Political Reviews

michael lujan bevacqua, elizabeth (isa) ua ceallaigh bowman, zaldy dandan, monica c labriola, nic maclellan, tiara r na'puti, gonzaga puas

peter clegg, lorenz gonschor, margaret mutu, salote talagi, forrest wade young

187 political reviews • 195

FSM Constitution. 1978. Available on the Nanmadapw-Palikir, , 15 Septem- FSM Legal Information System website: ber. http://fsmlaw.org/fsm/constitution/index Sivas, Vince. 2019. Internet interview with .htm author, 16 September. FSM Public Law 18-34. 2013. Available Walter, Inos. 2019. Interview with author, from http://www.cfsm.gov.fm/index.php/ Weno, Chuuk, 3 September. legislations/public-laws/18th-fsm-congress -public-laws Zhang, Weidong. 2017. Interview with author, Palikir, Pohnpei, May. FSM Updates. 2014. President Mori Declares “State of Emergency” as Ping Da 7 Posts Greater Threat Sitting on Nan Kepkepin Param Reef in Pohnpei. 23 January. http://myfsm.blogspot.com .au/2014/01/president-mori-declares-state The year 2018–2019 in Guam began -of.html on a high note with a series of land- Illon, Epel. 2019. Interview with author, mark elections and ended more , Pohnpei, 13 September. forebodingly with a federal court case threatening the rights of the island’s Mori, Emanuel. 2019. Interview author, Kolonia, Pohnpei, 18 September. Indigenous people. November 2018 saw the victory Moufa, Richard. 2019. Interview with of Democrat Lourdes “Lou” Leon author, Kolonia, Pohnpei, 6 September. Guerrero as the island’s first female pit, Pacific Island Times. Daily Internet governor. For centuries, chief execu- and monthly print news. Tumon, Guam. tives on island have been referred to https://www.pacificislandtimes.com as “maga'låhi,” a colonial appropria- Puas, Gonzaga. 2015. The Federated tion of the CHamoru term for a male States of Micronesia Engagement with the leader. With Leon Guerrero’s election, Outside World: Control Self-Preservation she assumed for the first time in mod- and Continuity. PhD thesis, the Australian ern history the title of “maga'håga,” National University. Available from or female leader (pdn, 7 Nov 2018). https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu Leon Guerrero led a local “blue wave” .au/handle/1885/104841 of Democrats who seized a super ———. 2018a. Micronesia and the Rise of majority (ten out of fifteen) seats in China: Realpolitik Meets the Reef. Unpub- I Liheslaturan Guåhan (Guam Legis- lished Paper written for the Micronesian lature). Among those elected was Institute for Research and Development former journalist Clynt Ridgell, the (mirad), Palikir, Pohnpei, January. first Guam-elected leader of Chuukese ———. 2018b. The Proposed Compact descent (pdn, 7 Jan 2019). Leon of Disassociation and Re-Association for Guerrero’s lieutenant governor, Joshua the Republic of Chuuk. Fourth Branch, Tenorio, became the first openly 5 August. http://www.tfbmicronesia.com/ gay man in US history to hold that articles/2018/8/5/the-proposed-compact-of position. -dis-association-and-re-association-for-the In I Liheslaturan Guåhan, ten of -republic-of-chuuk?rq=puas the officials elected were women, Samson, Pier. 2019. Interview with author, including seven Democrats and three 196 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

Republicans. With 67 percent of its lieutenant governor. In the midst of legislature made up of women, Guam the campaign, Tenorio was charged held one of the highest percentages and tried for official misconduct for of female elected leadership in world taking a police officer’s gun. While history. This milestone reflected the Tenorio was found not guilty after wave of women winning public office the election, the scandal tarnished his in the continental , but it campaign (pdn, 22 March 2019). could also be tied to a resurgence of With Leon Guerrero the heavy CHamoru values long suppressed by favorite, much attention was focused patriarchal colonialism (pdn, 8 Nov on whether or not her camp would 2018). be able to garner enough votes to As a way of combining these avoid a runoff election. According to two narratives, a company called Guam law, a candidate must receive Maga'håga Rising began to sell “The a majority of the votes in order to be Future is Famalao’an” t-shirts shortly elected, or else a runoff is held. Aguon after Leon Guerrero’s inauguration. and Limtiaco’s write-in campaign won “Famalao’an” is the CHamoru