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MPLA’s motion to remand suit vs PTI taken off calendar
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Posted on Mar 26 2006
Assistant attorney general David Lochabay has replaced lawyer Ramon Quichocho, counsel of the defunct Marianas Public Lands Authority, in the lawsuit against Pacific Telecom Inc. and Micronesian Telecommunications Corp.
The Department of Public Lands, through its acting secretary John S. Del Rosario Jr., also substituted for MPLA, as plaintiff, federal court records show.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson met with the parties in the case for a status conference last Thursday.
With the consent of the parties, Munson ordered that the then MPLA’s motion to remand the lawsuit to the Superior Court, be taken off calendar without finality.
Quichocho withdrew from the case as plaintiff’s counsel. The Attorney General’s Office and the DPL then agreed to assume all duties and responsibilities regarding the matter.
Munson accepted the substitution and replacement.
PTI and MTC sought the transfer of the MPLA’s lawsuit from the Superior Court to the federal court, alleging that the agency’s causes of action were based on claims that infringe upon the U.S. Constitution and federal law.
On Jan. 3, 2006, MPLA filed a motion to remand the case to the Superior Court for lack of subject jurisdiction. The defendants responded that the court has federal question jurisdiction.
With the replacement of MPLA with DPL, the government and PTI have revived talks on land leases that were the subject of the lawsuit.
MPLA and its board sued PTI and MTC for allegedly breaching the terms of public land leases when it improperly used public lands in burying their cables without paying the agency easement fees.
