arianas %riet~~ - University of Hawaii€¦ · DJ~iVERSITY 0~ )jAWAI\ ~lBRARY arianas %riet~~ Micronesia's Leading Newspaper Since 1972 ~ ews I Bill to require pregnant ~ Woman killed

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DJ~iVERSITY 0~ )jAWAI\ ~lBRARY

arianas %riet~~ Micronesia's Leading Newspaper Since 1972 ~ ews

,---~-~--~~~~~-

I Bill to require pregnant ~ I aliens' exit to give birth Woman killed

in poker room I

that "An employer is not liable for paid maternity leave should the alien contract (worker) decide to remain in the CNMI, nor is he liable for a round tripticket. ... ''

By Rene P. Acosta Variety News Staff

A KOREAN woman believed to be a victim of robbery was found dead inside a poker room in Chalan Piao last Friday.

Police declined to identify the victim, but the neighbors identified her as Marcia Kim, a poker room operator.

The 50-year-old woman had wounds on her chest, said police.

The policemen found the victim's body sprawled on the floor inside the cashier's booth. They did not rule out robbery as a


A FILIPINO worker was found dead yesterday inside his room in Koblerville.

The body of Danny Cerdena, 42, was discovered at about I :20 p.m. by his co-worker, Romy

possible motive in the killing. According to DPS informa

tion officer Rose Ada, the police received a call at about 5 a.m. , giving information about a possibe dead body at KSH Poker Game Room, located beside Sablan Hardware on Beach Road.

Investigators and medics rushed to the place. They found no one inside the room. The booth's door was locked.

Ada said the.policemen kicked the door to force it open. They saw Kim's lifeless body.

According to the caller, he

Sumilang, who lived next to the victim's room.

Cerdena worked as part-time laundry operator at YK Corporation in Koblerville.

Police were still trying to determine the cause ofCerdena 's death.

Cerdena's body did not show

Tenorio cites need to :· suspend scholarships·

Pedro P. Tenorio

By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Pedro P. Tenorio over the weekend called for a thorough review and revision of scholarship policies, in an apparent attempt to stretch the available money for the government's subsidized education program. · Citing the government's de

pleting resources in light of both internal and external economic factors, Tenorio said existing funds for the Educational Assistance Program (EAP) are not enough to sustain the continuous granting of similar benefits to scholars. · · · .·,' ';• •' ..

"We have very limited funding and we should come up with revised scholarship rules and regulations in order for us to be fair and just to both off-island and on-island scholars,"the governor said.

He admitted ~hat the government's coffers have severely depleted that it may not be able to provide funding assistance to the Northern Marianas College this year, as he stressed the need to suspend scholarship grants this summer and slash financial aid to off-island students.

Tenorio said the existing scholarship policy was drafted in a way thatitoffers"toomany" benefits to student-recipients, adding that the regulation does not reflect the economic realities faced by the CNMI now.

"Right now, there's so many benefits that some of the students are getting. Unfortunately, the economic situation. has changed in a way that cripples the government from providing the same kind of benefits," he emphasized.

The local chief executive said

Continued on page 26 . ' ··~ ..

.PAC NEWSPAPER STACKS

. went to Kim's place to play poker. He went to the booth's counter for coin exchange, but no one was around to attend to him.

After getting impatient of waiting, he pulled a chair to step on and he peeped through the hole in the counter. He saw the woman's body sprawled on the floor.

The police are seeking assis-. tance from anyone who may have any information that would lead to the solution of the murder and arrest of the culprit.

any external injury and an inspection of his residence did not show any signs of foul play.

His room and the bed where his body was found were neatly in order. The lights and radio were then also still on.

Continued on page 26

David M. Ging

By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

SENATOR David M. Cing (D.Tinian) has introduced leiisla

! . tion t~at would require preg-i nant alteil workers who want to

I .be eligible for paid m:,iternity · leave to "exit" the CNMI and

I give birth in· their country of j origin. i ~enate Bill 11-102, which is

expected to be opposed on constitutional grounds, would also require employers to pay for their pregnant alien workers' round trip air fare on top of the maternity leave.

The bill, moreover, proposes

An occupant of a three-car collision is being attended by Fire personnel before the ambulance arrived. The accident occurred on Beach Road in front of Joe-Ten Kiyu Library in Susupe. Photo by Tony Cells

Cing's bill attempts to address the local community's concern that because babies born here to alien parents are automatically granted US citizenship, the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian could soon be a "minority" in their own land.

Currently, 16 percent of the US citizens in the commonwealth are children of nonresidents, according to federal officials.

Child.ren born to alien parents have been described as" 18-yearold time bombs" because of their legal right, upon reaching the age of 18, to seek permanent residency status and eventual US citizenship for their parents.

Then governor Froilan C. Tenorio, through the Covenant Section 902 consultation process with President Clinton's special representative, raised the possibility of imposing restrictions on the granting of US citi-


Marshall Islands probes soaring adoption cases

. .

By Giff Johnson For the Variety

MAJURO - As adoptions of Marshall Islands children by Americans continue to skyrocket, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Thursday announced it was launching an investigation into the adoption process with a view to establishing greater government control.

Marshall Islands High Court records show that there was more than 100 percent increase during 1998, as 143 children from Majuro were adopted by American families. There were 63 adoptions the year before and just eight in 1996.

"Our concern is for the rights and welfare of the children being adopted," said Foreign Secretary Marie Maddison in announcing the government Cabinet's decision to conduct a thorough investigation of overseas adoptions.

"We want to understand the situation and have some control over it. Right now, things are out of control."

The High Court figures include only children adopted from Majuro; according to reports, a substantial number are also being adopted on Ebeye, the Marshalls


2-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY-FEBRUARY 8 1999

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -King Hussein of Jordan, who became a key force in the turbulent Middle East in more than four decades as ruler of his strategically placed nation, died Sunday of complications relating to cancer, Jordan's information minister said. He was 63.

The announcement by Information Minister Nasser Judeh was confirmed by official Jordanian TV, which showed a portrait of the king draped with a Jordanian flag.

In Amman, mosque loudspeakers began sounding Koranic verses in a sign of mourning. People scurried, sobbing, through rain-soaked streets.

The king di~d at 11 :43 a.m. (0950 GM-T) in his bed at the King Hussein Medical City. the television announcement said.

Jordan's Cabinet immediately met and proclaimed Crown Prince Abdullah king. a day after he was named regent.