term an unprecedented 22.9 percent of the for women, playing on the popular general election votes, just 1,258 fewer American hashtag #thefutureisfemale than and his running (pdn, 13 Jan 2019). mate, former Senator Tony Ada (26.4 At the same time, the maga'håga percent). Leon Guerrero narrowly appointed Tony Babauta as her chief avoided a runoff by winning 50.7 of staff and Jack Hattig as director of percent of the votes. the Chamorro Land Trust Commis- Maga'håga Leon Guerrero, a sion. This was despite past scandals former nurse, was a pro-choice involving sexual misconduct toward community activist in Guam in the women—Babauta at the federal level early 1990s. Guam remains a heavily and Hattig at a high school (pdn, Catholic island, although recent child 10 Dec 2019; gdp, 19 Jan 2019). sexual abuse scandals have weakened Leon Guerrero survived a divi- the influence of the church. Though sive four-way primary to become the not damaging her campaign, her Democratic Party’s nominee. Leon support for reproductive rights as Guerrero and Tenorio beat their maga'håga created a minicontroversy. closest primary opponents, former After the election, Leon Guerrero’s Senator and former Bureau of Women’s Affairs began Attorney General of Guam Alicia actively seeking an abortion provider Limtiaco, by under 300 votes (8,218 for Guam, as there had been no to 7,958). Aguon and Limtiaco, official provider for nearly a year. The despite signing a party unity pledge bureau director stated that a recent during the campaign, mounted a case in which a twelve-year-old girl on write-in campaign during the general Guam was raped and impregnated had election. Their effort was boosted galvanized her (pdn, 3 June 2019). through significant self-inflicted Antiabortion groups organized pro- wounds by the Republican nomi- tests in response (pdn, 14 June 2019). nee for governor Ray Tenorio, then Sexual abuse and assault became political reviews • micronesia 197 more prominent in public discourse Other protests erupted over the US during the review period. For years, military’s plans to transfer thousands revelations had poured out regarding of Marines and dependents from child sexual abuse by priests within Okinawa to Guam. Construction to the local . In January support the transfer had been stymied 2019, the Archdiocese of Agaña for years due to lack of federal fund- (Hagåtña) declared bankruptcy and ing, but by 2018–2019, construction prepared to sell nonessential assets was in full swing, with hundreds of (kuam News, 16 Jan 2019). A dead- acres of limestone forest bulldozed in line of 15 August 2019 was set for northwest Guam. potential claimants to file suit seek- In October 2018, following the ing damages for alleged abuse. As of demolition of an ancient CHamoru August 2019, more than two hundred historical area called Magua' on had filed (cna, 8 Aug 2019). the naval base in Dededo, a protest The disgraced former archbishop of organized by demilitarization and Guam, Anthony Apuron, was among decolonization activists from Prutehi the three dozen clergy named in these Litekyan and Independent Guåhan lawsuits. On 4 April 2019, the Vati- gathered more than 150 demonstra- can announced that its private tribu- tors outside the base gate (kuam nal had upheld the charges against News, 4 Nov 2018). Acting Speaker Apuron and stripped him of the title of the Legislature Therese Terlaje of archbishop, though he retained the criticized the military for “a continued rank of bishop (pdn, 21 April 2019). blatant disregard and erasure of the Apuron never stood trial in a secular culture, resources, and four-thousand- court. year history of the indigenous Cha- Similarly, disgraced former senior morro people” (pdn, 31 Oct 2018). professor Michael The election signaled increased Ehlert lost his court appeal for sexu- public concern over US military ally harassing and assaulting female actions toward Guam. Two activists university students and began serving who had been outspoken members his prison sentence as a convicted sex of Prutehi Litekyan won seats as offender (pdn, 24 July 2019). senators in I Liheslaturan Guåhan: In response to an increase in child- Sabina Flores, who had been a water- abuse reports on-island and a per- rights activist and high school science ceived lack of action in investigating teacher, and Kelly Marsh-Taitano, them, the Guam Family Justice