{"id":354234,"date":"2021-10-21T06:03:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T20:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=354234"},"modified":"2021-10-21T06:03:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T20:03:12","slug":"magofna-sworn-in-as-representative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/magofna-sworn-in-as-representative\/","title":{"rendered":"Magofna sworn in as representative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rep.
Rep. Corina L. Magofna (D-Saipan) takes her oath of office before Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja during a ceremony at the House of Representatives chamber yesterday morning. Also in the photo are Magofna\u2019s husband, Joseph Rios, and their daughter, Aiyani (party hidden). (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Corina L. Magofna (D-Saipan) promised yesterday to \u201clook beyond party lines\u201d when making important decisions on legislations that affect the well-being and interests of people in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hopeful and optimistic that all of my colleagues here share the same notion of looking beyond party lines,\u201d said Magofna soon after sworn into office.<\/p>\n

Magofna took her oath of office before Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto C. Naraja during a ceremony held at the House of Representatives\u2019 chamber. Beside Magofna was her husband, Joseph Rios, and their daughter, Aiyani. Their son, Darius, is in the U.S. mainland. <\/p>\n

The chamber was packed with Magofna\u2019s family, friends, supporters, and Democratic Party officials and members.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, a Republican, attended the ceremony. Among those present was Carlos S. Camacho, a Democrat and the CNMI\u2019s first governor. <\/p>\n

In her speech, Magofna said she looks forward to working with all members of the 22nd Legislature on the shared vision of making the Marianas a great place to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this is not a Republican Marianas or a Democrat Marianas. We are One Marianas. And together, we can make it better!\u201d said Magofna, drawing cheers from representatives, some senators, guests, and the audience.<\/p>\n

She opened her speech by extending, on her and her family\u2019s behalf, condolences and prayers to the families, friends, and colleagues of the late representative Ivan Alafanso Blanco, whose seat she will be taking over.<\/p>\n

Magofna said Blanco was a great statesman, and was well loved and respected by everyone. She said Blanco\u2019s accomplishments and the years of service and dedication that he has contributed to the people of Precinct 3 and the CNMI will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Blanco, a Republican, passed away last July 23. This triggered a special election for the vacant House Precinct 3 seat last Saturday, where Magofna handily defeated Grace \u201cPitu\u201d Sablan Vaiagae of the Republican Party. <\/p>\n

Magofna said she is now officially sworn in to fill the vacant House seat, not a Republican seat, or a Democrat seat, but the People\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

She recalled that when she was doing her house-to-house visits during the campaign, she would always start off by introducing herself and why she\u2019s standing in front of someone\u2019s yard or doorstep. \u201cThen I would say I\u2019m not sure which political party you are affiliated with, but I humbly ask that you please look beyond the party lines, take some time to read about my platform, my credentials and my work experience, and please consider giving me your vote of confidence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In return, Magofna said, she made a promise to reciprocate the very same action should she get elected. \u201cTo the people of Precinct 3, thank you for your consideration and a huge thank you for your votes of confidence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Magofna first ran for the House last November, but she was 34 votes short of securing victory.<\/p>\n

Magofna is a former budget officer at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. She has a bachelor\u2019s degree in Business Accounting from the University of Phoenix, and an associate degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, a Republican, echoed Manglona\u2019s statement that it is not a party issue any more. \u201cWhether you are a Republican, you\u2019re a Democrat, you\u2019re now a member of the House of Representatives to represent the people of the Commonwealth,\u201d Palacios said.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) welcomed Magofna to the House. \u201cThank you for taking this opportunity to serve our people. It is an honorable position. So always remember to serve our people honorably,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said lawmakers all have ideas and goals that they would like to achieve when it comes to serving the people.<\/p>\n

The speaker said they are all here to help not just Magfona but help each other achieve those goals as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there will be differences. Yes, there will be disagreements. But debate on differences is a big part of working together,\u201d Villagomez said.<\/p>\n

Rep. Christina E. Sablan (D-Saipan) said she has no doubt that Magofna will be a tremendous asset, and an invaluable colleague because of her professional experience, her knack for numbers, and here ability to critically analyze issues, collaborate, and problem solve.<\/p>\n

Sablan said she is very proud that they are adding one more phenomenal woman to the House. \u201cI am so excited for the months ahead and I look forward to working with you,\u201d Sablan said.<\/p>\n

Magofna is the sixth female member of the House. All six belong to the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

House minority leader Rep. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan) extended the Republican Party\u2019s spirit of cooperation and collaboration to her. \u201cThe work of the people begins today. And on behalf of the House minority, we welcome you to the People\u2019s House,\u201d Demapan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corina L. Magofna (D-Saipan) promised yesterday to \u201clook beyond party lines\u201d when making important decisions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":354236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-354234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354234","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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}