A challenge to Sen. Reyes

Please give me an opportunity to comment on Senator Reyes’ statement about his involvement in my father, Charles P. Reyes, Sr.’s probate case. These statements refer to the “Reyes vs. Reyes in probate” article in the Dec. 1 edition of the [I]Marianas Variety[/I]. To be brief, Senator Reyes claims “he has no interest” in my father’s estate and only wishes to “protect the interest” of the children that my father has acknowledged.

If that were true, then why is it that the TRO he secured came so conveniently quick upon my father’s passing. What actions did any of us do to give him the idea that we had malicious intentions toward our other brothers and sisters. I have great respect for my Dad and fully support any acknowledgments he made toward any of his other children. I, for one, can vouch for the fact that he dearly cared for our younger sister on whom he left substantial assets to. I believe my brothers and I offer our full support to her especially in the absence of our father at such a tender age.

Obviously, Senator Reyes is desperately trying to justify his intentions. If he secured the TRO for the purpose that he claims, then he must have made a rather extreme assumption that we were unethical and immoral children. Could it be true that he just made this severely rash assumption? Or is his statement just a lie to cover up his true intentions. I now understand why he is a politician. Could assuming that we, the children, are immoral, be an extension of Senator Reyes’ actual character?

Furthermore, if it were true that he cares about individuals whose rights may be jeopardized by family members upon such situations, then why is it that he fails to disburse both of my grandparents’ estate accordingly to his own brothers and sisters. Prior to his passing, my Dad stated his disappointment in Senator Reyes’ refusal to disperse the duly inherited estate of my grandparents. Instead he relishes the fact that he maintains complete control over my grandparent’s estate. I suspect that he believed he could secure my father’s assets as he has done with my grandparents. Now, faced with a public display of our resistance, there is no choice but to innocently claim that it is to protect the “victims.” Senator Pete Reyes, there was no victims when my father died and there never were. Unfortunately, you are making us the victims.

Moreover, if Senator Reyes aims to make true to his claim, then I challenge him to respect my father’s wishes and allow the court to execute the will according to my father’s directions. If he claims that my father has acknowledged other children, then I have no problem with that and I support the distribution of the estate as outlined in the will. I do not challenge my father’s wishes. I expect Senator Reyes to yield the same respect. Anything less would reveal that he has ulterior motives behind his actions.

Lastly, he comments that it is “sad that this issue has to come up…and that it is “supposed to be within the family.” Given the fact that Senator Reyes managed to seal the TRO documents from the public, it is obvious he wanted all of this to happen in secret. In essence, he wanted to secretly issue the TRO, hope that we keep quite, and get away with whatever his true intentions were. Well fortunately, the newspapers gave us a venue to expose his actions and challenge his intentions. And hopefully, he will understand that despite being the influential person that he is, he cannot victimize his very own family members. I can only hope he does not have the same sneaky attitude that can potentially victimize taxpayers.

Thank you for the opportunity to state my case regarding this matter. Senator Reyes is a very influential person in the CNMI, and it is difficult to challenge his statements due to his exposure. But I am determined to state our case, because I can’t allow him to mislead the public about the integrity my father instilled in us.