.. The kingship was transferred constitutionally to Crown Prince Abdullah ... in ~iew of His Majesty King Hussein's death,·· said a Cabinet statement read over state TV by an announcer in tears.

King Hussein of Jordan speaks in the East Room of the White House in this Oct. 23, 1998 file photo. The King died Sunday due to heart failure, said senior palace officials. . AP

The cause of death was heart failure, said senior palace officials who were with the king when his heart stopped beating.

Members of the royal family, including Queen Noor. were with him.

The king had left an American hospital Thursday after his body rejected a bone marrow transplant, part of his treatment for lymphatic cancer. A royal statement said that at the king's ow!1 .. persistent wish," he was returning to hi, homeland.

Hussein was the Middle East's longest-ruling leader- he was monarch for 46 years - and his life mirrored the ups and downs of his small, desert nation.

Befitting a ruler in the vola_tile region, he was sent to Britain's Sandhurst military academy for part of his education. A pro-Western moderate, he ended Jordan's long enmity with Israel and pushed for a broader Mideast peace.

Hussein had despaired in 1967 when Israel captured the West Bank and Jerusalem. His grandfather had annexed the territory in 1950.

His great triumph was Jordan's peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

He also played an important role in the Wye River peace accord between Israel and the

Palestinians, helping to mediate last year's talks at a time when he was already very ill.

Hussein was born Nov. 14, 1935, a descendent of Hashem, great-grandfather of the seventh century Prophet Mohammed of Islam. ·

He was crowned king May 2, 1953, after his father, Talal, abdicated because of mental illness. The young king's real mentor had been his grandfather, Abdullah, founder of Transjordan, a desert territory carved out by the British.

"It was he who taught me to understand the minds of my people and the intricacies of the

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (left) talks to King Hussein of Jordan as they walk with President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the White House in this Oct. 1, 1996 file photo. A~

Arab world .... He taught me that above all else, a leader's greatest duty is to serve," Hussein wrote in a 1962 autobiography.

Despite his family's ties to Islam's past, Hussein was driven by a zest for life in the 20th century. He was a waterskier, a skydiver and a pilot - flying everything from jet fighters to helicopters.

Short and muscular, Hussein was often pictured in a military dress uniform bedecked with medals or in camouflage he wore in the desert with his troops.

At the end of his life, the king's battles were against cancer.

Hussein had undergone surgery for a cancerous kidney in 1992, and last year he had six months of chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

During his treatment, Hussein left his hospital bed to help mediate the Wye River peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians.

U.S. President Bill Clinton praised Hussein as the "heroic figure" of the talks.

In mid-January, Jordanian officials said he was cured and he returned home - at the controls of the royal jet when it landed in Amman - to a rapturous greeting by tens of thousands of Jordanians.

,;I am feeling fine," said a beaming Hussein on arrival, wearing a traditional red-andwhite checkered kaffiyeh and bowing to the tarmac to kiss the

Jordanian soil. But a week later, doctors or

dered him back to the United. States, and the Mayo Clinic announced he had suffered a relapse.

With his illness came worries for Jordan's future. Hussein changed the line of succession to the throne during his few days at home, naming his oldest son Abdullah, 37, to replace his brother Hassan as crown prince.

Hussein criticiz.ed his brother's actions as the standin, but some Jordanians said the king feared his own sons would never get a chance at the throne if Hassan became king.

On Saturday, with the king dying, the Cabinet declared Abdullah regent, granting him most political and royal powers.

In his earlier years, Hussein's battles were more tied to the violent politics of the Middle East.

He faced repeated assassination attempts and in 1956 had to put down a rebellion by proEgyptian army officers. One of Hussein's chief enemies was Egyptian President Gama] Abdel Nasser, who branded the king a "stooge of American imperialism."

But Hussein admired Nasser's· Arab nationalism and allied with Egypt before the 1967 ArabIsraeli War.

The instability stirred by the war led to the "Black September" civil war of 1970-71, in which Hussein's Bedouin Arab Legion crushed Palestinian guerrillas who sought his overthrow.

Hussein's first two marriages ended in divorce. His third wife, Alia, died in a 1977 helicopter crash. In 1978 he married Lisa Halaby, a Lebanese-American who took the name Queen Noor.

Hussein ha·d I I children and an adopted daughter.

Jordan's King Hussein embraces his grandson, Hussein, 4, as his son and successor, Crown Prince Abdullah, 37, stands behind in this March 1998 file photo. AP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-3

CDA to write off$ loan By Aldwin R. Fajardo Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Pedro P. Tenorio has signed a law aimed at allowing the Commonwealth Development Authority to write off around $6.6 million loaned to the dissolved Mariana Islands Housing Corporation (MIHA).

Tenorio said House Bill I l -325, which became Public Law 11-57, will resolve the long unsettled issue concerning the $10 million loan entered by CDA and MIHA last January 30, 1987 for a mass housing project.

The project involved the construction of 150 houses but only

52 units were actually built until MIHA was dissolved by Executive Order94-3, which also paved way for the creation of a public housing agency under CDA.

All of MIHA's assets and responsibilities were then transferred to CDA's Northern Marianas Housing Corporation (NMHC).

While CDA does not have any right of action against NMHC in regards to the $6.635 million loan, the new law guarantees that it may take appropriate measures to recover the amount written off.

Under PL 11-57, CDA will write off approximately $6.635

Pedro P. Tenorio

million of the principal and accrued interest, while NMHC will repay the Development Author-

H.E.W. panel to draft bill that will restrict scholarship grants

l k

Heinz S. Hofschneider


AS A "SHORT-term solution" to the government's apparently

bankrupt scholarship programs, the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare will draft a bill that would impose restrictions on student reimbursements for tuition fees, its chair said Friday.

Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider(RPrec. 3, Saipan) at the same time said the committee will also advise local students that their summer granL~, like funding for their Education Assistance Program this spring, "will not be forthcoming."

But like Rep. Karl T. Reyes (RPrec. 1, Saipan), who chairs the House Committee on Ways and

DPH struggles to find replacement for Bruss

By Haidee V. Eugenio Variety News Staff

THE SEARCH for anew medical director for the Division of Public Health is on, and the priority candidate to fill in the position that will be vacated by Dr. Jon Bruss is someone from the local community.

However, weeks after the announcement of Bruss' resignation effective April l, no quali-

fied Chamorro or Carolinian seemed qualified to head the public health division, it was learned.

