Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005
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Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 Reviews of the Federated States of Proposition A, an initiative allowing Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall controlled casino gambling. Much Islands, and Nauru are not included time, energy, and money were allo- in this issue. cated to promoting the pros and cons of the proposition. Billboards Guam appeared. Commercials ran. Editorials The many issues and events to discuss emerged. Groups sponsored forums. for the year under review include Web sites thrived. Pamphlets were privatization, the provision of health mailed (though challenged legally as care, and budgeting the island’s feder- incomplete). People debated. In the ally provided compact impact funds. end, by a vote of 17,078 votes to Perhaps the most important under- 10,724, voters in the October 2004 current was preparations for the elections soundly defeated another 2006 senatorial and gubernatorial in a long line of proposals to allow campaigns. gaming on island. Guam’s public auditor and congres- The other contentious issue of sional delegate both ran uncontested the year concerned the health of the and were easily reelected in 2004. island’s only civilian hospital, the Voters also chose to retain two Guam Memorial Hospital. Three Superior Court judges, Alberto Lamo- physicians ran in the 2004 senatorial rena III and Steven S Unpingco, for elections, illustrating how central and another seven years. Republicans problematic the hospital issue had preserved their senatorial majority in become. By early 2005, the island the Guam Legislature, winning 9 of was split into two main camps. One 15 seats. Returning Senator Joanne faction held that the hospital admin- Brown was the fifteenth highest vote istrators were competent but con- getter, retaining her seat after a strained by civil service and pro- recount determined her two-vote lead curement laws as well as insufficient over the next candidate. The election funding by the legislature. Advocates results surprised some, as former of this view saw themselves as victims Speaker of the Legislature Vicente of a witch hunt. The other camp “Ben” Pangelinan was denied his believed that both administration and seventh consecutive term and ousted hospital managerial processes were from the legislature completely. grossly inept if not corrupt. The latter Republicans Mark Forbes and Joanne view prevailed, after months of inves- Brown were selected as Speaker and tigation, public speculation, medical vice speaker respectively. professional opinion, oversight hear- The community focused intently ings, as well as reports by the Guam on two issues this year. The first was Civil Service Commission and the 104 political reviews • micronesia 105 public auditor. They found an envi- some may represent as positive gains ronment of intimidation, improper are considered by others as controver- expenditures, illegal contracts, con- sial, more modest, or even negative. tracts without proper signatures, and Some do not want an increased US more. By the summer of 2005, the military presence on Guam. Employ- hospital’s chief pharmacist had ment is still down from last year (PDN, resigned and its administrator and 6 May 2005). Tourist spending has medical director were removed. “dropped dramatically” in the last Mental health services were fourteen years (PDN, 13 June 2005). embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit filed Incomes are up just “slightly” (PDN, against the Government of Guam 27 July 2004). Gas prices rose to (GovGuam) on behalf of several men- new highs and are still rising, as are tally disabled patients. The federal monthly power bills. Costs for certain court found that GovGuam agencies basic services have increased. The had been violating patients’ civil rights rollback of the Gross Receipts Tax by not providing appropriate treat- from its short-lived high of 6 percent ment. However, minimal progress was to 4 percent did not produce corre- made in developing an appropriate sponding reductions in the price of system of care, despite a June 2004 goods. Dissatisfaction with the state court-issued permanent injunction of the economy spread across broad requiring GovGuam to rectify this sectors of the community and was situation. By spring 2005, island reflected by resurgent interest in government agencies were requesting increasing the island’s minimum a subsidy of $3 million in order to wage. In the final analysis, Guam’s comply with the court order. economy is still below what it was On a more positive note, Guam several years ago. Memorial Hospital opened a cardio- Those who could least afford to do catheter lab, an operating room suite so awaited payment of the federally used for open-heart surgery. This was mandated Earned Income Tax Credit, a first for Guam, representing a major which many stopped receiving in advance in the island’s health care 1996. GovGuam began denying