Proposed legislation wants to abolish DPL
A proposed legislation wants to abolish the Department of Public Lands and establishing in its place the Marianas Lands Corp. with a Board of Trustees.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Rep. Felicidad Ogumoro (R-Saipan) said the MLC Board of Trustees “will manage and control the public lands in the Commonwealth, which collectively belong to persons of Northern Marianas descent, pursuant to Section 1 of Article XI of the Northern Mariana Islands Constitution.”
Ogumoro said “since its inception, DPL has been operating and making independent decisions directly related to the management and disposition of public lands–such as public land leases and village homestead development–without the presence, input, advice of, or voting by the Public Lands Advisory Board as required by Public Law 15-2.”
“Due to the scarcity of public lands in the Commonwealth, it is imperative that such lands are managed as effectively as possible,” she said.
Ogumoro said her bill will rectify this situation through the establishment of the MLC, with a Board of Trustees charged with the management and disposition of Northern Marianas descent-owned public lands.
The lawmaker said she is “troubled that DPL has been withholding funds derived from public land leases, which should have been remitted to the Marianas Public Land Trust to invest for the benefit of persons of Northern Marianas descent.”
“This practice on the part of DPL is unacceptable, and in violation of Public Law 15-2 and the NMI Constitution,” Ogumoro said.
Ogumoro said the proposed MLC Board of Trustees will have a clear mandate of their powers and responsibilities in managing public lands, including the remittance of funds to MPLT.”
She said her bill also mandates the hiring of the an MLC administrator and controller “to ensure appropriate enforcement and compliance of the fundamental provisions of the Act.”
Shrugging it off
Representatives of DPL were not available last Friday to comment on Ogumoro’s proposal.
Ogumoro’s bill is just one of the few proposed legislation seeking to radically change the DPL.
Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan) and other members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation earlier said they are looking at amending a law to allow the Department of Lands and Natural Resources to be the administrator of landing fees at Managaha Island instead of the DPL.
But for Tenorio, this can be “problematic.”
“The problem is that if you (lawmakers) disagree with something or something is against your own political will, you just want to change it. I don’t think that is the way to do it.”
Tenorio earlier maintained that legislators should always “look at it from the standpoint of what the Constitution says.”
Another proposed legislation is Senate Bill 19-42, which was introduced by Sen. Arnold Palacios (R-Saipan), prohibiting the lease of public land for live fire and bombing exercises.
Tenorio also earlier said the bill is “unnecessary because the Legislature already has the obligation and duty to approve and disapprove certain leases per Article 11 of the Constitution.”
The DPL chief further said one problem he sees is that “we don’t know what the U.S. is willing to pay,” and that “we would never know what is being offered unless discussion are conducted aimed at establishing some kind of fair market value for public lands that the military would be interested in leasing, such as Pagan, in its entirety or portion of it.”
He reiterated that the Legislature has the right to say “no” to discussions, and that there should an “open and balanced” discussions with the military.
Tenorio said the CNMI is not even on the stage of discussing how many years or how much land will be leased, yet proposed legislation seem to be “closing opportunity.”
Ms. Ogumuro: DPL is a constitutional creature. Could your legislation trump constitutional law? Isn’t this subject to the supremacy of laws? Do you wish to replicate the infamous MPLA?
JUST STOP! This is
Ridiculous! The bill is long overdue. But what puzzles me is that Rep.
Felicidad Ogumoro knew about these abuses long, long time ago, remember how
long she’s been at the legislature; and have been a member of the same party as
former Gov. Fitial who doled out public land like it was their inheritance. And
have allowed the legislature during her tenure for DPL not to remit lease
payments to MPLT. What’s up with this?
You
remind me of Legislators who sit back and just wait, watch, smell and hear with
mouth shut…AND THEN, THE AHA MOMENT! I HAVE AN IDEA TO INTRODUCE A BILL! Be
proactive not reactive…and be a genuine public servant.
You
simply cannot come up with your own genuine legislation; or your own creation.
First, you created NMDC after hearing about the Council for Chamorro Advancement
who testified against the legislation at the public hearing at the
Multi-purpose Center back in 2010 regarding the U.S. Law 110-229 (US
Immigration takeover). And after meeting several times with one of the founding
members when they expressed their programs to you for the Council.
What did
you do? First, you introduced a NMDC legislation; and then, you formed NMDC to
undermine the Council; instead of communicating with the Council for Chamorro
Advancement to get their input. Devious and sneaky!
