Has anyone noticed\u00a0how\u00a0our government and\u00a0business leaders\u00a0address\u00a0our\u00a0manpower and workforce needs? Well, I do, and here is how I describe\u00a0it.\u00a0They\u00a0waited and\u00a0procrastinated\u00a0in either, providing\u00a0verifiable\u00a0current statistical employment data or hurriedly put together poorly\u00a0defendable\u00a0workforce\u00a0options,\u00a0within and outside\u00a0the mandates\u00a0of\u00a0U.S. Public Law\u00a0110-229, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their\u00a0focus was and has been to beg U.S. Congress for relief,\u00a0even though\u00a0Congress had explicitly stated its intent with respect\u00a0to\u00a0immigrants\u00a0entering the borders of the United States, especially\u00a0the\u00a0Commonwealth\u00a0of the Northern Mariana Islands, where CNMI-Only Immigrant and Non-immigrant\u00a0employment-based\u00a0classifications are\u00a0permissible\u00a0and enforceable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This frantic\u00a011th hour\u00a0marathon\u00a0by selected\u00a0business\u00a0elites and leaders of the Commonwealth seeking hardly attainable remedy,\u00a0is a reminder of previous ignoble actions and\u00a0motives,\u00a0attempting\u00a0to\u00a0thwart\u00a0federalization of immigration\u00a0in the CNMI some 10 years ago.\u00a0Besides, there are\u00a0H visa worker categories available for\u00a0businesses to\u00a0apply for their labor needs. This isn\u2019t all\u00a0doom and gloom\u00a0Titanic\u00a0situation that some in the Chamber of Commerce are peddling\u00a0as a scare\u00a0tactic. We have seen this ploy played before.\u00a0 They continue to think and treat us as though a community\u00a0of moronic\u00a0idiots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rather\u00a0than\u00a0pooling our\u00a0technical and financial\u00a0resources and concentrate on developing local workforce capacity using\u00a0measurable tracking\u00a0methodology, which\u00a0U.S. Congress plainly\u00a0expressed in 110-229.\u00a0We keep reverting to old unimaginative option which perpetuates unlivable\u00a0wages\u00a0and\u00a0dis-incentivizes\u00a0private employment.\u00a0We\u00a0already lost\u00a0credibility with U.S. Congress and that was the reason why it enacted\u00a0the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of\u00a02008\u00a0in the first place…to\u00a0compel orderly policy implementation and compliance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Self-redemption requires\u00a0demonstrable\u00a0sincere\u00a0efforts in adhering to statutory mandates,\u00a0and\u00a0not\u00a0through\u00a0filibustering required hard and difficult work. What U.S. Congress wants\u00a0and expects\u00a0of\u00a0our leaders, is to\u00a0be\u00a0resolute in\u00a0belaboring\u00a0for\u00a0building local workforce\u00a0capacity by and\u00a0beyond\u00a0the\u00a0authorized\u00a0extension\u00a0deadline.\u00a0If\u00a0the intent of Congress was otherwise, it wouldn\u2019t have\u00a0imposed\u00a0a\u00a0cutoff\u00a0date for the exit of foreign\u00a0workers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let me make it plain and simple and excuse the redundancy. What U.S. Congress wants,\u00a0and\u00a0our\u00a0government and business leaders\u00a0keep\u00a0evading\u00a0it,\u00a0is\u00a0for the production of local U.S. workforce to\u00a0eventually\u00a0replace\u00a0the need for\u00a0foreign workers\u00a0in the CNMI.\u00a0Congress\u00a0even provided financial\u00a0assistance to\u00a0help\u00a0in\u00a0underwriting the\u00a0costs\u00a0of workforce developments.\u00a0\u00a0This was the intent in authorizing the CNMI-Only\u00a0CW immigrant classification in 110-229. It was never\u00a0meant\u00a0to be\u00a0the\u00a0long-term labor workforce solution,\u00a0and\u00a0I\u00a0can\u2019t, for the life of\u00a0me,\u00a0understand\u00a0what is it in our\u00a0destructive obsession\u00a0defying the will of\u00a0Congress\u00a0that we just can\u2019t\u00a0unshackle\u00a0away from.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe the\u00a0description of our leaders\u00a0below is part of the answer. You see, when Congressional oversight hearings\u00a0was taking place here\u00a0in\u00a0the Commonwealth\u00a0back in\u00a02007,\u00a0oral\u00a0testimonies presented\u00a0by\u00a0our citizens, described our leaders\u00a0as complacence, aloof, indecisive,\u00a0procrastinators, and calculating.\u00a0So,\u00a0Congress is\u00a0aware of our\u00a0leadership and\u00a0governing\u00a0style.