\n\t\t\t\tVincent Seman\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nTan Holdings, through the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, formed the Marianas Chapter, which began their nine-month program last year, beginning with a two-day retreat, and a daylong session each month featuring a guest community leader for discussions on tourism, education, government, healthcare and quality of life in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
The class of 18 was made up of Abner Paul Acosta, Ivan Blanco, Emanuel Borja, Frank Lee Borja, Alfreda Marie Camacho, Jacqueline Che, Christopher Concepcion, Bobby James Cruz, Geralyn Dela Cruz, Matthew Deleon Guerrero, Angel Demapan, Michelle Kramer, Velma Ann Palacios, Leo Pangelinan, Vincent Seman, Joseph Taijeron, Juan Diego Tenorio, and Eulalia Villagomez<\/p>\n
The 18 applied, were interviewed, and judged according to criteria, to be part of the program.<\/p>\n
\u2018Raise the consciousness of the Pacific\u2019<\/p>\n
Hannmemann gave the special remarks at Thursday\u2019s event, where he urged a Pacific and indigenous-based vision for the region\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
He took his inspiration for PCF from the White House Fellows program, which he was part of in 1983-84. He described it as his \u201cdream and vision\u201d to establish one in Hawaii and then throughout the Pacific region.<\/p>\n
PCF had its inaugural class in 1997. There have been 14 graduating classes of fellows since them, Hannemann said, producing many government and private leaders.<\/p>\n
A goal of the program was to establish networking that would \u201clead to working together rather than apart\u201d and help fellows realize each had a stake in improving their community.<\/p>\n
He said they\u2019ve done just that, with their classes getting together regularly.<\/p>\n
He added that their \u201cmost important\u201d goal was to \u201craise the consciousness of the importance of the Pacific region.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot from an European perspective, not from an American perspective, not from an Asian perspective, but from the perspective of the indigenous people who call Pacific home,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
He gave the Marianas fellows \u201cthree pointers\u201d\u2014to continue efforts to \u201crepeat, recite, and reemphasize the story of the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a unique people and our history has often been shortchanged. Our culture has been misunderstood, and oftentimes we are underappreciated for what we have done throughout the years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust think about the glorious story of how the Pacific was settled, of how the Pacific came together,\u201d he said, referring to Micronesian and Polynesian leader navigators like Mau Piailug and Nainoa Thompson, respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201c[These leaders] have been able to tell the people of the world: \u2018The Pacific island people knew where they were going.\u2019 They knew, guided not by modern day instrumentation but by the stars, by the birds, by their own instinctiveness and daring and bold adventurous souls\u201d that \u201cthey were able to settle and navigate this Pacific,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He asked the fellows to \u201ctell the world\u201d that they have much to learn from the Pacific island peoples about issues with fisheries and climate change. \u201cAll those things we know instinctively, we know through our forefathers. And we should be part of the discussion and the dialogue and the solutions\u201d to these problems, he said.<\/p>\n
A grateful class<\/p>\n
A class video played at the event on Thursday had all 18 members giving messages about the program and what they’ve gained.<\/p>\n
One member, Angel Demapan, now a member of the House Representative since he joined the program, said that Hahnemann\u2019s maxim: \u201cLeave this place better than we found it\u201d is something that will stick with him as he tries to better the himself and the CNMI.<\/p>\n
Another member, Frank Lee S. Borja said, \u201cGrowth and progress is not of the West.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI come from a line of some of the world\u2019s best navigators, healers, and warriors. And even in the face of a hundreds of years of colonization, they have the strength to retain their cultural identity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Leo Pangelinan said one of his favorite PCF sessions was a talk on the importance of having a vision \u201cusing cultural principles and context\u201d to lead.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan said Pacific navigators had their islands \u201cin mind,\u201d not needing maps in their travels. Without this vision, he said, \u201cthey would have been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christoper Concepcion took inspiration from CNMI leaders during the Covenant negotiations, who he imagined lived in a time that was \u201cidyllic, serene, sleepy but exciting and full of hopes and dreams all at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew Deleon Guerrero said he found a dialogue within the group that was \u201cnot just rhetoric\u201d but \u201cmoving toward a solution\u201d\u2014which is something the CNMI \u201cdesperately needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eulalia Villagomez said that \u201cany solutions to anything we face in our lives or in the CNMI is within us.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Bobby James Cruz, the program was \u201cnot about knowing more than the person you are conversing with\u201d but taking your skills and talents, listening with an open mind, and expanding discourse to \u201cignite innovative thinking and doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Pacific Century Fellows Marianas Chapter celebrated its inaugural \u201cClass of 2014\u201d at the Fiesta…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":189674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[33,26,724,67],"class_list":["post-189662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-angel-demapan","tag-cnmi","tag-pcf","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}