services. Prior to this, such procedures claims, although some 30,000 could had to be administered off-island, file for partial payments (PDN, 10 Aug typically in California or Hawai‘i, 2004). The issue is still in litigation. incurring overwhelming debt for Furthermore, it has become common patients and their families. for one, two, or three years to crawl Many remain skeptical despite by before even regular income tax some apparent improvements in refunds are received. Guam’s economy, including a pre- Pa’a Taotao Tano’, a coalition of dicted doubling of US military spend- Chamorro dance groups that debuted ing, increased numbers of tourists, in 1999, has steadily evolved. Pa’a higher incomes, and rising rates of dancers have entertained in the Guam employment (PDN, 27 May 2005). and Micronesia Island Fair (held each The assessment of the state of Guam’s May) and have helped represent economy is necessarily complex. What Guam at the Festivals of Pacific Arts 106 the contemporary pacific • 18:1 (2006) and Cultures (festpacs). As its latest culture from the misappropriation endeavor, Pa’a invited other Guam- and misrepresentation that other based Micronesian dance groups to indigenous peoples have faced (PDN, join the coalition, working toward 18 Nov 2004). defining themselves as the organiza- Four people qualified to represent tion that would be the mainstay of a Guam in the 2004 Olympics held in Micronesian Cultural Center of some Athens, Greece. Local athletes partici- sort (perhaps attached to a new pated in track and field, swimming, museum or visitor’s center). Individual and wrestling. A dispute between dance groups within this coalition are local organizations had to be sorted reaching notable markers of longevity; out by the international Court of for example, Natibu, Guam’s largest Arbitration. It determined that the performing arts troupe, celebrated ten Guam National Olympic Committee years of existence in June 2005. Under had no authority to override the the aegis of the Pa’a Taotao Tano’ Guam Track and Field Association’s Foundation, a new Chamorro Cul- selection of an athlete, Neil Weare, tural Village was established at one who was reinstated and participated of the island’s major hotels along as planned (PDN, 14 Aug 2004). Tumon Bay. Several other local athletes repre- Years in the works, steady progress sented Guam in international events continued on the online encyclopedia, such as jet skiing and motorcycle which can already be viewed at racing. In another type of competition, <guampedia.com>. It is meant to one of Guam’s own Sinajaña boys, develop into a comprehensive and Manny Crisostomo, earned the Rob- reliable resource that sheds meaning- ert F Kennedy Journalism Award for ful light on Guam’s peoples, cultures, international photography this year, history, and heritage. There has also as he captured the lives of 16,000 been continuing interest in revitalizing Hmong refugees who emigrated to the historic district of Hagåtña, with the United States beginning in 2003 $1.3 million slated for improvements. (PDN, 28 May 2005). The people of Guam have liked the Marine preserves are thriving in idea of a new, functioning island their fourth year of existence on museum since Typhoon Pongsona Guam. The numbers of fish in them destroyed the last one in 2002. This have doubled. However, outside the year the governor created a museum preserves is a different story. Fisher- task force, which has been meeting men and women are reporting smaller regularly to locate funding as well as and fewer fish and are calling for discuss possible locations and the type additional regulations to help stabilize and focus of such a center. Dr Kather- the overall health of the reefs and the ine Aguon called together a Council of areas where they can fish (PDN, 2 May Elders composed of island manåmko 2005). Work to finalize a new landfill (seniors) to guide the museum task continued, although this has been force. Some have proposed that sena- steeped in environmental controversy. tors draft legislation to create a simi- Two potential sites were ruled out, lar council to safeguard Chamorro leaving a site in Dandan. The contro- political reviews • micronesia 107 versy lies in potential for toxic leak- one to replace the late Angel Santos age to infiltrate water systems such as a leader, others acted. This year as the nearby Ugum River. A more Chamorro activists revitalized them- immediate threat to the island’s selves, setting up forums against the ecosystem is a white insect that is presence of nuclear weapons on rapidly killing off fadang, a native Guam, and protesting the US Navy’s cycad valued as a source of flour treatment of free-ranging carabao on (PDN, 5 June 2005). Guam’s military magazine (PDN, 16 Guam has seen some progress in Sept 2004). They held protest signs island education: the legislature along the side of the road, encourag- approved the full 2005 fiscal year ing Guam’s people and leaders to fix Department of Education budget problems at the public hospital.