Senate overrides Fitial veto

The Senate voted yesterday to override the governor’s veto of a bill requiring the Department of Public Lands to consult each respective mayor before taking any action on public lands in his or her municipality.

All of the six present members voted in support of passing the bill over the governor’s disapproval. Two-thirds of the Senate was required for passage. Senators Maria T. Pangelinan, Jude Hofschneider, and Paterno Hocog were absent.

The bill requires concurrence by two-third of the House of Representatives to become law.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial had spiked the legislation, saying it “impedes in the progress and development of the DPL and it violates the Constitution.”

But the senators insisted on the importance of consulting the mayors on public lands issues.

Tinian Sen. Joseph Mendiola said DPL should be required to get local perspective before leasing out public lands, especially those pieces of property that measure less than five hectares. By law, DPL is required to obtain legislative approval before leasing out any public property with an area of at least five hectares.

“The mayor should be consulted as to what is good for his island,” said Mendiola. “If DPL decides to allow a red-light district on four hectares of public lands, say, on Tinian, and the people get upset, they won’t go to DPL to complain; they will bring their complaint to the Tinian leadership.”

Rota Sen. Paul Manglona echoed Mendiola’s statement. He said that some DPL projects on Rota failed because they were undertaken without input from the municipality. One example, he said, is a $1-million homestead project that has gone to waste because of poor planning and lack of coordination with the municipal government.

In his veto message to Senate President Pete P. Reyes and House Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, the governor said that requiring the DPL secretary to adhere to the mayors’ position would only add another layer of bureaucracy in managing public lands.

He noted that the law, which created DPL, already provides a mechanism to ensure DPL complies with its fiduciary duties by providing for an advisory board that includes members from each municipality.

Although DPL’s enabling statute provides for an advisory board, the administration has not made any appointments to the board.

Fitial further argued that the measure violates the Constitution, which designates the management of public lands to the Executive Branch. “The measure would change that constitutional mandate as it will allow the mayors to share management authority, which is in direct violation of the Constitution,” he said.