Center an instructor at the University of Alliance called for a protest in April Guam. Leevin Camacho, Guam’s new 2019 (pdn, 21 April 2019). I Lihesla- attorney general, had been a leader turan Guåhan proposed multiple new during the protests that stopped the bills seeking to address the issue. The military’s planned use of Pågat for its proposals included setting a manda- firing range. He won election despite tory minimum for repeat sex offenders a campaign in which his opponent and prohibiting judges from reducing relentlessly attacked him as a radical sentences on sex crimes involving a (pdn, 7 Jan 2019). minor (pnc, 22 April 2019). By contrast, newly elected US 198 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) representative — our political status, whatever that a young former Guam senator who may be . . . that’s our strength and the unseated longtime powerhouse leverage we have if we are going to go Madeleine Z Bordallo in the Demo- out and negotiate on our terms. . . . cratic Party primary election—con- Some people feel we have no voice tinued to support the buildup and in this whole story of militarization, distanced himself from demilitariza- and this whole military buildup, it’s tion proponents. San Nicolas, known because, I feel, we do not have the as something of a maverick within his political status we need to provide that own party, elicited public criticism strength” (pdn, 26 June 2019). over perceived slowness to establish Leon Guerrero supported the a local office and communicate with buildup on Guam because of regional local constituents from both Bordallo security concerns over China and and another former Guam congressio- North Korea (kuam News, 25 June nal delegate, Robert Underwood (gdp, 2019). She sent a request to the mili- 30 Jan 2019; pdn, 1 Feb 2019). In tary that they pause construction in March 2019, San Nicolas opened his a specific limited area, where the last Guam office and held a town hall and adult serianthes nelsonii, the endemic open house to welcome the commu- fire tree, can be found; however, the nity (gdp, 19 March 2019). military indicated that there would be Guam State Historic Preservation no pause in construction (pnc, 15 July Officer Lynda Aguon cautioned that 2019). the military was finding “too much, The long-debated issue of legal- too frequently, and it’s quite disturb- izing marijuana was decided when ing.” She warned the public that the Leon Guerrero signed into law a bill military was moving too quickly, allowing general adult recreational use collecting artifacts where they found (pdn, 3 April 2019). The bill required them and then proceeding to “wipe the establishment of a Cannabis Con- [the areas] from the face of the earth” trol Board and a testing facility. (kuam News, 19 June 2019). Soon The island continued to struggle after voicing these concerns, Aguon with the impact of the 2018 Trump was fired, although the Leon Guer- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced rero administration said the firing had the Government of Guam’s (Gov- nothing to do with her public com- Guam) income tax collections by ments (pnc, 19 June 2019). $36.6 million and caused a shortfall A coalition of over twenty Indig- of over $100 million in revenue for enous rights groups, educational the island government (gdp, 29 July nonprofits, and small businesses met 2019). GovGuam ended fiscal year with the maga'håga and expressed 2018 with a $10.4 million deficit, concern about the potential negative despite an increase in the local busi- impacts of the military buildup and ness privilege tax. Leon Guerrero loss of cultural heritage. Leon Guer- expressed optimism, saying, “I think rero responded that, as a governor of at the end of the fiscal year we’ll have a territory, she had no control over the revenues above the projected bud- the military actions: “If we decide get” (pnc, 5 July 2019). political reviews • micronesia 199