According to Health Sec. Joseph Kevin Villagomez, there arc currently six candidates from the U.S. mainland interviewed for the position, all of them with broad knowledge on public health.

He said the candidates were all topnotchers, soi:ne are Harvard


MVArenews efforts to woo, bring more Russian tourists


FACED with a pending landing fee hike that is expected to send off airline companies currently servicing the CNMI, the Marianas Visitors Authority solidifies efforts to develop the Russian tourism market.

The Commonwealth Ports Authority gave the MV A up to end-March to come up with arrival projections that will make up for additional revenues for rn I instc .:,! -:·'.', .. ,g the landing fees by 64 percent, and the airport facility charges by 38.2 percent.

In order to increase aiTivals, MVA said it will tap sub-mar-

David Sablan

kets like Russia and China despite restrictions imposed by the Department of Labor and Immigration on these citizens.

MV A Board chairman David


Means, Hofschneider reiterated that eligible students will not be "turned away" from the Northern Marianas College (NMC) with or without EAP funding.

Further, he said the effectivity of the restrictions on reimbursements will be in fall of this year.

"The scholarship programs will con.tinue but with restrictions," he said.

For a "long-term" solution, Hofschneider said his committee will fulfill its earlier vow to come up with legislation that would consolidate all scholar-

Contmued on page 22


THE CNMI government is hoping to establish a better relation with the United States' Department of the Interior (DOI), amid reports that Allen P. Stayman is leaving his post as directorofthe Office of Insular Affairs.

The reported plans of Stayman to leave OJA pleased majority of local government officials since he had been very critical of the local immigration and labor problems.

Gov. PedroP. Teno1iosaid there was no official word yet from the federal government on Stay man's resignation from OIA but said the US official had been of significant help to the CNMI in terms of bringing up local problems that need immediate solution.

"He'd been very helpful in the past. He knows what our problems are and bringing it up on our attention was a major contribution since it pressured us to moye swiftly to address our imperfections," Tenorio said.

The governor said if Stayman is really resigning from his OJA


ity $3.;364 million for the cost of building the 52 remaining housing units at Sugar King II in Garapan.

NMHC can tap the money that may be generated from the sale of the 52 housing units for the repayment of the $3.364 million to CDA.

The public housing corporation is mandated by the new law to sell 42 of the 52 housing units to qualified families of CNMI descent at prices lowerthan the existing rate in the local market.

Under the Jaw, a two-bedroom unit should be sold at $59,000; a three-bedroom at $64,000; and a

Special report:

four-bedroom unit at $70,000. The remaining 10 housing units,

according to the law, should be sold at the existing fair market value to qualified CNMI descent.

The legislation was drafted following findings that while NMHC "has made tremendous strides in paying off the debts of MIHA, it is unable to payoff the entire principal balance with accrued interest."

"This is especially true· as NMHC is charged with providing housing to the Commonwealth's citizens of low to moderate income, therefore, its ability to gen-


Restaurants: Mixed views about food handlers regs


LEADING food establishments in Saipan expressed different views on the new mandatory health screening for food handlers.

While food firms surveyed generally agreed with the intent of the health screening which is to deter widespread communicable and food-borne diseases, they pointed out that the way the health screening will be administered needs some refinement.

The management of Wendy's said the intent of the new regulations is acceptable. Juanita Seman, general manager, said Wendy's has long been waiting for a health certificate for its employees that are different from those given to accountants or construction workers or any other types of workers.

Seman said Wendy's hopes that the new regulations will make way for this health certificate that is exclusive for food handlers.

Under the regulations, a food handler is any person who prepares, packages, handles, cooks, processes, or serves food or beverages.

He may also be someone who uses cooking utensils in a food and beverage establishment like restaurants, bakery, lunch counter, cafeteria, among others.

The Departm;nt of Public Health is currently conducting training and seminars for food handlers in order to educate them on how the new health test works.

One-stop shop' Joe Ayuyu, franchise holder of McDonald· sand former chairman

of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said any regulations will become moot unless it has the support of the private sector. While he expressed support to the new regulations' purpose, he said the way it will be implemented is questionable.

"It's cumbersome. When they come up with regulations. they have to think if it's workable with the private sector. The process

itself is unacceptable," he said. Continued on page 22

Bills seek to improve kids' health insurance

By Tanya M.C. Mendiola Variety News Staff

A BILL seeking to secure equity in funding for children's h~alth insurance in insular areas was introduced in Congress last Thursday (Friday, Guam time) by delegates from U.S. Territories.

The Children's Health Insurance Program was first introduced in 1997 by President Clinton as part of his commitment to children's health care.

However, U.S. Territories received far less sufficient funding to implement the program.

Reports have stated that Guam has approximately 5,000 uninsured children who arc eligible for the program, but funding last year was barely sufficient to implement the program. Clinton included a $ I.I million increase

funding al the unveiling of his fiscal year 2000 budget.

Guam Congressman Robert A. Underwood and other delegates from insular areas including Puerto Rico Delegate Carlos Romero-Barcelo, Virgin Island Delegate Donna ChristianChristensen, and American Samoa Delegate Eni Faleomaevega introduced a bill that would i71-crease CHIP funds for seven years in their districts.

Funding was increased to insular areas for only one year in the 1998 budget agreement. The introduced legislation seeks to secure the proposal into law. Ac~ cording to Underwood's office, the present proposal for increased CHIP funding was included in the


Stalemate in Talks On Saipan Workers Tuf-of-war between local officials, federal

government on sweatshop law

On this tiny, tropical piece of American soil in the western Pacific, local officials backed by key Republican figures in Congress are waging an increasingly bitter tug-of-war with the Clinton administration and human rights activists.

Caught in the middle is a foreign workforce laboring in conditions of sweatshop-style exploitation that are perfectly legal in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands but banned throughout the rest of the United States.

The dispute worsened yesterday when local Republican leaders told a visiting team of Clinton administration officials that they will not give up the islands' exemption from federal immigration, customs and labor laws.

Human rights groups and U.S. officials say this has allowed inde?tured servitude, dire working conditions and poverty wages to flounsh on Srupan. .

The Northern Marianas' commonwealth status also allows U.S. apparel corporations doing business in the islands to avoid tariffs and to clrum that products manufactured there are "Made in the USA."

Since they were enacted two decades ago, the loopholes have transformed the Northern Marianas from a forgotten backwater into a billion-dollar player in the global economy. ·

But the visitors from Washington say the exemptions must be withdrawn voluntarily - or Congress will do it for the islanders.

