Mark
Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas correspondent
As the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI) celebrates Covenant Day, its status
as a commonwealth of the United States is again front and
centre, as economic woes and China’s influence looms in the
region.
Today, 24 March, marks the 49th anniversary of
when President Gerald Ford signed the Covenant Agreement
between the US and the CNMI, paving the way for the latter
to enter into a political union with America.
Former
Governor Juan Babauta fueled the debate for a change of
status from a commonwealth when he batted for statehood
during his keynote speech iat the 16th commemoration
ceremony for the Leadership Memorial Kiosku in Chalan Kanoa
on 14 March.
“We are today, the product of the work of
all these names on this wall, both past and present,” he
said.
“Their talents, their skills, their dedication,
and even heartaches, commitment and hard work, all were
desires of a better life.
“They laid the foundation.
The leaders of the next 40 years shall build upon it. Let
the next 40 years of leaders pick up where they left off and
take on the task remaining. Get rid of territorial
status.
“Stop insular area status. Pursue first class
in lieu of second class. And since there is no turning back,
the only path forward is to pursue full membership in the
American political family through statehood. Let the next
generation begin.”
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The sixth governor of the CNMI from
2002 to 2006 added that the CNMI’s strategic location has
high value and he hopes that could influence Washington DC
to act in the CNMI’s favour.
Moreso, Babauta said the
CNMI has been drawn into the formula matrix to its detriment
where funding is based on population size, income, poverty
level, length of primary roads, traffic volume, among
others.
“It’s formula that bears only a trickle.
Quietly, we are resentful being under the general
administrative provision of the Department of the Interior
by virtue of a proclamation and order by President
Reagan.
“We turn to the other cheek when Washington
refers to the CNMI as a territory.
“At home, we
vigorously argue that we are not a territory, that we are a
commonwealth. We have [Section] 902 [of the Covenant] with
no teeth and [Sectio] 702 taken away.
“These were some
of the challenges that continue to this day. It is
frustrating and leaves us wondering how long this will
continue. If in 40 years the number of names on these walls
is doubled, it is my hope that their collective talents end
the frustration.”
Babauta then said if in 40 years
conditions are the same as today, then the CNMI would have
failed, but if the quality of life improved, fully
integrated into the political process, then the CNMI would
have advanced the cause and succeeded.
Former CNMI
educator and Tinian poet laureate Joey Connolly chimed in on
the statehood debate when he said the CNMI should combine
with Guam to form the Union’s 51st state.
“Why not?
The Spanish, German, and Japanese colonizers have been gone
for a long time,” Connolly said.
“Statehood for the
combined entities would make them stronger and actually
bring in more federal dollars in the long run. With the
caveat, that is after Trump XLVII leaves the WH.”
As
for the capital of the united Marianas, Connolly presented a
novel approach-a cyber capital.
“I think in the era of
Zoom and cyberspace a cyber capital might work for the two
geopolitical entities. Combined meetings of the respective
legislatures might rotate with the seasons. Two in winter
and summer in Guam and two in autumn and spring on
Saipan.”
He also suggested a setup similar to New
Zealand’s where the capital is on the North Island but close
to South Island-so the combined entities could have its
quasi-capitol on Rota.
“Interim of the four shared
legislative sessions might meet there. The positions of
governor and lieutenant governor might revert to a mayor for
each North Island (old CNMI) and South Island (old
Guam).
“The executive branch would have a president
and prime minister. Each would serve a six-year term with
the positions a mandatory rotation. So, for six years the
president would be from North (CNMI) and the prime minister
from South (Guam).
“A unicameral legislature with
sharply reduced numbers compared to the present number
elected on both islands might well get bills and laws passed
more readily. A non-voting member of the U.S. military
acting as a liaison with the US Armed Forces would be
present at all congressional sessions.”
‘CNMI has so
much to offer’
Northern Marianas College student and
professional photographer Quinn Bready said the CNMI
becoming a 51st state could just be the shakeup the
Commonwealth needs.
“The CNMI has been represented in
its history and culture for the past 600 years by whose
‘authority’ they’ve been under (Spanish, German, Japanese,
American).
