Zarzuela a la Pacifica

When I first heard the news about the Marianas Public Lands Authority charging Verizon/Pacific Telecom Inc. for back rent it allegedly owes for burying its cables on public lands, I thought it was a joke. It did not make sense—like a badly written farce the histrionics of which have gone so far off the map of what is plausible that suspension of disbelief is no longer possible.

Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t it only a few decades ago that the CNMI had nothing in the way of a simple telephone system and that the entry of Verizon was heralded as akin to the coming of the Messiah? How soon can people forget! As has been pointed out by former Marianas Public Lands Commission executive director William Concepcion, the burying of the telephone lines was seen as a joint government-private project and no thought was given to the idea of charging Verizon for burying its lines on public lands because the project itself would redound to the benefit of the entire Commonwealth, ensuring that it will have a world-class telephone system that would continue to work even during the middle of a 200-miles-per-hour typhoon.

Of course, it is only right for private landowners to demand compensation from the government when their properties are taken for public purposes (roads, easements, right of way, etc.) because the owner loses the right to do whatever he or she wants with her property. A landowner can no longer plant a coconut tree on a piece of property that has been transformed into a road or a sidewalk. In my opinion, though, this case does not apply to Verizon’s buried cables. MPLA, as the caretaker of all public lands in the CNMI, did not lose its right to do whatever it wants with the properties through which Verizon’s cables are buried. If they want to transform a piece of public land into a homestead or a condominium unit, they can still do that, with the added benefit of already having a buried line nearby to which they can connect telephone lines. The buried line does not interfere in any way with any plans that MPLA may have on the affected properties, which are, by the way, enhanced in value because of the ease with which one may connect to a telephone line.

Sadly, however, this situation is no more than a typical symptom of the kind of business environment being fostered by this present administration. A lot of people have pointed out that the CNMI government doesn’t seem to have a basic idea as to which types of business it wants to attract or keep out. Actually, come to think of it, it has and the Babauta administration has been very consistent in its application of this idea. Simply put, this administration does not welcome any business that it itself did not bring in. It only feels comfortable rolling out the red carpet for businesses that it can count on as a political ally. Investors that come in out of the blue are ignored or treated with benign indifference; those that are brought in by other people are sized up with a wary eye, while those that are brought to the fold by political cronies are pampered and showered with attention. It is to the credit of Sedy Demesa that she immediately knew how to play this game and managed to establish rapport with the administration, ensuring that her right flank is covered. She took care of her left flank by coming up with a newspaper and magazine that she can wield as a weapon or as a business tool, depending on which way the political winds are blowing.

This administration, however, would rather have nothing to do with investors that are brought in by its political foes. Whether true or not, any company that is perceived to be close to Babauta’s political enemies are made to run through a gauntlet of delaying tactics and lawsuits that would be sure to overwhelm the fainthearted. Case in point is Pacific Telecom Inc. Owned by an upstanding family, the company has passed muster at the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation yet it has gotten no slack from the administration and its supporters as it continues to fight an uphill battle in its fight to be a respectable part of the local business community. Of course, the fact that it finally managed to seal the deal with Verizon despite the administration’s hysteria must have only served to further heighten the administration’s beef against the company. The Babauta administration needs to do more if it wants to shed its image of being anti-business. Claiming to be one does not cut it.

(The views expressed are strictly that of the author. Vallejera is the editor of the Saipan Tribune.)