Oct. 31 or Dec. 1? That is the question. The date as to when Gov. Ralph DLG Torres will deliver his State of the Commonwealth Address remains up in the air as both the House of Representatives and Senate cannot agree on a specific date and venue.<\/p>\n
The Senate and the House adopted yesterday morning separate resolutions to call for a joint session of the Legislature to receive Torres\u2019 SOCA, with the Senate agreeing to Torres\u2019 request to hold the SOCA at the Kensington Hotel Saipan on Oct. 31. The House, however, wants the SOCA held in the House chamber on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
The Senate was the first to adopt their joint resolution during a regular session. <\/p>\n
With seven senators, including Sen. Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan), voting \u201cyes,\u201d Sen. Teresita A. Santos (Ind-Rota) abstaining, and Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) absent, the Senate adopted Senate Joint Resolution 22-13. <\/p>\n
Manglona was present during the start of the session, but he did not come back after Sen. Victor B. Hocog (R-Rota) figured in a shouting match with Fabian M. Indalecio during a public comment portion of the session.<\/p>\n
With 15 House members voting \u201cyes\u201d and five minority members voting \u201cno,\u201d the House adopted House Joint Resolution 22-18.<\/p>\n
The House minority members are Reps. Angel A. Demapan (R-Saipan), Roy Christopher A. Ada (R-Saipan), Joseph A. Flores (Ind-Saipan), Joseph Lee Pan T. Guerrero (R-Saipan), and Patrick H. San Nicolas (R-Tinian). <\/p>\n
Before the voting at the Senate, Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) accused Manglona of \u201ctrying to stay relevant\u201d when this is really a simple request by the governor to have a joint session to deliver SOCA, which all senators are responsible and not just him.<\/p>\n
Hofschneider, who is the author of Senate Joint Resolution 22-13, said he is hoping that Manglona will come up with a legislation designating a specific time of the year.<\/p>\n
He urged Manglona to introduce a legislation so they don\u2019t have this impasse. <\/p>\n
In clarifying the chain of events with regard to the Senate joint resolution, the president said with typical SOCA, the governor would usually advise the presiding officers to call for a joint session, which many members of the Legislature and the public know did not happen in this matter.<\/p>\n
He said the moment Torres started inviting members of the Legislature and the public to hold a SOCA on Oct. 21, there was a concern that the legislature was not informed.<\/p>\n
Hofschneider said the governor rescheduled it and submitted a letter to him and House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan). <\/p>\n
He said he took the opportunity to introduce Senate Joint Resolution 22-13 to attest to the governor\u2019s request to call for a joint session to receive his SOCA on Oct. 1 at Kensington Hotel.<\/p>\n
Hofschneider said he pre-filed the joint resolution on Oct. 19, but later he learned that Rep. Ralph Yumul (R-Saipan) pre-filed the following day, Oct. 20, House Joint Resolution 22-18 to call for a joint session to receive SOCA on a different date, Dec. 1. <\/p>\n
Hofschneider said he believes the governor was just trying to provide more clarity of the state of the Commonwealth \u201cas far as where we\u2019re at today,\u201d irrespective of the date.<\/p>\n
Hofschneider urged Manglona to come up with a legislation that designates a time during the month of every year so it doesn\u2019t matter who the governor is, he or she must report in a joint session.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause right now, it\u2019s very vague. Everybody wants to do it at a certain time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The president noted that Manglona was absent the whole time when the Senate tackled and resolved biggest responsibility of a member of the Legislature\u2014the fiscal Year 2023 government\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of touch, out of sight. Now he wants to be relevant in this joint resolution,\u201d Hofschneider said.<\/p>\n
Manglona said Sunday that Hofschneider\u2019s memorandum issued that day at 7am calling for a Senate session yesterday at 8am not only violates the Open Government Act, but is also an obvious move that the Senate is \u201cracing\u201d to hold a session before the House holds its session yesterday at 9am.<\/p>\n
Hofschneider said yesterday at the session that it\u2019s not about trying to observe whose joint resolution is greater than the other, but about allowing for that platform for the chief executive to deliver SOCA. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m surprised that some of us here in the Legislature, when there\u2019s other public functions like graduation of our hardworking frontliners at some of these private areas, no one\u2019s complaining,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The president said a couple of weeks ago, some of the lawmakers were at the Pacific Islands Club for a public event. Hofschneider said PIC is a private venue, but no one\u2019s complaining about public funds and all of that. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut when this thing [SOCA] comes up, now everybody\u2019s up in arms that we should do it here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The president said early voting for the general election is going to start in a couple of weeks at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center, where the SOCA is usually held.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the interests of the general public, it doesn\u2019t matter what color you are, who you are, what party you are. Allow the governor to report to us whether you agree with him or not,\u201d Hofschneider said. <\/p>\n