Although attempts to remove the loopholes have been blocked by congressional Republicans. support for their elimination is growing on Capitol Hill. Representative George Miller, D-Martinez, and Senator Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, are each sponsoring similar legislation to that effect.

The pressure for reform was brought to American public attention last week by a sweeping series of class-action lawsuits filed in California and federal courts. Human rights groups and a labor union accused such wellknown apparel firms as San Francisco's The Gap, Nordstrom, J. Crew, Tommy Hilfiger and Burlingame's Gymboree of tolerating a wide variety of labor abuses by subcontractors on Saipan. They seek $1 billion in lost wages and damages for 25,000 workers, most of whom are Chinese.

In the charged atmosphere leading up to yesterday's start of talks on Saipan, both sides engaged in a bout of name-calling.

"Why should the United States suffer a continuing financial loss of$200 million a year in tariffs-for the dubious privilege of explaining to the rest of the world why it tolerates the Northern Marianas' human rights record?" asked Allen Stayman, who as director of the Interior Department's Office ofinsular Affairs is the top federal official for U.S. territories in the Pacific.

··Are alien workers human beings, or are they simply inputs in a production process?" he said.

The islands' legislature fired back, unanimously approving a resolution accusing the federal government of "embarking on a vicious campaign to destroy the garment industry"' and ''insinuating arrogantly that the thirdclass U.S. citizens of the Northern Marianas should not and cannot improve their economic status at the expense of secured jobs for the firstclass U.S. citizens in the United States."

This week's ne2.otiations are scheduled to continue until Friday. an exercise both side; admit is mainly for Washington consumption. Federal officials said today that talks had virtually broken down. with each side refusing to budge.

At issue, both sides agree, is a key component of the role the United States plays in the global e~onomy - whether corporations m~st obey American labor and human nghts standards wherever they do busmess, as the Clinton administration wants, or whether free trade and local autonomy will prevail over all else, as Republican leaders like House Majority Whip Tom DeLay advocate.

It is hard to imagine a more incongruous place for such a battle. The 13-mile-long island of Saipan is lush but has a ragged feel. Along

Beach Road, which fronts the azure though polluted waters of the Philippine Sea, large five-star hotels are crowded together with sleek dutyfree shops, honky-tonk bars, American fast-food restaurants and the corrugated metal shells of garment factories.

Yet, the Northern Marianas standoff also has elements of the mainland civil rights battles of the 1960s - angry federal officials saying that morality and the law are on their side, glaring down local officials who claim the right to do things their way and who complain abcut Washington's arrogance. .

Largely missing, however, is a protest movement by the workers themselves.

In the Northern Marianas, the estimated 40,000 foreign laborers are seen and not heard. They form almost the entire private-sector workforce -including 15,000 in the booming garment industry, where factories owned largely by Chinese and Korean businessmen produce $2 billion worth of clothes annually for American firms.

The foreign workers also staff the tourist industry, which draws hundreds of thousands of Japanese each year to the islands' beaches, barrier reefs arid World War II battlegrounds.

WHEN I BtCOME: A

MATURE YOUNG ADULT.,

YOU WON'T ~YTO KEEP ME OFF THE

COVER OF PEOPLE,

WILL YOIJ?

JACK ANDERSON and JAN MOLLER

WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND

Lobbyists keep deadly pesticide in use It was a typical Friday evening when Sandra Mero returned to the guest house she was renting in an upscale Los Angeles suburb. She quickly changed her clothes and prepared for bed. But what Mero could not have known was that as she drifted off to sleep a pipe underneath her bed was leaking methyl bromide, a potent pesticide.

The pipeline, which the property owners used to route electrical wires, traveled underground to Mero' s bedroom from a small studio. The homeowners were moving, and had decided to fumigate. The fumigator had arrived early Friday morning, sealed the studio, and sprayed. Tragically, the only opening that wasn't covered was the pipe that traveled to the guest house.

Because the studio was sealed, the deadly gas had only one place to go.

Saturday morning Mero told a friend she felt like she was getting the flu and went home. That evening, she called to say she didn't feel like going out. Sunday morning Mero was found unconscious, convulsing on the floor. Less than five days later, she was dead.

This was not the first time methyl bromide had taken a life. Since the early 1990s, dozens have died, and many more have become seriously ill, from exposure to the virulent vapor.

Congress is promising to halt production in 2005, but if a few powerful farmers and chemical companies continue to have their way, methyl bromide won't be disappearing anytime soon.

Most of the methyl bromide in the United States - 87 percent - goes to soil fumigation. It is injected into the soil, between one and two feet below the surface. Tractors then cover the fields with massive sheets of plastic, which are removed 48 to 72 hours later.

Much of the deadly gas escapes through the tarp or shortly after it is removed: EPA estimates that between 50 and 95 percent eventually enters the atmosphere. Not surprisingly, migrant farm workers have frequently been among methyl bromide's victims.

But it is methyl bromide's ozone destroying capacity that eventually forced the federal government to act. In De·cember I 993, the EPA designated the pesticide-which EPA says is 50 times more effective at destroying ozone than chlorine from CFCs - a Class I a.zone destroyer. In 1990 Congress had declared that any chemical so designated be out of circulation within seven years.

Bill Thomas, who works in the EPA 's Methyl Bromide Program, told our associate Ashley Baker that farmers "were just horrified that methyl bro-

mide was going away." But they were not slow to respond, and on

August 4, 1995, Rep. Dan Miller, R-Fla., whose district is home to some of the nation's heaviest users of methyl bromide, introduced legislation to reverse the 200 I ban.

Miller's proposal also would have created a set of certification procedures for alternatives to methyl bromide, and stripped the EPA of its authority to force farm products treated with methyl bromide to be so labeled.

Although it garnered nearly three dozen cosponsors, Miller's bill died without action.

The debate, however, was far from over. Behind the pesticide were powerful interests and big money. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, over the last two years, agricultural interests -which used over 50,000 tons of methyl bromide over the same span - have spent more than $110 million on influencing Congress, $81.6 million on lobbyists and $30-plus million on political contributions.

The vast majority of the pesticide - 75 percent - is produced by three companies: Great Lakes Chemical and Albemarle, which are both based in Arkansas, and Dead Sea Bromine in Israel. The two stateside companies seem to have covered their political bases: According to the Center, Albemarle 's chairman has donated $180,650 to federal and i;tate lawmakers since 1992, and the chairman of Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle 'sparent company, has contributed $117,131.

