Manglona to be laid to rest Monday

Government officials are set to fly to Rota to attend the state memorial and funeral services of former lieutenant governor Benjamin Taisacan Manglona on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

The state memorial services will start at 7:30am and end 12:30pm.

The funeral services on Tuesday run from 7:30am to 12:30pm.

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has issued administrative leave to non-critical employees of CNMI departments and agencies to take leave for these honorary services on Rota.

Over the last week, the Commonwealth mourned the loss of the former lieutenant governor, who passed away at the age of 78. He was the CNMI’s first lieutenant governor from Rota and a former Rota mayor.

Yesterday, government officials paid their final respects to Manglona at a viewing at the Kristo Rai Church in Garapan.

Former lieutenant governor Diego Benavente called Manglona “one of the CNMI’s greatest leaders.”

Benavente, who was House of Representatives vice speaker at the time Manglona was lieutenant governor, told reporters this week that he had the opportunity to work with Manglona during the 702 and 902 talks, or negotiations with the federal government regarding the NMI Covenant.

As a mayor of Rota, Manglona continued to show his love for the people, Benavente said.

“Almost everything that he did during his term in office was really for the benefit of the people. I am sure everyone will agree with that. He was dedicated. He was hardworking and he did a lot,” said Benavente.

“It goes to show how strong politically he was, because even though he was a senator from Rota, and really looked at as someone coming from Rota, when he ran as lieutenant governor with [former governor] uncle Larry Guerrero, they won. And that’s because people loved, not just the former governor, but his runningmate and lieutenant governor.”

Many of the pavilions that the community sees along the beach, Benavente said, were built by Manglona. “…From funds from his own account as lieutenant governor. He used a lot of his own office money to build projects like the pavilions in the side of the beach, not just in Rota but here in Saipan.

“A lot of those pavilions that you see were built by former lt. governor Benjamin Manglona using his own lt. governor account.”

From the Marianas District Legislature, Manglona was elected as a Congress of Micronesia representative until 1970 with the Northern Mariana Islands still being administered by the U.S. under the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

In 1972, he was part of the 13-member Marianas Political Status Commission—the body that negotiated the CNMI’s political status with the U.S. Federal Government—representing the island of Rota.

After then-U.S. President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-241 that established the CNMI in 1976, Manglona helped draft the CNMI Constitution serving as vice president in the same year. He was elected to the first CNMI Legislature in 1976 as Rota senator and even became Senate president at a latter term.

He did not seek re-election in 1989 and instead joined the gubernatorial ticket of Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero. The Deleon Guerrero-Manglona tandem won the election and was sworn into office in 1990. They served for only one term and in 1998 Manglona was elected the mayor of Rota and served until 2006.

The CNMI House of Representatives, in March 2011, adopted House Resolution 17-45—authored by then-Rota representative Teresita A. Santos—honoring Manglona’s significant contribution to the Commonwealth as a public servant.

The CNMI Senate, in April 2011, passed a bill renaming the Rota International Airport as the Benjamin Taisacan Manglona International Airport. Then-governor Benigno R. Fitial signed the bill later that year.