Political Reviews

0LFURQHVLDLQ5HYLHZ,VVXHVDQG(YHQWV-XO\ WR-XQH david w kupferman, kelly g marsh, samuel f mcphetres, tyrone j taitano

3RO\QHVLDLQ5HYLHZ,VVXHVDQG(YHQWV-XO\WR-XQH lorenz gonschor, hapakuke pierre leleivai, margaret mutu, forrest wade young

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Reviews of the Federated States of major issue was the military buildup Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, and resulting from the transfer of the US Palau are not included in this issue. Marine units from Okinawa to Guam (MV, 28 Sept 2012). As in the primary, Guam Bordallo won the general election National and local elections featured handily, this time garnering 58 percent prominently in news stories in Guam of the vote. this year, as local offices and Guam’s Democrats controlled the Guam nonvoting delegate to the United Legislature by a 9 to 6 margin going States Congress were on the ballot. into the November elections. When The island’s incumbent, Congress- election results came in, voters had woman Madeleine Z Bordallo, faced again chosen a 9 to 6 Democratic challengers in both the Democratic majority, although one-third of the primary and the general election and legislature was replaced. The turn- prevailed against both. In the Septem- over in one seat was due to Frank ber primary, the five-term incumbent Blas Jr choosing to run for the US faced twenty-seven-year-old newcomer Congress rather than for reelection to Karlo Dizon (MV, 14 May 2013). the legislature. However, four other Despite Dizon’s spirited campaign, incumbents were defeated, namely, Bordallo won 73 percent of the vote. Republicans Mana Silva-Taijeron and Running unopposed in the Republican Sam Mabini and Democrats Judith primary was the minority leader of Guthertz and Adolpho Palacios. the legislature, Senator Frank Blas Jr. Elected as freshman senators were Facing off against each other in the Republicans Tommy Morrison, Mike general election, Bordallo emphasized Limtiaco, and Brant McCreadie and her experience and seniority while Democrat Michael San Nicolas. After Blas said that he offered a “fresh a two-year hiatus, veteran Senator perspective.” Among the campaign Frank Aguon Jr was also elected. issues debated were veterans’ services, When the new legislature was inau- the proposed visa waiver for tourists gurated, the Democratic majority from China, and Medicaid reimburse- retained the leadership of Speaker ments. Blas was critical of the lack of Judith Won Pat, Vice Speaker Benja- progress in securing millions of dollars min Cruz, Legislative Secretary Tina due to Guam in compensation for the Muna-Barnes, and Majority Leader impact of immigrant consumption of Rory Respicio. Senator Tony Ada was local government services, as pro- chosen by Republicans to succeed Blas vided for according to the terms of the as minority leader (32nd Guam Legis- Compacts of Free Association with the lature website). Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Although Guam residents do not and the Marshall Islands. Another have the right to vote for president of

170 political reviews ‡ micronesia 171 the United States, they do participate November ballot (MV, 18 Sept 2012). in the process by sending delegations When the votes were counted, Gutier- to each political party’s national con- rez’s write-in candidacy received 4,842 vention. In August, Governor Eddie votes compared to 14,472 for Brooks. Calvo led the Republican (gop) del- Later in September, the Democratic egation to their convention in Tampa, Party asked Gutierrez to withdraw his Florida; he supported Mitt Romney candidacy for public auditor in order (pnc, 29 Aug 2012), whose son had to help with the upcoming legislative campaigned in Guam earlier in the and village mayoral races. Gutierrez year during the heated race for the GOP withdrew and explained that one of nomination (Politico website, 9 March the reasons he had decided to chal- 2012). Attending the September lenge Brooks was to draw attention to Democratic National Convention in what he felt was an often overlooked Charlotte, North Carolina, the Guam office; as he stated, “At least now the delegation, led by Rory Respicio, sup- people of Guam know that there is ported incumbent President Barack this Office of Public Accountability Obama. Respicio explained that the that could be the third-party interme- delegation focused on promoting the diary to find out what’s going on with island and addressing important Guam this government” (pnc, 14 Sept 2012). issues such as the military buildup, Because of the nonpartisan require- protecting Medicare, and access to ments of the public auditor position, federal programs. He also pointed in August Gutierrez resigned his out that the Democratic platform, post as state chairman of the Guam approved in Charlotte, called for a Democratic Party (PDN, 7 Aug 2012), partnership with Guam’s people with automatically making vice chair and respect to military matters including longtime Democratic stalwart Gloria the buildup, supported fair treatment