, were noted as marks of effective and ethically conscious governance.

Attending the second session were the staff and personnel of the Office of the Public Auditor led by its director, Michael Sablan. Asked about the possibility of assuming more prosecutorial functions to follow-up the result of its audits, Sablan declared that the competence of his office laid heavily on the accounting side and hardly on the legal prosecution side.

Senior government counsel Maya Kara who attended the third session added that the prosecutorial teeth of current legislation is weak, noting that the statutes still consider public misconduct as a misdemeanor.

Access to public information remains a public challenge. Traditional knowledge on medicinal herbs and navigational wisdom were closely guarded by cultural practices. Knowledge as power seems have been carried over into the present with bureaucracies holding on to reports and statistical surveys to maintain political advantage.

Fr. Hezel expressed hope that civil society across Micronesia take the initiative to pursue a regional awareness of good governance since the formal structures of inter-government discourse has not been effectively happening.

Other presentations on the Ethics Project will deal with issues on the environment, jurisprudence, information technology and business management.