\u00a0\u00a0As a matter of fact, it\u00a0was\u00a0rumored\u00a0that\u00a0staffers from the office of Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, have established comprehensive profiles of leadership history of the Commonwealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aren\u2019t our leaders placing\u00a0themselves in a\u00a0miserably\u00a0inadequate position by appealing to members of Congress over the same\u00a0issues\u00a0(labor abuse and\u00a0mismanagement) that\u00a0forces them to exercise their plenary powers and take\u00a0over our control of\u00a0immigration? I mean, doesn\u2019t it\u00a0sound\u00a0woefully\u00a0ironic\u00a0that U.S. Congress allows us\u00a0to have\u00a0control of immigration but screwed up\u00a0its\u00a0management\u00a0after so\u00a0many\u00a0warnings; then\u00a0they\u00a0took\u00a0it back in a form of PL 110-229\u00a0with a\u00a0five-year\u00a0grace\u00a0period which ends in\u00a02015, and\u00a0through\u00a0pleadings\u00a0from our government and\u00a0business\u00a0leaders got\u00a0extended to 2019 with more\u00a0assurances\u00a0of\u00a0concentrated efforts toward building local\u00a0workforce capacity,\u00a0and\u00a0again\u00a0begging\u00a0for relief\u00a0over\u00a0our ownfailures and\u00a0incompetence?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, who is to blame for the actions of federal officials in following the\u00a0mandates\u00a0of the\u00a0statute?\u00a0Because there\u00a0are\u00a0human\u00a0casualties\u00a0in our\u00a0leaders\u2019\u00a0dereliction\u00a0of their sworn\u00a0duty,\u00a0and\u00a0these\u00a0casualties are victims of leadership\u2019s false pretenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Based on\u00a0our\u00a0track\u00a0records, students\u00a0of history\u00a0wouldn\u2019t argue\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0characterization\u00a0of our\u00a0leadership\u00a0above, because it was poor leadership that messed up our self-government pursuit. If anyone wishes to disprove this statement, just review what happen between 1978\u00a0up\u00a0till\u00a01993\u00a0and\u00a0again from\u00a02007\u00a0to 2014.\u00a0The\u00a0fateful\u00a0drama\u00a0years wasn\u2019t what our Covenant\u00a0negotiators\u00a0envision\u00a0of our\u00a0self-government\u00a0to befall upon our\u00a0Commonwealth.\u00a0It\u00a0is\u00a0also\u00a0poor leadership that has gotten us into this quagmire\u00a0as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had we done our due\u00a0diligence in concentrating on enacting policies and making decisions for the noble goods of our entire citizens,\u00a0and\u00a0not use political\u00a0gamesmanship to\u00a0undermine the future of this Commonwealth, we would have been 21th century bound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, now the\u00a0question, is\u00a0there\u00a0a need for foreign skilled\u00a0workers in the\u00a0CNMI?\u00a0The\u00a0answer is\u00a0yes\u00a0H categories.\u00a0Are local residents against the presence of foreign workers in the CNMI?\u00a0The\u00a0answer is\u00a0no. The indifference against foreign immigrants, not only workers, are\u00a0their\u00a0brazen (in-your-face) attitude\u00a0of entitlement and little\u00a0regards\u00a0(KON\u00a0RESPETO)\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0cultural beliefs and\u00a0practices\u00a0of our Chamorro and Carolinian community.\u00a0Their\u00a0obtrusive\u00a0display\u00a0of\u00a0personal habits and decorum, in government and public\u00a0places, is\u00a0considered\u00a0culturally offensive\u00a0and nauseating. It rubs our local people the wrong way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here is my personal plea to our esteem leaders. Please stop\u00a0politicizing\u00a0the CW\u00a0issues. These are not only positions to be filled\u00a0but human bodies with emotions and feelings. There\u00a0is\u00a0enough anxiety created on the subject\u00a0and patronizing their\u00a0uncertain\u00a0immigration\u00a0status\u00a0is\u00a0just\u00a0emotionally\u00a0brutal\u00a0and\u00a0agonizing,\u00a0and\u00a0instead we should be\u00a0merciful\u00a0but\u00a0conscious of the legal mandates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daniel O. Quitugua\u00a0<\/strong> Has anyone noticed\u00a0how\u00a0our government and\u00a0business leaders\u00a0address\u00a0our\u00a0manpower and workforce needs? Well, I do, and here is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,26,8457,1275],"class_list":["post-266989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters-to-the-editor","tag-business-3","tag-cnmi","tag-natural-resources-committee","tag-public-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266989","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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nKanat\u00a0Tabla\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"