A controversial raise in the mini- Tensions continued to flare among mum wage on Guam continued to ethnic groups on-island, as a machete propel public debate, as Senator Joe attack committed by members of the San Agustin introduced a bill to raise Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) the minimum wage via two fifty-cent community in Mangilao drew public increments from $8.25 an hour to attention (pdn, 14 June 2019). Two $9.25 an hour (pdn, 14 May 2019). young men were indicted in the attack While cost of living had continued to that sent one victim to the hospital rise, San Agustin said that wages for and left several cars damaged. A series many families had not kept pace with of public safety meetings followed in inflation. The bill was considered a villages with large populations of FSM compromise with business owners. migrants (pnc, 27 June 2019). The Chamorro Land Trust Com- Efforts to perpetuate the Indig- mission lifted its self-imposed morato- enous culture and language on Guam rium on granting leases of land (pdn, continued, as the longtime CHamoru 20 Dec 2018). The commission was immersion program Hurao Academy established to restore land to Indige- agreed to support an official Guam nous CHamorus following post–World Department of Education initiative, War II land takings by the US military. the Faneyåkan Sinipok CHamoru It had faced criticism last year for Immersion Pilot Kindergarten Pro- relatives of elected officials and Land gram, at P C Lujan Elementary School Trust board members receiving prefer- (pnc, 7 June 2019). The pilot program ential treatment. Chair “Pika” Fejeran was open to thirty-six students. Guam decided it was within her commis- law mandates that all public schools sion’s authority to move forward on offer Chamorro cultural classes, but a case-by-case basis, despite ongoing this immersion program would go far legislative oversight. beyond what the law requires. The local medical community con- Young Guam resident Kaya Tai- tinued to face financial and structural tano found herself in the midst of an challenges, as Guam Memorial Hos- international news story over racial pital, the island’s longtime primary tensions in Washington dc when she public health care facility, lost federal captured images and videos of con- accreditation in 2018 and would not servative white youth confronting seek reaccreditation until its Medicare Native American elder Nathan Phillips and Medicaid shortfalls were resolved during the March (pdn, 14 Feb 2019). The hospital was at the on Martin required by law to accept all patients, Luther King Jr weekend (gdp, 21 Jan including those who could not pay or 2019). Her videos from the event were did not have health insurance cover- viewed by millions around the world. age. At the same time, Guam Regional The US federal government found Medical City, a relatively new local that war reparations negotiated by branch of a Philippines-based private former US Representative Bordallo medical corporation, announced that had failed to appropriate proper it would reduce its presence on Guam funds. Guam’s new delegate to Con- (gdp, 11 June 2019). gress, San Nicolas, and new governor, 200 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

Leon Guerrero, took up the issue, commemorate his accomplishments. but they encountered tension when The purpose of Guam’s commission is Leon Guerrero announced she would to coordinate with any international re-prioritize local funds to fulfill war efforts to ensure that the CHamoru claims (pnc, 20 June 2019). perspective and voices are not lost Local tradition clashed with federal (pnc, 5 July 2019). rule when US President As CHamorus on Guam worked signed an $867 billion farm bill into to ensure their voices were heard in law, extending the federal ban on international forums, their quest for cockfighting and dogfighting to Guam self-determination received a poten- and the other US territories (gdp, 22 tial setback in the US court system. Dec 2018). Public outcry from many A lawsuit over a self-determination local cockfighting fans and farmers plebiscite in Guam that had been delineated the cultural differences fought since 2011 saw a decisive loss between the majority-white United in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals States and the Pacific and Asian for GovGuam (pnc, 30 July 2019). cultures of its territory of Guam. The A 1997 Guam law mandated a new governor expressed unquestioning nonbinding decolonization plebiscite support for cockfighting, and decolo- for “native inhabitants” of Guam. nization activists encouraged the ques- This group consisted of CHamorus, tioning of US sovereignty over Guam as well as members of other ethnic (pdn, 7 Jan 2019). By contrast, though groups—in other words, all those who dogfighting does occur on Guam, it received US