In response to Hocog\u2019s question as to what will happen if the Senate and the House adopt a joint resolution for different dates, Senate legal counsel Antonette Villagomez said in order to have a joint session, both houses have to adopt a resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if the Senate joint resolution is adopted by the Senate and not adopted by the House, then we cannot have a joint session,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In response to Sen. Francisco Cruz\u2019s (R-Tinian) request for clarification, Villagomez said in the past, the governor would submit a letter to the Legislature, requesting a joint session at a specific date. She said a joint session is the purview of the Legislature so the date will depend on when the members of both houses are available.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in fact, both the House and Senate and the governor would talk about the date when everyone will be available,\u201d the counsel said.<\/p>\n
Cruz said he wants to completely understand who has the authority to set date and time when the governor should present the SOCA.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause in my opinion, if a person is reporting something, then he shall set the date and time,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n
DeLeon Guerrero said it is fair that the person that\u2019s going to deliver SOCA obviously should be the one who set a date. DeLeon Guerrero said one thing that was not specifically mentioned is the location. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t think that SOCA is a private function. And therefore, I have concerns about choosing of the venue to deliver the SOCA,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The senator said she believes the venue of SOCA should be in a public facility.<\/p>\n
Santos told Saipan Tribune that she abstained from voting because there\u2019s so many issues surrounding the date, time, and venue of the SOCA. Santos suggested that Hofschneider and Villagomez meet to address those issues to facilitate the adoption of a joint resolution and call for a session to receive the governor\u2019s SOCA.<\/p>\n
During discussions of the House Joint Resolution 22-18, Demapan for the rationale behind the drastically different SOCA dates. \u201cSo just wondering\u2026how did we came up with this date?\u201d he asked, referring to the Dec. 1 date.<\/p>\n
Yumul said the House leadership met last week and decided that it will be fair for the Commonwealth to receive the SOCA after the Nov. 8 general elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe members decided on different dates; however, because it is going to be a public event, the Multi-Purpose Center was placed on hold for until\u2026early December,\u201d Yumul said.<\/p>\n
Demapan said they know the governor had scheduled a SOCA previously without a joint session and several members of the Legislature and in the community have expressed concern about not having a joint session convened. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s was the reason behind the rescheduling and the reason behind the submission of governor\u2019s communication 22-171. But it\u2019s a little bit confusing about how the date has just drastically changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Demapan said one of the concerns they have is there has been no SOCA for a couple of years now and traditionally, it is delivered sometime in May or April of each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re already far exceeded that time for that traditional timeline. And to further move it back to December is a little bit concerning and confusing to some,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Christina E. Sablan (D-Saipan) said there is a reason why traditionally SOCAs are normally held earlier on in the year, that even for the U.S. president when he or she gives State of the Nation Address before the Congress, those remarks are usually made in January or February.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a reason why we don\u2019t wait until the very last minute in an election year right before the election to deliver a SOCA and that is because of an obvious appearance of impropriety of politicking on taxpayer dime,\u201d Sablan said.<\/p>\n
She said the decision was made in the House leadership to hold SOCA in a public and accessible and cost-effective venue. <\/p>\n
\u201cStream it live and to receive the address. But to do so, after all the dust has settled, after the election is over when the venues are available. Let\u2019s just be honest colleagues, there really isn\u2019t any real urgency in sharing the SOCA,\u201d Sablan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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