B Nelson the new party chair. Nelson in federal programs for Guam and was an elected member of the Con- the other territories, and recognized solidated Commission on Utilities Guam’s right for self- determination and past chair of the elected Board (pnc, 6 Sept 2012). of Education and the Election Com- Another 2012 campaign that mission (kuam, 14 Oct 2012). But in received a great deal of attention was October, she passed away. The party’s the race for the nonpartisan position Central Executive Committee then of public auditor. Since its creation selected Darryl Taggerty to serve as twelve years earlier, the post has acting Democratic chair until new been held by incumbent Doris Flores elections in August 2013 (kuam, 8 Brooks. In the run-up to the primary, March 2013). Brooks had no opponent and report- Aside from Nelson, other promi- edly lobbied the legislature to cancel nent members of the community who the primary election for that office. passed away during the year under This prompted former Governor Carl review were educator and researcher T C Gutierrez to launch a write-in Dr Dirk A Ballendorf, former senator campaign for the primary election and historian Dr Tony Palomo, former in hopes of securing a spot on the Chalan Pago Mayor Vicente Aguon, 172 the contemporary pacific ‡ 26:1 (2014) former Umatac Mayor Dean Sanchez, “The kpa [Korean Peoples’ Army] and former Agat Mayor Jose San Strategic Rocket Force has already Nicolas (condolence resolutions, 32nd been on a-class alert to wipe out the Guam Legislature website). In June, U.S. forces and reduce their bases in two Guam National Guardsmen serv- Guam and other regions to ashes” ing in Afghanistan—Sergeant Eugene (PDN, 29 March 2013). In response, M Aguon and Specialist Dwayne W the United States deployed a missile Flores—were killed when their convoy defense system to Guam. The threats was attacked (Saipan Tribune, 22 May caught the attention of local residents, 2013). The deaths highlighted the but there was no general sense of deployment of more than six hundred panic. However, in an interview with Guam Army National Guardsmen cnn, Governor Calvo noted that “one to Afghanistan, which had occurred lucky shot from a North Korean mis- earlier in 2013 (PDN, 1 Feb 2013). sile could do a lot of damage to our In February, in his State of Our island home” (pnc, 5 April 2013). Island address, Governor Calvo Despite concerns about the impact announced that the government’s of the threat on tourism, it seemed to chronic deficit had been “eliminated.” have none (pri 2013). In April, it was He attributed this to good manage- reported that 137,000 tourists had ment and spending controls, including visited Guam in the previous month, a reduction in the number of govern- breaking all records for the past fifty ment employees (pnc, 11 Feb 2013). years for tourism on the island. Visitor Democratic leaders in the legislature, arrivals for the year at that point were however, pointed out that this had up by 9 percent over the previous year actually been accomplished by shifting (kuam, 9 April 2013). the deficit to long-term debt through As to the military buildup itself, the issuance of hundreds of millions of Admiral Samuel J Locklear iii, com- dollars in bonds (MV, 12 Feb 2013). mander of the US Pacific Command, Guam’s status as a major US stated that current planning calls military base drew attention this year for completing the relocation of US for reasons other than the planned Marines from Okinawa to Guam by military buildup. As President Obama 2020 (PDN, 6 March 2013). Pentagon was delivering his 2013 State of the officials eventually backed away from Union Address in February, two this date and admitted that the federal Russian bombers circled the island sequestration cuts would greatly slow prompting the scrambling of F-15 down implementation of the buildup jets from Anderson Air Force Base to (pnc, 17 April 2013). intercept them. The bombers remained A controversy related to the in international air space, and there buildup was caused when, in his last was no incident (nbc News, 15 Feb public appearance, the outgoing US 2013). In March, North Korea threat- Navy commander on Guam, Rear ened to attack military bases in Guam Admiral Paul Bushong, made several and Japan, purportedly in retaliation statements regarding Guam’s history for a US military b-52 flight in South and the military buildup. For one, he Korea, issuing statements such as, called on local leaders to “man up” political reviews ‡ micronesia 173 with respect to the buildup. He also ing the right of self-determination for went on to dispute Guam’s status as a all entities on the UN list of non-self- colony, stating, “The United States of governing territories, which includes America never made Guam a colony Guam.) The Taitanos’ rebuttal went and only put enough resources into on to sharply criticize Bushong for his Guam to make it stable.” He also said lack of knowledge of the “true history that he was “puzzled” by the discus- of our island” and Lee Webber for sion of