political reviews • 197

References tion since 1986 had been ignored or disregarded and that the situation was Government of Guam. 1997. Response of Guam to the “Right to Reply” of the no longer acceptable. The local mini- Administering Power (USA). UN General mum wage, the dependence on foreign Assembly, 52nd session, 10 October. workers, and violations of human and civil rights of those workers were PDN, Pacific Daily News. specifically mentioned. The president’s

PSN, Pacific Sunday News. promise to cooperate and coordinate with local authorities in carrying out Underwood, Robert. 1998. State of Guam’s the desired reforms was not met with Agenda in Washington. 23 July. great enthusiasm. United States. 1997. Verbatim transcript of The minimum wage issue was the US Mission to the United Nations greatly exacerbated when the process “Right to Reply.” UN General Assembly, of raising the local minimum wage by Fourth Committee, 10 October. 30 cents an hour every year until it reached the federal level was brought to a halt under pressure primarily from the garment industry. Just before the Northern July 1997 increment was to have Gubernatorial elections, a new low in kicked in, the legislature amended the relations with the federal government, law and froze the wage increase at a continuing labor issues, and new one-time increase of 30 cents per hour health concerns featured prominently for all employees except those of during the year. The new administra- garment and construction companies. tion of Pedro P Tenorio (Teno) and his Those workers would get only an addi- lieutenant, Jesus C Sablan (Pepero), tional 15 cents an hour in July 1996 found that the coffers were empty and another 15 cents on 1 July 1997. when they moved into their Capitol After that date there would be no Hill offices and then had to deal with automatic increases until a committee the significant economic impacts of the was formed to make industry-specific Asian monetary crisis. recommendations. For a complex set of reasons, rela- The sometimes acrimonious tions between the Northern Marianas exchanges between federal and and Washington descended another commonwealth officials featured the notch or two during the year. On 30 increased use of the term “indentured May 1997 President Clinton wrote to servitude.” After a January 1998 visit then governor Froilan C Tenorio stat- to attend the inauguration of Gover- ing his administration’s determination nor Pedro P Tenorio, Representative to reclaim responsibility for immigra- George Miller reported that inden- tion, minimum wage, and labor. His tured servitude was common in the now famous “Dear Froilan” letter Northern Marianas according to what noted that issues which had been he saw. He was referring to the prac- called to the commonwealth’s atten- tice of foreign recruiters demanding as 198 the contemporary pacific • spring 1999 much as ten thousand dollars from of this group, in addition to others workers for jobs “in America.” Such from Sri Lanka and Nepal, led to workers often arrive on with- demonstrations in front of the Hori- out legitimate employers or jobs and guchi Building in , where all feel obliged to take whatever they can of the federal agencies are housed. The get rather than return home empty- governments of Bangladesh, Nepal, handed. and Sri Lanka have filed official dip- There were many other develop- lomatic protests about the treatment of ments in the area of labor. The their citizens in the commonwealth. In number of garment factories jumped addition, some human rights activists from about 20 in 1996 to 35 or more have filed reports with the United in 1998, resulting in the doubling of Nations Human Rights Commission. the Chinese worker population to Substantial numbers of Chinese sixteen thousand, according to some workers were smuggled into the com- estimates. The legislature has again monwealth for eventual clandestine imposed a cap on the number of entry into Guam (at an estimated cost garment workers, so new workers of $5,000 each). As many as two hun- for the factories still under con- dred are now seeking political asylum struction presumably will have to in Guam on the grounds that they are be recruited from among the afraid of returning to the People’s unemployed. Republic of China because they vio- The administration lated some terms of the contract they staged surprise raids on garment fac- signed in China before arriving in the tories to determine if they met legal Northern Marianas. standards in safety, immigration status, As noted in last year’s report, the and payroll practices. In June 1998, campaign for governor took off early. for example, 16 illegal workers were When incumbent found in a room locked from the out- announced in December 1996 that he side, and about 30 more fled before was not going to run for reelection, his they could be arrested. In all, the raids lieutenant, , declared his netted some 200 illegal workers, noted intention to run for the job. Then many safety violations, and fined some Tenorio changed his mind and was owners for various infractions. One declared the official