Last year Great Lakes Chemical forked over $60,000 to Peter Sparber, a Washington lobbyist. Sparber pocketed another $60,000 from the Methyl Bromide Working Group.

In cooperation with former Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., whose district also contained heavy methyl bromide users, Miller introduced a second proposal, which became law after it was inserted in the 1999 budget.

Miller's bill moves the deadline to stop methyl bromide production to 2005 and enumerates a range of ··critical use" loopholes, which critics say could be used to keep producing and spraying the compound indefinitely. One, fo(

example, allows methyl bromide to stay on the market if its absence would result in a "significant market reduction."

Sparber assured us that Great Lakes Chemical and Albemarle are working to develop alternatives to methyl bromide by the 2005 deadline. The EPA has already endorsed over 40 alternatives, which have been rejected by farmers as too expensive.

(


Drilon addresses Guam Filipinos Variety News Staff

SEN. Franklin M .. Drilon, the majority leader of the Philippine Senate, is encouraging Filipinos on Guam to take advantage of incentives drawn up by the Philippine government to attract overseas Filipinos.

banks and investment houses," the senator said.

In addition, Drilon said Philippine lawmakers are set to debate in Congress the amendments to the retail trade liberalization law which would allow investments by overseas Filipinos in the retail trade in the Philippines.

"There is already some degree of agreement on this. The only question now is the level of investment required."

According to Dri Ion, elder overseas Filipinos could also benefit by checking out the Philippine Retirement Authority which provides incentives foroverseas Fili-Drilon, who was on island as a

special guest of the Filipino Community of Guam, said there is a move in the Philippine Senate to further open the Philippine economy to foreign investors, especially overseas Filipinos.

US EPA has new PlO

"Overseas Filipinos are now allowed to own land of upto 5,000 square meters in urban areas and 3 hectares in rural areas. Before, this was prohibited. We also removed the exemption against former Filipino citizen·s in the nationalization laws for thrift

Variety News Staff TO BETTER serve the news media, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reorganized its western regional press office along geographic lines.

In the newly reorganized office, each regional press officer covers an assigned geographic area. Lois Grunwald is now in

charge of Guam and other Pacific islands under U.S. jurisdiction.

Grunwald'sregionalofficealso covers California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii.

EPA is also inviting reporters to subscribe to its e-mail distribution list to automatically receive press releases from the regional office.

CNMI Supreme Court disqualifies lawyer from Hillblom paternity case

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

THE CNMI Supreme Court has disqualified Charles Rotbart as lead counsel for one of Larry Hillblom 'sDNA-confirmedchildren for having conflict with the child's grandmother.

The high tribunal said Rotbart has used the confidences gained in his representation of Milagros Feliciano, grandmother of Mercedita Feliciano, against her.

"Milagros, as guardian ad litem, is free to choose another attorney who is not in conflict. Milagros terminated Rotbart as counsel," said the Supreme Court's decision signed by Associate Justice Miguel S.

Charles Rotbart

Demapan, and Justice Pro Tern MartyW.K. TaylorandAlbertoS. Lamorena, m.

The justices said such termination effectively allows Rotbart as

Man decries alleged use of excessive force

By Ferdie de la Torre Variety News Staff

A MAN charged for obstructing justice has protested the alleged excessive force used by two pol ice officers in arresting him.

Joseph Aguon Reyes, through counsel Chief Public Defender Harvey Palefsky, claimed that Police Officer Jess Seman and Sgt. James DL GuerTero improper1y maced him in the face on numerous occasions without adequate provocation.

Palefsky asked the Superior Court to order the Attorney General's Office to produce Department of Public Safety's use of force policy, use of pepper mace policy, and information on effects of pepper mace.

Palefsky in a motion for discovery explained that the Commonwealth Rules of Criminal Procedure provides for the dis-

. covery of any papers or documents in the possession or control


Jury verdict in Obak expected tomorrow

By Ferdie de la Torre

Variety News Staff . . . THE JURY is expected to render anytime tomorrnw a vcrchct rn the murder case filed in the Superior Court against Gerald C. Sablan and Peter D. Cabrera.

The lawyers for Sablan and Cabrera said ~riday that more witnesses for the defendants will likely be presented m court today.

After all witnesses will be called in, Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan said jury instructions will be given to the jurors.

Closing arguments by lawyers will follow before the Jurors stmt deliberating the case. . . .

Sablan and Cabrera were charged for the krllrng of Alan M. Obak Continued on page 26

former and current counsel to use all that he learned from representing Milagros against her when his new client, the interim co-guardian ad !item, Perry Inos, participates in proceedings involving Milagros. .

"Rotbart aligning himself agrunst Milagros and then disclosing privileged communications to her detriment, wou Id be a violation of Rotbart 's fiduciary obligations to his client Milagros," the high court said.

The Supreme Court also excused lnos from further participation from the case on the basis that Milagros is presently the continuing guardian ad !item for


pinos and other nationals who want to retire in the Philippines. He said there is already an existing law which provides incentives for retirees including the privilege of bringing possessions to the Philippines tax-free.

"A bill on absentee voting will also be heard shortly by the Senate. This law has been long delayed because of the need to get

the inputs of overseas Filipinos. But now it is ready for debate in the Senate."

Regarding overseas Filipino contract workers, Drilon said he is pushing the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to establish a hospital for overseas contract workers and their dependents


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By Jacob Leon Guerrero Variety News Staff

SEVEN people were injured at around I 0: 15 a.m. yesterday when their truck went off the road near Bello Road and Alegeta Street, Ban-jgada.

One adult male and two children were in the cab of the Toyota pick-up truck and two adult females with two other minors were riding out in the bed.

cause the truck hit a berm it flew up and landed upside down.

Medic units numbers 3, ~. and 5 responded to the accident. They found one of the minors sustained contusions and lacerations to the face as well as a broken jaw.

Two of the people are reported to be in serious condition at the Guam Memorial Hospital. The other five were treated and then released.

Investigators will now try to determine weather alcohol was a factor in the crash and if the

occupants inside the cab were wearing their safety belts.

The names of the individuals were not released yesterday, because the case is still open and under investigation.

The accident is the first major vehicular mishap this year. Ac;ording to Lt. M. Howard of

the Guam Police Department, three adults and four minors were riding in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Triffic investigators believe that the operator lost control of the vehicle as he neared the bottom of Bello Road because traffic had stopped.

