{"id":322345,"date":"2020-05-06T06:04:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T20:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=322345"},"modified":"2020-05-06T06:04:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T20:04:46","slug":"we-cannot-allow-the-casino-industry-to-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/we-cannot-allow-the-casino-industry-to-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We cannot allow the casino industry to fail\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
From right, former House of Representatives speaker Rafael S. Demapan, former Zoning board chair Mariano Taitano, and former Commonwealth Casino Commission executive director Edward C. Deleon Guerrero speak at the public hearing of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation\u2019s Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations last Monday at the House chamber on Capital Hill. (IVA MAURIN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe casino industry must not fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former House speaker Rafael S. Demapan made the pronouncement Monday at the House of Representatives chamber, during the public hearing for the appointment of the new members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission for the Third Senatorial District, of which he is a nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot allow this industry to fail,\u201d he said, responding to a question Rep. Tina Sablan (Ind-Saipan) posed for all the nominees on up to what circumstances would Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC be allowed to violate any CNMI rules for the CNMI to revoke its casino license or bid out the license to other companies.<\/p>\n

IPI is the lone casino licensee in the CNMI, and CCC commissioners have the power to revoke its license, should it be found to be in violation of federal and CNMI laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould IPI have to stop paying their taxes completely for a year, would they just stop construction, how bad can the violations have to get before we consider a revocation being justified and perhaps the license being bid out or multiple licenses being considered?\u201d Sablan asked.<\/p>\n

Demapan, who described the issue as \u201cvery complex,\u201d pointed out that what the CCC needs to do is to emphasize compliance and not just focus on regulating policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see deficiency, it\u2019s important that we talk to them, make sure that they\u2019re in compliance so that it is easier for all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Former CCC executive director Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, also a nominee, echoed that the issue is very complex, and suggested that the commission, in such a case, will issue a complaint, and then based on regulations, issue the licensee 15 days to correct the deficiencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn example of this is when they [IPI] were late on the license agreement. We immediately [started] investigations to determine if the payment has actually been paid, and then we found a claim. Had they not paid that, most likely the next move, the condition will be to suspend the license until they comply with the order,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Another nominee, former Zoning board chair Mariano Taitano, said it would be difficult for him to support the revocation of the license agreement, \u201cgiven the fact and the magnitude of investment this company has done on our island[s]. Revocation is kind of strong for me to support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would rather work with them that they comply with the Casino License Agreement, ensure that they comply and they thrive and contribute to our economy. \u2026Work with them and see what enforcement we need to have them comply with, to support the business to help the entire Commonwealth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sablan later described the three nominees\u2019 responses as \u201ctroubling.\u201d
\nCCC is the government\u2019s casino gaming regulatory agency that oversees the activities of IPI, the exclusive casino licensee operating on Saipan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe casino industry must not fail.\u201d Former House speaker Rafael S. Demapan made the pronouncement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[256],"class_list":["post-322345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322345","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\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}