Government corruption, casinos, and other pressing issues were brought to the attention of legislators at the conclusion of the 2014 Close-Up Youth Summit at Saipan World Resort on Friday.<\/p>\n
A student committee on law enforcement brought up government corruption, specifically House Bill 18-200, the proposed \u201cAnti-Abuse of Authority Act of 2014\u201d which would make it against the law for government employees to be convicted of a crime that their superior ordered them to do. They asked that the bill be amended so that the superior be removed from their position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original bill says that the superior is just going to be charged or given jail term, but we want it to be amended so the superior can be removed from office,\u201d committee chair Lou Frances Pua said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Vice speaker Francisco Dela Cruz called the bill \u201cgood legislation,\u201d noting previous instances of corruption in the CNMI by former governors and former department heads.<\/p>\n
He said employees acting under orders of the superior in these cases were only \u201cdoing what they were told.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Ramon Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) also took note of the students\u2019 proposed amendment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re recommendation for me is very simple\u2026and as a chairman of the Saipan Northern Island Legislative delegation, I am now directing Rep. [Roman] Benavente (Ind-Saipan) to look into this and change this right now,\u201d he said to the applause of the audience.<\/p>\n
Before presenting their proposal, the all-female committee asked legislators to not to view them as \u201cteenagers or kids but to see them as the future of the CNMI.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do know that it is happening and they were surprised that we brought it up, that we would know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The students also brought up the issue of a casino on Saipan, with Rep. Richard Seman (R-Saipan) and Vice Speaker Frank Dela Cruz (Ind-Saipan) taking different stances in their responses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does the government still want to pass this [casino] plan?\u201d one student asked, citing previous voter rejection of the plan.<\/p>\n
Seman explained that the casino addresses \u201cthe now-needs\u201d and the long-term development of the economy with immediate infusion of cash into the retirement fund and the building of much needed hotel rooms on island.<\/p>\n
Dela Cruz said he believes \u201cthe casino was used to try satisfy the issues we are facing\u201d but that the critical issue should be left to the people to decide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want big investors to come to this island, but we want the right big investors,\u201d Billy Hinson told the Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
Hinson said he expects the majority of the funds to generated by the casino to be \u201csucked out of the island\u201d by the foreign investors.<\/p>\n
Another student, Jose Trinidad, felt slighted by the exclusive casino deal pushed through by the Legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time I checked \u2018democracy\u2019 came from the Greek prefix \u2018demo\u2019 which means \u2018people.\u2019 When the Legislature ignored the voices of the people, that essentially cancelled the very definition of democracy, changing it from a democracy to an autocracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Maria Dizon, who was at the summit for her second year, said the in-depth policy research, getting facts correct, and avoiding the influence of the media were the most difficult part of her experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [politicians] should be more aware that we are more informed, and there are programs like Close-up that are really want us to be informed. They should really reach out to us and see what we think,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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