Investigators believe speed was a factor in the accident be-

Busy week in Guam Legislature Efforts on to overhaul Guam education setup

By Eric F. Say Variety News Staff

ALINE Yamashita, second in command of Guam's public school system, has said efforts are being made to overhaul Guam's current one-district educational organization.

Yamashita testified Friday at Superior Court Judge Steven Unpingco's courtroom that siteba,ed management and geographic organization of Guam's public schools are a sound alternative.

However, Yamashita said that the current "system" of what she termed "feeder band method" has worked well.

She tried to prove this by the system shown by the path~ay a student takes from elementary, middle and on to graduation in high school.

Yamashita also said the yearround schooling has been successful at M.U. Lujan Elementary School in Y ona and other participating schools.


By Jojo Santo Tomas Variety News Staff

ON THE heels of the governor signing their first offering into law yesterday, the 25th Guam Legislature gets ready for a busy week in front of them.

Aside from various resolution presentations, three• committees will hold public hearings on bills.

Minority Sen. Frank B. Aguon Jr. will get public input on his Bill No. I 6 tomorrow, which requires the Chamorro Language Commi ssion to research, promulgate and implement the adoption of Chamorro village names.

Sen. Simon Sanchez, who chairs the Committee on Health, Human Services and Chamorro Heritage, will also continue to

Frank B. Aguon Jr.

hold his oversight sessions on agencies to get to know them better.

Following the hearing on the bill, overviews on the Chamorro Language Commission and the

Kaleo Moylan

Guam Preservation Trust and Historic Resources Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation will be held.

On Wednesday, the first bill


Woman 'dragged' in robbery Sgro vows to re~talize Guam tourism By Jacob Leon Guerrero

Variety News Staff A 23-year-old Dededo woman was robbed last Thursday evening while walking down Ypao Road toward Tumon.

The suspects, Benjamin Muna Ferrer, 23. of Dededo and Antonio Jr. Perez, 24, of Yigo, were later arrested.

According to police spokesman

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Witnesses reprnted that the male passenger reached out and grabbed the victim's purse, draggil)g her away.

The suspects' vehicle sped off the Seven-Day Adventist Clinic


Variety News Staff

THE Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) board of directors has elected a new set of officers for the year, choosing businessman Anthony "Tony" Sgro, president of Ada's Inc., as its new chairman.

Sgro, who was also the chairman for Gov. Carl T.C.

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"We'_ve got our work cut out for us," Sgro said after the election.

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Sgro promised that he will do whatever it takes to move ahead and drive back the tourism industry to where it should be.

"My philosophy is that if we have a strong board, the GVB staff and the private sector will follow our initiatives toward recovery. I don't believe in micro managing and I want to thank you all for giving me the opp0rtunity to serve. We all have a lot of work ahead of us," Sgro said.

Elected vice chairman was Gerry Perez, the head of Duty Free Shoppers Guam. He replaces former vice chairman Bert Unpingco.

Various committee assignments were also given to the following:

* Gerry Perez for the Japan Marketing Committee;

* Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association President David Tydingco for the Korean Marketing Committee;

* Micronesia Mall Tourism Relations and Promotions Manager Monte Mesa for the North America/ Armed Forces Committee;

* Mid-Pac LiquorGeneral Manager John Calvo for the Tourist Attraction Fund Planning and Development Committee;

* Agana Heights Mayor Paul McDonald for the Community Development Committee;

* Unpingco Realty's Bert Unpingco for the Cultural and Heritage Committee;

* Lam Lam Tours and Transportation President Masao Hayashi for the Tourism Industry Relations Committee; and

* Jimmy Dee Flores for the Membership Committee.

The board failed to choose new heads for the Asia Marketing Committee, Research and Finance, and Budget Committees.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-7

'Voter's names from directory' By Eric F. Say Variety News Staff

A MARKET specialist, who was one of the last witnesses to testify at the election fraud case, tried to prove on Friday that 1,400 names on the contorversial voters' list were taken from The Chamorro Directory of Sons and Daughters of Guam, which was published in California.

Market specialist Evan Montvel-Cohen was hired by Gov. Carl Gutierrez to research

names produced by the plaintiffs to prove that names of non-US citizen, minor and deceased registered in the Nov. 3 general election.

Cohen was tasked to verify if the people on that list were actually eligible to vote.

The Democrats '98 Committee published the list and then asked voters whose names were printed with their Social Security Numbers on the list to come to an office set up in a mall and present

evidence that they were eligible vote.

A major achievement by the defense team of Philip Carbullido and Randy Cunliffe was that Montvel-Cohen 's research work was admitted into evidence despite objections by the plaintiffs' attorney, Curtis Van de veld.

Superior Court Judge Joaquin Manibusan, who is hearing the civil suit, said it was the plaintiffs that produced the list in question. He ruled that the defense should

have the opportunity to review and contact voters on that list that they personally knew were eligible voters.

The defense had pointed out

that hundreds of Guam residents were wrongly accused of voting illegally, inc:luding dozens who were inaccurately listed as mi-

Contrnued on page 23 .. ' ,. ... Ill':

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Villagomez assures bill would not impede CUC project bids' review

\l By Zaldy Dandan Variety News Staff

SENATE Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez (R-Saipan) said Friday that the proposed bill on the $120 million power plant project will neither derail nor conflict with the independent review process to be conducted on all the bid proposals received by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Villagomez was reacting to concerns raised on Thursday by House Speaker Diego T. Benavente (R-Prec. 2, Saipan) that

the bi II, which proposes to allow CUC to award the project despite pending protests files by losing bidders, could diminish investors' confidence in the CNM1 government.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications (PUTC), Villagomez said it was the possibility that such a bill will be filed that expedited the process leading to CUC's selecting an independent reviewer of the bids for the project.

Senator warns of'riders' in garment 'addition' bill


COMPARED to the Hou~e. Bill that could lead to the entry of 600 to 2;400 new alien workers, the Senate version that would allow only one garment manufacturer to bring in 300 alien workers is "safer" to sign into law, Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez said Friday.

Villagomez, who reluctantly voted for the passage of H.B. 11-315, said the bill was supposedly drafted to accommodate tlu-ee South Korean garment companies that were "unfairly" not exempted from the Hiring Moratorium Act.

But the bill would also allow other manufacturers to bring in new


Accomplices ir1 Alig murder get sentences

By Eric F. Say Variety New Staff

TWO men, who confessed to their role in the murder of Joseph Alig in January l 998, were sentenced by Superior Court Judge Steven Unpingco Friday.