candidate by the prominent factory owner was fined Democratic Central Committee (the over $400,000 for nonpayment of leadership of the local party), leaving overtime. Borja to run as an independent. Mean- More workers arrived from Bang- while, Republican Larry I Guerrero, ladesh during the year, bringing the former one-time governor, squared off total to about two thousand men, against former two-time governor many of whom have been victimized. Pedro P Tenorio. Guerrero teamed up Large numbers are hired by security with , the first Chamorro firms, only to be abandoned as the woman to earn a PhD, while Tenorio companies take new business names chose Senate President Jesus C Sablan and hire new workers. The treatment as his running mate. In an open party political reviews • micronesia 199 primary Tenorio won handily, setting ney general, Sebastian Aloot, who had the scene for a three-way race. resigned to take a consultancy with the Froilan Tenorio eventually chose to government at a much more lucrative run with Mayor Jess Guerrero, a close fee, headed the charge. However, the relative of defeated Republican candi- court determined that since the consti- date Larry Guerrero, who then lent his tutional limit was passed during Pedro support to the Tenorio campaign. Jesus Tenorio’s second term, it could not be Borja chose Benigno Sablan, secretary applied retroactively. Pedro Tenorio of Natural Resources, to be his run- was sworn in to his third term on 14 ning mate. January 1998. The campaign was very personal, Starting in late 1997, the economy but two things stand out. The incum- of the Northern Marianas began to bent governor made it very clear that show signs of a serious slowdown. The any government employee, regard- first indication of a crisis was when the less of party affiliation, would be Korean Airlines B747 crashed on punished for opposing his campaign, Guam in October, and Korea decided and he made good on this promise to suspend all future flights to the later. The second was a letter on offi- Marianas, not just Guam. The impact cial stationery, written by then lieu- was immediate. Korean-owned hotels tenant governor Borja to a Superior resorted to renting their suites as Court judge, requesting clemency in apartments, dropping rates from over the sentencing of a convicted rapist. $100 a night to low monthly rates of When this was revealed, the constitu- $40–$50 a night. In many cases, ency he was courting, the young intelli- employee layoffs have been severe, and gentsia and voters of non-Marianas new construction of hotels has come to descent (who now represent nearly 20 a complete halt. percent of the total), were incensed. Early in 1998 the Asian currency His choice of running mate was also crisis began in earnest. The devalua- widely criticized. tion of various currencies had an In the end, Pedro Tenorio made a immediate effect on Marianas tourism clean sweep with 46 percent of the when it became too expensive to buy 11,000 votes cast, and Froilan Tenorio dollars with yen, pesos, or won. Tour- took a little over 27 percent. Jesse ism has dropped by 30–40 percent Borja came in a surprising third with a from all sources. Hotel occupancy is at little over 26 percent of the vote. Super- a record low, and peripheral businesses typhoon Keith hit Saipan on election such as beach activities, restaurants, night and was responsible for the rela- and tours have either closed up com- tively low turnout. pletely or drastically reduced their Following the counting and certi- services. fication of the vote, the Democratic A law designed to protect the Central Committee funded a challenge commonwealth from unscrupulous or to the eligibility of Pedro P Tenorio, insolvent investors may be another claiming a constitutional limit of two element in the economic downturn. It terms. Froilan Tenorio’s former attor- requires a foreign investor to deposit 200 the contemporary pacific • spring 1999

$100,000 in escrow in a local bank A second resort, a two-hundred- against bankruptcy, to cover unpaid million-dollar joint venture between a debts and the costs of repatriating local entrepreneur and Japanese inves- abandoned employees, and appears to tors, is expected to break ground by have deterred potential investors. October 1998. It will be twice as big as One of the consequences of the poor the present resort, with two 500-room economic situation is a smaller tax base towers and a family-oriented water and strains on the commonwealth bud- theme park. The Tinian law allows up get. Froilan Tenorio’s 1998 budget, to five casinos on the island. based on an anticipated windfall from In a controversial move, the Public casinos on Tinian, was close to $260 Health Division of the Department of million. The casino did not open until Health Services succeeded in getting an May 1998, and its current revenues administrative order requiring all come nowhere close to the wishful nonresident workers to get a physical thinking of the former administration. exam targeting specifically hiv-aids, As a consequence, the budget under the tuberculosis, and syphilis. The cost