“The CNMI has so much to offer the world
that is outside of what the US would offer in exchange. I’m
not afraid of a change. I’m afraid of a change that once
again benefits the US over the residents of this
island.
“If it happens to become a state, that’s fine,
the CNMI will survive, it’s been through
worse.”
Meanwhile, it is a hard no when it comes to
uniting with Guam to become the Union’s 51st state for
Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting firefighter Edward Dela Cruz
Jr.
“We are a commonwealth with a unique political
union with the United States,” he said.
“Obviously, no
one from Guam or the CNMI wants the other to be the capital
if there was a reunification.
“We obviously want our
capital to be the capital. Anyone that says otherwise does
not have the guts to come clean about it. If it comes down
to a vote though and people vote ‘yes’ I will support whole
heartedly for now: Hell. No!”
Adam Walsh, an assistant
professor for the Northern Marianas College’s Language and
Humanities department, cautions to be careful what the CNMI
and Guam wish for when it comes to becoming a
state.
“My comments were more about statehood and less
about a Guam/CNMI unification,” Walsh said.
“I don’t
think having voting representation in Congress and the right
to vote for president will improve the lives of the
Marianas.
“If anything, it will further tax our
struggling communities and exhibit a larger US influence and
oversight militarily, economically, socially, even
culturally.
“It’s a lose-lose situation in my mind.
The gray area we currently live within our commonwealth
(territory for Guam) benefits us more than a possible
Guam/CNMI state.
“The only way I could see this as a
positive opportunity would be for more federal
aid/assistance, but I don’t think that’s the case.”
If
the CNMI and Guam become a state it will be entitled to a
voting delegate in US Congress as well as its citizens being
allowed to vote for presidents, rights it does not have
presently since both are US territories.
Meanwhile,
lawyer Michael White said becoming a state is easier said
than done.
“Hawaii didn’t become a state until jet
planes made travel to and from the islands more practical,”
White said.
He said the Northern Marianas may have to
wait until supersonic transport across the Pacific becomes a
reality.
“Statehood calls into play the equal
protection clause of the US Constitution, which means that
representation in the legislature would have to be
apportioned by population.
“Which means that the
Northern Marianas, with barely one-third of Guam’s
population, would be looking at a distinct minority position
in the combined legislature.
“Which means that we
would be last in line for the allocation of resources. Which
means that statehood is essentially a non-starter.
“An
arrangement like our Covenant, which allows a bicameral
legislature with one house based on geography rather than
population, would protect us, but would the people of Guam
buy into that? And such an arrangement could pass
constitutional muster only if the Insular Cases remain a
good law.”
‘Marianas becoming a US state is extremely
unlikely’
Businessman Louis Rodgers does not see
statehood and unification with Guam as feasible in the near
future.
“First of all, it will be hard no for NMD
(Northern Marianas Descent) who will not want to see Article
12 go away.
“As a state there would be no way to keep
in place. The Marianas becoming a US state is extremely
unlikely. Article 12 as it relates to the US states is
unconstitutional and only allowed because of the
covenant.
Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution
restricts the acquisition of permanent and long-term
interests in real property in the Commonwealth to persons of
Northern Marianas descent.
During her trip last month
to Saipan to attend the ordination and installation of new
CNMI Bishop Romeo Convocar, Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero
said there will be strength in numbers once Guam and CNMI
are reunited and admitted as a state.
“We want to be
united because being united will deliver a strong voice for
the Micronesia,” she said.
“And although politically
we’re not really formally united, I think our issues are the
same.
“[CNMI] Governor Arnold Palacios and I worked
very closely to address the challenges of our Marianas in
many, many ways through forums and through visits, through
many functions, even through the federal
government.”
She added that reunification is always
something that Guam and CNMI will always be reaching for
because she believes the Marianas never should have been
divided in the first place.
“We have always been a One
Marianas. If you look back in our history, in our
ancestries, even our trade and commerce, that the Chamorro
people throughout CNMI and Guam have been very well
together.
“Unfortunately, wars and the bad situations
of wars have sort of separated us.
“Not sort of, but
really separated us. And we have discussions, even through
the legislative bodies, of how best we can address that so
we can, again, have a strong united voice for the
Marianas.”
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