Alvin San Nicolas Cruz was

sentenced to IO years in jail without parole; while Sandy Pangelinan, three years and four months

Both men had pleaded guilty to charges of complicity to manslaughter.

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More illegal Chinese smugglers indicted

By Eric F. Say Variety News Staff

UNITED States Attorney General Fred Black has announced that two Chinese groups have been indicted for alien smuggling by the Federal Grand Jury.

The first of two indictments charged five Chinese nationals with smuggling l 7 aliens aboard the Gin Sheng Foong #27 on Jan, 2 from China to the Guam Commercial Port. These illegals were found stashed into a cargo hold of the boat.

The second indictment charged four other alleged Chinese smugglers with unlawfully bringing into Guam 27 aliens aboard the Shin


"We want to get it rolling, and · of course we will allow the review process to continue," he said.

He noted at the same time that there is not even a final draft of the bill.

"And if we're going to introduce it we want it done carefully, and that is why the House PUTC is currently consulting with various government agencies, including the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the Office of the Public Auditor (OPA)."


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8-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- FEBRUARY 8, I 999

Experts here for economic study By Rene P. Acosta Variety News Staff

LABOR and business experts from the mainland are on Sai pan for a two-day economic development conference to be held nexr monrh.

The visiting experts headed by John Woodard. Joseph Bradley. and Richard Colfax arril'ed on Saipan last Friday.

They are now coordinating with Malcolm McPhee. project managerforthe economic study group of the Nonhern Mariana College. to prepare for the conference.

The result of the study being conducted by NMC's Business Development Center and funded by the Office of the Insular Affairs, will be used as a baseline data for the economic summit

Saipan mayor holds off ordinance on ID system

set on March 18 and 19. Woodard's team was assigned

to explore developmental opportunities for the CNMI, especially export-related industries.

The team will also evaluate industries based on resources, identify areas wherein foreign investors can directly come in or participate in a joint venture, and examine the government's

privatization efforts. Among industries to be as

sessed are agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, and the hydroponics·, tourism, entertainment and gaming, and garment.

Bradley's team will explore possible ways by which the government can generate additional revenues in areas related to emerging technology and free

trade zones. It will also suggest incentives which the government can offer to potential investors.

Colfax's team will concentrate on human resources by studying the conditions and movement of the labor force vis a vis the economic developments in the Commonwealth islands.


SAIPAN Mavor Jose C. Sablan has returned the recently approved Local Identification Card ordinance to the Muncipal Council, saying the proposal contained a questionable provision.

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THE Department of EdJc~tioh . on island, carrying on a st;m~ •.•.•. •·••· .• ·.········F·t. ar.n_y_ ;.·. g.·.;······a·n······.··am.¥.•.···········a············.i .. · ...••. r ...•. i.'.TI .. :r.~.··.··.······.~···.1.i.· •. e ....•..•. n.k.··e ..•....•.....•. m_·····e.:.·.··.• .. · •. :.e_ .••..... n.~ ... -•. ~.·••.r ..•...•..... ·.:.•• .. ··.>.~.1 ...••..•.•..•..•...•. -•...•..

Sablan asked Municipal Council Chairman David L. lgitol to review the ordinance that established the IS project.

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···•• DOE_n;cfiV~-11:he,~eo/~[rop:i·· ••.••. rfy;1r P!~tJ~t ~tsmq}P~rt~i( The ordinance was signed by

Sablan last Jan. 21. It is now under review by the

Saipan Delegation. Sablan. in his letter to Igitol,

asked the counci I to refer the ordinance to its legal counsel. David Wiseman.

Jose C. Sablan

finance department that would take charge of this funds.

Sablan sought the review of the ordinance upon advice of his special legislative assistant. Kimo Rosario.

Sablan said putting up of a municipal treasury rather than asking the finance department to handle the generated funds is "more appropriate" since the mayor's office has the "expenditure authority."

30/c2(){}5: r < ·.· ... 'c®~!<l11pt .y!fiff v,;t~.lp P~B · ...... · validates standards of exi!el>

t¢~'!t:r~r1ttitltW~~!=• ·········:Jt~\1~;&eiBT~:JI;fef~ff ~~t. ···············i~li~:~;!~f~~~l~il~f ~l~iI:•·•• Sablan said the questionable portion (Section 4). which provides that the revenue generated from the ID project be segregated and put into a special ··saipan Municipal ID Account" poses a legal constraint.

The introduction of the ID ordinance was prompted by reports that many residents who do not have driver's licenses, passports or any other identification documents manage to encash checks and engage in business transactions.

ing Commi!te~I Re~rt V:hich' ·t~bJ1rhfngpar4j4acy}tthefirst •. J!l[),chin.g.is• .• C)(;()~ff~h~ ,t $~ r noted ma11YJaµc.l.aqlp •• aspects SJ~ploward ;i.ctiieying ;i.ccr~ic Sfhgoklt iJ a}~P ill.IJ<\ny~~µ+.· oftbeschooL"s~idEnd.eJllan. ···•tatiq~{i/ > \i······.•· .i.'\i< <•·······. ··~pley~pgtfQt ~flft~tP4Yi ~sf •...•

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Under the ordinance, it is the

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Fifth grader wins Price Elementary spelling bee


FIFTH-GRADER Ousmane Cisse won the Price Elementary Spelling Bee Competition last Friday and will represent the school in the island-wide spelling bee in March.

Twenty-eight third and fifth grade students participated in the competition that lasted about eight rounds. Most of the students were disqualified by the second round.

Fifth grader Christal Bundang won second place and will serv; as an alternate in the islandwide competition, a prelude to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee held in May in Washington, D.C.

The competition is open to all students up to 14-years-old.

The son of a University of Guam Statistics professor, Cisse said he moved to Guam with his

family in January last year from Canada.

He said he studied for 30 minutes every day after school to prepare for the competition. Asked how it felt to win the competition, he said it was O.K. and that he wasn't scared because he knew how to spell all the words.

Price Elementary Spelling Bee Coordinator Vickie Loughran said students practiced during their lunch hour with her for the spelling bee.

Loughran said the competitors were wonderful and they worked very hard to prepare for the competition.

The competition was open to all third and fifth grade students at the elementary.

The island-wide competition in March will have ail spelling bee champs from different schools vying for a spot in the national competition.

·-r-... ··. ! 1' In focus: •

Non-resident workers contribute to coffers


NONRESIDENT workers are replenishing the government's depleting coffers through an existing policy which mandates employers to get workmen's compensation insurance for each of their staff.