of new administration has been reduced from $80 to $100 per person was to to $230 million and it is not clear be born by the employer, generating whether revenues will come anywhere estimated total revenues of over $4 near that figure. A tight rein has been million for private clinics. The results put on travel and hiring. Agencies have were dramatic, indicating a much been told to tighten their belts and greater presence of all three diseases leave nonessential vacancies unfilled. than was previously thought. In May 1998 the Tinian Dynasty Meanwhile at the hospital in Hotel and Casino opened its doors. Saipan, as many as sixteen doctors The resort is owned by a group of have been terminated, allegedly for Chinese investors linked to the Beijing lack of support and supplies. Some government and features 440 first- have opened or joined private clinics, class rooms, three five-star restaurants, which are now providing many of the and a full-service casino. It is expected health maintenance services previ- to employ some twelve hundred work- ously furnished by the hospital. Many ers directly and create jobs for another nurses supplied to the hospital by thousand people in peripheral and agencies were found to be uncertified service occupations. The employees are to work as registered nurses. They primarily Chinese, although they now were given one chance to pass their claim twenty-four nationalities on the certification exams, but only about 20 payroll. Two high-speed state-of-the- of the 120 passed. Many of those that art catamaran ferries have scheduled did promptly applied for jobs in the service between Saipan and Tinian. mainland United States. Small commuter airlines fly from The Northern Marianas is in a Saipan and Guam. However, to date, period of transition. The momentum there is no indication of when the hotel is growing for imposing federal stan- will begin receiving large numbers of dards on immigration, labor, and mini- clients. mum wage. The Clinton administra- political reviews • micronesia 201 tion favors a ten-year transition down by the traditional leadership or period, and a Senate bill would allow its head, the Ibedul (paramount chief the commonwealth two years to of southeast Palau). This imbalance develop and implement a plan to meet was challenged in a ten-year-long series federally established goals. The current of court suits that eventually resulted economic crisis is creating major com- in amendments to the Koror constitu- plications at every level of society, and tion, the most significant of which this, coupled with the federal concerns, called for an elected governor to has the local public and private-sector replace the executive administrator, a leadership scrambling to retain as position that had been filled through much authority over minimum wage, appointment by the traditional leaders. labor, and immigration as they can. This change was recently put in place samuel f mcphetres through a late 1997 election in which Johnny Gibbons, the younger brother of the Ibedul, defeated his challenger by just 67 votes (of 2,619 cast). Thus Palau the traditional leaders have retained The highlights of the period under dominating power in the Koror State review include controversy in Palau’s government. state governments, the deaths of three The political dynamics of the states important leaders, and President has been altered by the introduction of Nakamura’s achievements and prob- the office of elected governor, and lems. During the period 1981–1984, early in 1997 the governors of Ngard- each of Palau’s sixteen former munici- mau and Airai states attempted to palities wrote constitutions that estab- intervene in the selection of traditional lished local state governments consist- chiefs in order to maintain factional ing of a legislature and an executive. control. Fortunately for the chiefs, the Fourteen of these states, which range appellate division of the Palau in population from 12,500 in Koror to Supreme Court looked carefully at the less than 100 in Ngatpang, correspond issue and ruled that neither the state to traditional village complexes that governor nor the legislature can deter- engaged in local warfare and exchange mine which chief (ie, titleholder) will activities prior to the onset of de facto sit in the legislature and land authority colonial rule in 1891. Despite their because the chiefship is determined by small size, the states remain centers of custom and tradition. In Airai, the political competition and occasional second largest state, this court decision controversy. meant the reassertion of influence by Koror State, Palau’s urban center, Roman Tmetuchl, holder of Airai’s has a constitution that centers govern- paramount chief title, Ngiraked, and mental authority in the House of an elder statesman in Palau. Traditional Leaders, leaving the six- The Airai situation took another teen-member elected legislature rela- unexpected turn when the election for tively powerless. The legislature lacks a new governor was nullified by the authority to override a veto handed court on the basis that ineligible indi-