Former Guam Gov. Joseph F. Ada flew to Saipan over the weekend to personally endorse the gubernatorial candidacy of his college classmate and good friend House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial.<\/p>\n
Ada, in his remarks during Saturday night\u2019s midterm rally of the Covenant Party held at the Civic Center in Susupe, said that he has been a Republican for all his years in politics, but his trip to Saipan is to support Fitial who he calls \u201cmy brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ada served as Guam governor from 1986 to 1995. He is reportedly the first in Guam\u2019s political history to serve two consecutive terms as governor.<\/p>\n
Before becoming governor, Ada was elected to the 12th Guam Legislature, got re-elected and became Speaker of the 13th and 14th legislatures.<\/p>\n
The political veteran told the Covenant Party\u2019s crowd, estimated at 800 people, of Fitial being \u201ca good friend\u201d and \u201ca center of attraction\u201d during their years in the College of Guam.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen was a center of attraction. He\u2019s life of the college. He\u2019s so talented that if you need some help, academic help, he\u2019d willingly help you. He\u2019s the [first] guy that I heard to say \u2018nobody has the monopoly of knowledge,\u2019\u201d said Ada.<\/p>\n
The former governor also said that Fitial \u201chelped in some entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would play the guitar and entertain us\u2014classmates, professors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ada also admired Fitial for being multilingual.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a linguist. He can speak different languages. He can learn fast,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Above all, he said that Fitial is \u201cvery considerate, kindhearted, and helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalls that during their college days, Fitial raised $200 to help him solve his problem when his car crashed.<\/p>\n
Ada also describes Fitial as \u201ca great communicator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat impresses me most is his communication skills. He can explain complicated issues in simple terms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a Republican for 37 years\u2026but he [Fitial] is my brother . If there\u2019s a need for a leader to move this island, it\u2019s Ben. He can work well with everybody\u2014political leaders in Asia and the U.S.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ada said the CNMI would be up for \u201cbetter times\u201d with the Covenant Party\u2019s tandem, Fitial and Vice Speaker Timothy P. Villagomez.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou deserve better times, better employment opportunities. You deserve Ben and Tim!\u201d he rallied, prompting applause and cheers from the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the two guys who can better handle the situation you\u2019re in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said Fitial knows innovative ways to drive up the economy.<\/p>\n
He said Fitial has in fact been \u201cvery instrumental\u201d in the formulation of economic policies in the CNMI as a congressman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because of the laws and bills he introduced,\u201d said Ada.<\/p>\n
In a separate interview with reporters, Fitial said that when he became speaker of the 3rd Legislature, he introduced economic measures that must be set in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went ahead and introduced needed legislation that would open up the economy to foreign investors. We began this task of legislating good economic reforms to stir the economy,\u201d said Fitial.<\/p>\n
Before this, he said that the NMI under the Trust Territory, had only $5 million in annual revenues.<\/p>\n
When investors began to come in as a result of pro-business measures, he said that CNMI revenues climbed to as high as $268 million during the economic boom years.<\/p>\n
Now, he said the revenues went down sharply to $213 million, and possibly $200 million in fiscal year 2006.<\/p>\n
Unlike what the Babauta administration professes, Fitial told his audience that \u201cthe economy is pretty darn bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitial said last night\u2019s crowd turnout indicated \u201ca huge following.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he is confident that he will make it in this year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very confident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fitial is running against Republican Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Lt. Governor Diego T. Benavente.<\/p>\n
Also competing for the CNMI\u2019s highest elective post this year are the Democratic Party\u2019s tandem of former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio and Antonio Santos as well as independent candidates Reps. Heinz S. Hofschneider and David Apatang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Guam Gov. Joseph F. Ada flew to Saipan over the weekend to personally endorse the gubernatorial candidacy of his college classmate and good friend House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92141","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}