Now,
again, you hear about the Council for Chamorro Advancement’s position to
abolish Public Law 15-02; and to transfer ALL ASSETS from DPL to Marianas
Public Land Trust (MPLT). And after you learned of the Council’s opposition in its
OPPOSITION to lease the 19,154 sm. of public land at the Anaguan (former Samoan
Housing) in Garapan. And the Council’s opposition to lease several parcels of
land in Obyan and Chalan Kanoa.
What did
you do? You introduced this Legislation; and again, did you communicate with
any member of the Council to get input from them? NO! Again, this is another
act of your devious and sneaky character…reminds me of the Spaniards behavior
when they conquered our people and our islands.
You are
always trying to get the sympathy of the voters BUT you are always going the
other way because you do not want to rock the boat with the Administration,
right?
First,
you went out in the media about your opposition on PL 110-229, but what
happened? NOTHING! Because you did not want to rock the boat because Gov. Inos
was asking the opposite. SHAME ON YOU!
Second,
you introduced a House Legislative Initiative to REDUCE the BLOOD Quantum to
own land, which passed in the last election. What happened? You gave Davis the
bullet to file a suit in the Federal Court, which was granted. And you
basically made a lot of Micronesians and qualify to own land! SHAME ON YOU!
And you
are still not done…you asked Congressman George Norita Camacho to introduce
ANOTHER HOUSE LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE to clarify Adopted Children of non-NMD.
Now, what are you two doing; and where are you two going with this HLI? We are
sure heading to the Court room again. Remember Davis case?
Have you
two checked out how many non-NMD children have been ADOPTED by NMDs and are not
actually residing with their adopted parents? I guess not! SHAME ON YOU TWO!
Third,
you introduced for a 2nd Marianas Political Status Commission…what happened?
Gov. Inos vetoed just before the last election…this is the same party you are
sleeping with, remember? What did you do? NOTHING! SHAME ON YOU!
Now, you
are introducing legislation to – in effect abolish PL 15-2 – KUDOS to you! But
what you should be doing is to actually sit down and study the gist of the
legislation before actually introducing one. You hear something of others
creation, conversation, idea, etc. What did you do? You run and PRE-FILE a BILL
to take credit without merit! SHAME ON YOU!
Now, we
have to go back to your bill to make amendments after amendments because you
did not take the time to understand and get the input from those who are
talking about it! SHAME ON YOU!
BE
ORIGINAL! In law…this is called infringement of intellectual property,
copyright, etc.
Now, let
me ask you? As a founding member of the NMDC, what is your position on the
current events at the site of the Samoan Housing, the Public Land known as
ANAGUAN that laid to rest over 500 Ancient Chamorros? Chamorros who have lived
peacefully for over 1000 years ago; and have died during the battle of the
Chamorro-Spanish War.
What did
you do? You voted to exempt BSI from the Zoning law even when the fact that
this is our Ancient Chamorro Village and Burial Ground; and also less than 300
feet from Garapan Elementary School, which is a gambling free zone. SHAME ON YOU! To allow BSI to dig up
our ancestors and to allow the school children to be exposed to the ills of
Casino next to their learning environment.
What did
you do? NOTHING! Instead you used Northern Marianas Descent as your vehicle to
funnel more taxpayers’ dollars and Managaha landing fees to support your cause
of disenfranchising the Chamorros from their aboriginal and ancestral lands!
SHAME ON YOU!
And
certainly not the least, as a Legislator and founding member of NMDC, you
allowed for the CNMI Budget in Fiscal Years 2014, 2015 and the proposed 2016 to
ZERO OUT the INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS OFFICE!
What this
means is that – NO OFFICE, NO EMPLOYEES, NO MONEY, AND NO REPRESENTATION OF THE
CHAMORROS. SHAME ON YOU!
But wait,
you voted for funding of the Carolinian Affairs Office, where your office is
also located, at close to $200,000 since 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; and a
budget request of $100,000 for NMDC. What did you do? Nothing! SHAME ON YOU! To
use NMDC for your convenience.
I am
asking all Chamorros who are residing in Election Precinct 3 not to cast their
vote for you the next time you run for office!
FANOHGI
CHAMORRO!
Peace!
Ogumoro is just pissed that she could not get the almost $1mil for her racist group. (among other suspected occurrences)
Now she is attempting on taking revenge on certain people.
I would also like to see an accounting and itemized list of both DPL and DPLT on just how MPLT funds are actually benefiting the indigenous people.
Though her legislation may have some merits, it is highly unlikely that she (Ogumoro) is doing anything from her actual concern for the people. If all is scrutinized it will most likely show her vindictiveness and personal gain coming out..
Buenas Captain,
Amen to your above statement. Are we moving forward as a society or are we moving backward?