self-determination, noting that characterizing Bushong’s statements as local leaders in 1950 had sought the accurate (PDN, 11 Aug 2012). passage of the Organic Act, which In January 2013, the issue of self- provided limited self-government and determination was again in the news US citizenship, and therefore, in his when Guam’s US District Court Chief estimation, “self-determination was Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood made 65 years ago.” These com- dismissed a lawsuit filed by local ments were repeated and endorsed by resident Dave Davis, who had claimed former Pacific Daily News publisher that his civil rights were violated when Lee Webber in his newspaper column he was denied registration to partici- (PDN, 2 Aug 2012). pate in the planned self-determination This prompted a number of rebut- vote on Guam’s political status tals, including from the family of late because he did not meet the defini- Speaker Carlos P Taitano, who was tion of a native inhabitant of Guam one of the leaders in 1950 who had (pnc, 9 Jan 2013). Davis subsequently fought to end US naval government appealed the ruling to the 9th Cir- rule and provide for a democratically cuit Court, which had not accepted elected government and US citizen- the case as of June 2013 (PDN, 3 Feb ship. In their response, the family 2013). asserted, “Contrary to how Bushong The long-standing issue of World portrayed it, this was not an act of War II reparations came to the fore- self-determination but a striving for front in January when Congress- civil rights and human rights. As our woman Bordallo reintroduced hr 44 father explained to us, if you are in a to fund compensation for victims of desert and looking for water, that is the Japanese occupation of Guam dur- not self-determination—that is just ing that war. In the treaty with Japan survival. Guam still has not deter- that ended the war, the United States mined its ultimate political status had waived all claims, including those whether it be statehood, indepen- of the people of Guam, and assumed dence, or something in between. As responsibility for war reparations painful as it is to consider, we continue (Guam Legislature Resolution 4-32). to be governed by a President we did To fund payment of these claims, Bor- not elect and a Congress we have no dallo’s bill proposed to offset it with vote in, which amounts to being a the annual Section 30 appropriation colony” (PDN, 11 Aug 2012). (Sup- to Guam by the US Congress. Section porting this analysis, in January 2013, 30 funds come from taxes collected the United Nations General Assembly from federal employees on Guam that adopted Resolution 67/132, recogniz- are subsequently remitted to the local 174 the contemporary pacific ‡ 26:1 (2014) government and are a major source munity, in early 2013 Guam resident of revenue. Senators raised concerns Chad De Soto plowed his car into about the Section 30 provision and a crowded sidewalk in the island’s objected to it being used as an offset hotel district and then began stab- (MV, 8 Jan 2013). At a public hear- bing people (Huffington Post, 14 Feb ing, Bordallo explained that the offset 2013). Three Japanese tourists were language was necessary in order to killed and a dozen other people were move the legislation through Con- injured in the attack (PDN, 23 Feb gress but that she would work with 2013). Subdued by security guards the Obama administration to seek a and bystanders until police arrived separate appropriation for war claims (PDN, 27 Feb 2013), De Soto was without affecting Section 30 funds charged with murder and held on $2 (pnc, 31 Jan 2013). Largely based on million bail (Huffington Post, 14 Feb Bordallo’s assurances, the legislature 2013). approved a resolution sponsored by In other crime news, island resi- Respicio supporting Bordallo’s efforts dents were riveted by an unfolding to secure war reparations (Respicio, police corruption and human traffick- pers comm, 19 April 2013). ing case as three police officers were In November 2012, US Depart- arrested for their involvement with ment of Interior Assistant Secretary an illegal brothel known as the Blue for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta had House. The brothel owner, Song Ja been placed on administrative leave Cha, had been convicted in federal pending an investigation into his travel court of twenty charges related to and grant decisions. Babauta, a Guam human trafficking and prostitution. native, was the first Chamorro to have The federal judge trying the case held this post (Saipan Tribune, 22 Nov stated that Cha’s crimes were “not 2012). Although no formal report far removed from slavery.” In the of the investigation was released, course of the trial, a federal prosecu- Babauta resigned his post effective tor asserted that Cha had used three 1 February 2013 (Washington Post Guam police officers as “tools” and 2013). “weapons” to create a “climate of The predominately Catholic com- fear” in order to control the brothel munity of Guam responded positively owner’s