citizenship via the passage did not receive similar public atten- of the Organic Act for Guam by the tion or concern, nor did the estimated US Congress in 1950, including the tens of thousands of stray dogs on the descendants of those individuals. island. Guam resident Arnold Davis filed A Guam commission was created a lawsuit against GovGuam, alleg- to work with international efforts ing that his constitutional rights were to commemorate the world’s first being violated by the plebiscite law. documented circumnavigation—that As he was not given citizenship by of Ferdinand Magellan and his crew the Organic Act, he did not meet the from 1519 to 1522—and first encoun- “native inhabitant” definition. In ter between Europeans and Indigenous 2017, the US District Court of Guam Pacific peoples (gdp, 8 Sept 2018). In ruled in favor of Davis, determining March 1521, Magellan infamously that the plebiscite law violated the burned a village on Guam, killed a Fifteenth Amendment, which guar- number of people, whose body parts antees US citizens the right to vote some members of his crew ate, and regardless of race. The Government of called Guam an “Island of Thieves” Guam subsequently appealed; how- before dying in a conflict with the ever, in July 2019, the Ninth Circuit Indigenous people of the Philippines. Court of Appeals affirmed the lower The Spanish government intended court’s decision, ruling in a strange to sail ships along Magellan’s path, logic that the “native inhabitant” stopping at sites such as Guam to category was a proxy for race (even political reviews • micronesia 201 though it includes people of various Guam’s current political status. Time ethnicities) and that it was unconstitu- will tell if this potential setback may tional to limit a public vote. ultimately galvanize the decoloniza- Though Guam is a US territory, tion movement. the US Constitution is routinely not elizabeth (isa) ua applied to Guam or is otherwise ceallaigh bowman, violated in the way Guam is treated by michael lujan bevacqua, the United States, most notably due to the fact that US citizens in Guam are and tiara na'puti not allowed to vote for US president or to have voting representatives in References Congress. The federal court upheld the rights of a single person in the cna, Catholic News Agency. Denver, Colo- territory to vote in a self-determina- rado. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com tion plebiscite, while ignoring the right gdp, Guam Daily Post. Tamuning, Guam. of self-determination for an entire http://www.postguam.com people and the voting rights of US kuam.com: Guam’s News Network. citizens in Guam. Dededo, Guam. http://www.kuam.com In the wake of the court’s affirma- pdn, Pacific Daily News. Hagåtña, Guam. tion, local leaders expressed some http://www.guampdn.com hope in the midst of obvious disap- pointment. The court ruled that the pnc, Pacific News Center. Hagåtña, Guam. “native inhabitant” category was https://pncguam.com unconstitutional and prohibited any plebiscite that used such a term, but it did not rule on the constitutional- ity of seeking redress for colonized peoples. At the following meeting of For the Republic of the Marshall Guam’s Commission on Decoloniza- Islands (RMI), the period under tion, the maga'håga, attorney general, review saw the passing of a number of and senators all expressed continuing distinguished traditional leaders, pub- support for efforts toward CHamoru lic servants, and community members. self-determination (pdn, 6 Aug 2019). Ruben Zackhras died in early January According to the Commission on 2019 following a public service career Decolonization’s executive director, that spanned more than four decades. Melvin Won Pat Borja, “We continue Elected to nine consecutive terms as to be shot down at every turn, but ¸apl¸ap between it does not change the fact that our 1979 and 2015, Zackhras was among people have this desire within them to the longest serving members of the be self-governing. We have the desire Nitijel¸- to address our political status” (pnc, ing a senator, he was elected delegate 31 July 2019). For many years, the and then president of the Marshall ongoing Davis case paralyzed efforts Islands’ first Constitutional Conven- to hold a plebiscite and hindered tion in 1977, where he led the effort to attempts to educate the community on develop and pass the constitution for