victims. After a series of to the election of Pope Francis i. media stories about this case, the Archbishop Anthony Apuron noted Guam Police Department (gpd) began that the new pope was a Jesuit like an internal investigation, resulting in the Spanish priest Diego Luís de San the arrest of three gpd officers, who Vitores who had brought Catholicism were charged with promoting prostitu- to Guam and is now a candidate for tion, conspiracy to commit kidnapping sainthood. Students at a local Catho- and rape, and attempted rape (PDN, 13 lic school, St Francis, were excited April 2013). because the new pope had the same The new private hospital currently name as their school (pnc, 14 March under construction ran into contro- 2013). versy when it applied for tax breaks In a crime that shocked the com- under the Qualifying Certificate (qc) political reviews ‡ micronesia 175 program administered by the Guam ousted and replaced as general man- Economic Development Authority ager by Department of Public Works (pnc, 27 March 2013). Health Com- Director Joanne Brown. Torres stated, mittee Chair Senator Dennis G Rodri- “The real story is not about me. I am guez Jr and local physicians expressed blessed with a loving husband and concerns that a tax break for the new wonderful children and I will weather Guam Regional Medical City (grmc) the storm. The real story is about the hospital would be “unfair” (kuam, 23 assault on the merit protection system Feb 2013). In the 2013 election many and the failure of people who should candidates expressed their opposition know better to stand up for what is when stories began circulating that right” (PDN, 20 Dec 2012). The six such a QC program may be considered employees have since taken steps to (MV, 26 Oct. 2012). After the formal fight their removal through the Civil filing of their application to the devel- Service Commission and the courts opment authority, grmc ceo Marga- (MV, 20 Dec 2012). ret Bengzon asserted that her company The 25th Guam Micronesia Island was banking on approval of the QC Fair was set to be the last one held in program (pnc, 7 March 2013). In the the month of October, as the Guam meantime, legislation was introduced Visitors Bureau (gvb) announced that to earmark all additional tax revenue henceforth it would once again be held that the government would raise from in May (pnc, 7 March 2013). At the the operation of grmc hospital for the October 2012 fair, delegations from island’s public hospital (MV, 17 April the Federated States of Micronesia, 2013). the Commonwealth of the Northern The top ranks of the Port Authority Mariana Islands, the republics of were thrown in turmoil in Decem- Kiribati, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, ber 2012 when six employees were and Palau as well as Guam were rep- fired for alleged improprieties in the resented at the region’s largest annual approval of a workman’s compen- cultural event. The fair featured mas- sation travel request. Also losing ter carvers, blacksmiths, fishermen, employment in the process was Port jewelers, weavers, dancers, musicians, Authority General Manager Mary and cooks. gvb General Manager Torres (who was also the wife of Karl Pangelinan explained that the fair Supreme Court Justice Robert J Torres had been moved to October to “fill a and sister of former Governor Felix historically slow month for arrivals to P Camacho); she said that the actions Guam.” gvb officials decided to move taken against the employees were it back to May because rainy season politically motivated and directed at weather affected the logistics of the getting rid of a perceived political event (pnc, 7 March 2013). When the enemy of Governor Calvo. Accord- fair came back in May 2013, it drew ing to Mary Torres, in a meeting with over 20,000 attendees, exceeding the Calvo’s chief of staff, she was told that numbers from 2012 (pnc, 20 May “this entire exercise was all about get- 2013). ting this employee fired, and you are Ground was broken for a $27 ‘collateral damage.’” Torres was then million museum at Skinner Plaza in 176 the contemporary pacific ‡ 26:1 (2014)

Hagåtña. The three-story facility, purposes, including paying down known as the Guam and Chamorro the liabilities of the Guam Memorial Educational Facility, is funded with Hospital. In July, the bill was awaiting proceeds from hotel occupancy tax action by Governor Calvo to either bonds (MV, 6 Feb 2013). Preparations veto it or sign it into law (pnc, 20 also proceeded for a second Marianas June 2013). History Conference. Entitled “One kelly g marsh and Archipelago, Many Stories: Integrat- tyrone j taitano ing Our Narratives,” it was scheduled to be held at the University of Guam Un dångkalo na si Yu'os ma'åse in August 2013 (Saipan Tribune, 3 (thank you) to Attorney Julian Aguon April 2013). The first one was held and Shannon Murphy for their input in Saipan in 2012, with the goal of in the writing of this article and for reunifying the history of the politi- their review of an earlier version. cally divided Mariana islands (Saipan Tribune, 3 May 2012). Super-heavyweight judo competitor References R J Blas made history at the London Olympics when he became the first 32nd Guam Legislature website. Hagåtña. Guam competitor to advance in a http://www.guamlegislature.com/ round by victory. His achievement as cbs News. New York City. a competitor coming from a relatively http://www.cbsnews.com/ small community made him a media Guam Election Commission website. sensation, attracting notice from Hagåtña. gec.gov.guam USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Huffington Post. New York City. Sports, and cnn (PDN, 1 Jan 2013). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ Guam resident Jason Cunliffe, who started playing soccer for the local kuam, kuam.com: Guam’s News Net- youth league at age five, also made work. Hagåtña. http://www.kuam.com/ the news for successfully becoming a MV, Marianas Variety, Guam Edition. professional soccer player for a team Weekdays. Harmon, Guam. in the Philippines (PDN, 31 March http://mvguam.com/ 2013). Guam itself captured some nbc News. http://www.nbcnews.com/ attention from programs such as the cbs Morning News, which devoted PDN, Pacific Daily News. Hagåtña, Guam. http://www.guampdn.com/ an entire segment to educating its audience about the island (cbs News, pnc, Pacific News Center, Sorenson Media 2 Sept 2012). Group. Hagåtña, Guam. http://www As the year came to a close, the .pacificnewscenter.com/ community’s attention was focused on Politico website. Arlington, Virginia. Legislative Bill 19. Although passed http://www.politico.com/ unanimously, the measure provoked pri, Pacific Radio International. 2013. On considerable public controversy, as it Guam, Little Apprehension from North utilized revenue from various forms Korea’s Threatened Attack. 9 April. of gambling to fund a number of http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-04-09/ political reviews ‡ micronesia 177 guam-little-apprehension-north-koreas who has apparently made the issue the -threatened-attack [accessed 9 Oct 2013] primary focus of his cabinet portfolio. Saipan Tribune. Daily. Garapan, Saipan. At the United Nations climate meeting http://www.saipantribune.com/ in Doha, Qatar, in December 2012, de Brum announced that the theme of Washington Post. 2013. Anthony Babauta: Why He Matters. 29 January. the September 2013 Forum meeting http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ was to be climate change, and specifi- anthony-babauta/gIQAorLkAP_topic.html cally how the Pacific Island heads of state can take a greater leadership role on the issue globally (MIJ, 21 Dec 2012). De Brum followed this up with an appearance at an “Arria-formula” Marshall Islands meeting of the UN Security Council The period under review in the Repub- on 15 February 2013. (Arria-formula lic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) meetings are not officially classified as was focused largely on the impacts meetings by the United Nations, and of climate change, both physical and records or transcripts of the proceed- political, as well as on preparations ings are not kept.) Despite the infor- for hosting the 44th annual Pacific mal nature of the meeting, which was Islands Forum in Majuro in Septem- organized by the United Kingdom ber 2013. Additionally, clear lines and Pakistan, de Brum’s speech was were drawn within the RMI national available on the Internet and a video government, specifically in terms of report about the meeting was picked government spending, as well as in the up by the online video magazine Slate context of relations with the United V (2013). In the speech (and repeated States, which continued to be strained in Slate’s report), de Brum arguably over the past twelve months largely made a dubious connection between due to tensions surrounding concerns the drought in the northern atolls that about funding under the Compact of had begun in January 2013 and the Free Association and a US Department water company’s rationing schedule in of State report on human traffick- Majuro, which was unaffected by the ing. One bright spot was the seem- drought at the time of the speech. The ing progress toward a constitutional minister then announced the drafting convention, which, while put on hold of a Majuro Declaration, which he due to the upcoming Forum, appears said would call on all nations to com- likely to take place some time in 2014 mit, through their own actions, to lim- and, unlike the climate-change situ- iting global warming to less than two ation, may give the Marshall Islands degrees (de Brum 2013). The Marshall the opportunity to produce tangible Islands will present the declaration for results. formal approval at the 2013 Forum. The topic of climate change was The drought in the northern foremost on the minds of the RMI atolls did worsen, and in May RMI government, and especially Minister President Christopher Loeak’s cabinet in Assistance to the President and declared it a disaster area, after which Kwajalein Senator Tony de Brum, relief in the form of money and sup-