Based on the official 1998 tally of the Department of Labor and Immigration (DOLi) which places the number of nonresidents in the CNMI to 26,379, the government gets approximately $568,700 from workmen's compensation alone.

This is if all 26,379 nonresidents who are currently in the CNMI are categorized as office workers who receive $3.05 per hour with a 0.17 percent rate per $100 of remuneration and pay an estimated $21.56 in annual insurance premium.

Undercurrent laws, insurance companies are required to remit two percent levy for every workmen's compensation premium to the government's Special Disability Fund.

But at an average of 1.9 percent rate per $100 of remuneration, all 26,379 nonresident workers in the CNMI who get an average of $3.05 per hour indirectly remit approximately $6.358 million from the workmen's compensation to the government's SDF.

Insurance companies, however, follow a standard varying premium tariff for each employee, depending on the worker's annual salary and job category. The higher the risk posed by their employment, the higher insurance premium they are enrolled in.

Private insurance and bonding companies in the CNMI also have varying computation formu las for their respective insurance premium. Computation for per employee is different from the computation when a particular company enrolls more than one worker.

Minimum premium perpolicy is $100 and premium rates are computed at a fixed rate per $ I 00 of remuneration for each job category. Tariff for office workers, for instance, is 0.17 percent; 2.94 for farmers; 2.84 for house workers; and 1.9 percent for all other categories except construction workers.

Individual businesses will have varying wage levels and associated expenses, like insurance premiums are likely to be higher for construction workers than hotel employees.

For administrative workers, or those employed for offices, employers normally pay some $565 in annual premium; farmers, $199; house worker,$ I 19; print shop/ail other workers, some $1,105.

The Variety conducted a random survey on the expenses incurred by employers in hiring foreign workers and all of the

respondents agreed that concerns raised against employment of foreign workers "do not make sense."

Initially, the employers or a representative have to go to the workers' country to conduct interviews, which would incur around $700 for roundtrip airfare, excluding hotel accommodations, food and transportation at the time of the visit.

This practice became common when the CNMI government preventedU-drive, or manpower agencies hiring nonresident workers for employment in other companies.

Employers normally shoulder communications expenses including overseas calls and transmittal of documents from the Commonwealth to the workers' country and vice-versa, which averaged at $100.

Notaries of documents and security bond would cost $50 and additional expenses for the Workmen's Compensation, with varying premium, depending on the "riskiness" of the job classification.

With the new health regulation, employers have to shell out an additional $90-$100 for HIV and RPR tests, and chest xray. The procedure in securing health certificate before the alien card is issued also require the payment of $20 to the health liaison office in DOLi.

The Philippine Overseas Emp Joy men t Administration (POEA) charges $225 as processing fee for every employee, while employers are also required to shell out $30 as contract authentication and verification by the Consulate.

The CNMI's Department of Labor and Immigration (DOLI) charges employers $225 for every nonresident worker. Of this amount,$ I 00 will be earmarked for vessel or aircraft permission to dock or land, $100 for all other entry permits and $25 for duplicate copies of permits.

Under Section 120 I · of the · Immigration Rules, employers will be charged additional $25 for the Alien Registration Card. Air transportation ticket would cost some $350.

Aside from the $3.05 minimum wage, foreign workers also enjoy privileges such as free housing, transportation and sometimes, food, as mandated by Public Law 9-71.

POEA 's pre-qualification requirements include the provision of free food or compensatory food allowance and free suitable utilities for Filipino workers. These costs result in employers actually having an hourly employees expense of $4.72 per hour or $9,818 per year.

The Resident Workers Fair Compensation Act of 1995 says all benefits mandated by law given to foreign workers must


MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIE:WS-9

Korean pop group films music video on Guam

Variety News Staff UNIVERSAL Music, a music video company from Korea, is on Guam to produce a music video for the Korean pop music group"Toogee,"the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) reported over the weekend.

Toogee, described by GVB as an up and coming Korean group, arrived on Guam last Saturday via Asiana Airlines. They wilJ shoot video footage all over the island including Fort N uestra de la Soledad, Cocos Lagoon, Gun Beach, and Hagatna.

The group is being sponsored by GVB and the Pacific Islands Club.

In other Korea~ market news, GVB also reported that it has a delegation participating in the ongoing WEDDEX Spring '99 convention.

WED DEX is the biggest wedding and bridal exhibition in Korea focusing on products and services related to weddings and honeymoons, a multi-billion dollar market in Korea.

By attending the convention, GVB hopes to attract newly mar-

ried or engaged couples to spend their honeymoon on Guam.

The GVB Board approved $26,371 from the G VB fiscal year 1999 Korea contractual/ promotional account to finance the GVB WEDD EX delegation which is headed by' G VB Acting General Manager Theresa Cruz-Paulino.

While in Korea, Paulino said the GVB delegation will also talk to Korean airlines about the possibility of resuming flights to Guam on a regular basis.

PSS inks $109K deal with Feds By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

THE Public School System has signed a $109,000 contractual agreement with the federal government, PSS acting Fiscal and Budget Officer Bill Matson announed Friday.

Under the agreement, Matson said, $30,000 would be used for the training of PSS employees on data management.

The remainders, approximately $80,000 will be used to assist PSS

in the implementation of its new financial management system.

Matson PSS has yet to complete the process of obtaining the money.

"This is different from other federal grants. It is not actually a federal grant but it an actual contract. We are contracting with the federal government. They give us cash, and we do things for them. It is a very different arrangement but itis very positive," Matson said.w

LERIA

The education system's finance and budget officer anticipates that the completion process for the contract will be completed next month and training for PSS employees would start on the same month.

"Probably in April, all things would be done on the database of the new financial system. The implementation time will start in March for the training. The training will technically runs through July of this year," Matson said.

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10-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- FEBRUARY 8, 1999

Martha Haberman

By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

THE SIXTH grade students of San Vicente Elementary School have purchased $500 worth of books which they will be donating to the libraries of SVES and Dandan Elementary School.

The money which the students spent on the books came from their prizes. from the Junior Achievement's program dubbed as "Our Nation."

Each participating class in dif-

RP invites Filipino youth to travel-study program

By Louie C. Alonso Variety News Staff

THE PHILIPPINE Consulate Office in the CNMI is inviting all Filipino youth in the CNMI to join a fun-filled learning journey toward the discovery of their roots and heritage through the annual program called Lakbay-Aral.

Lakbay-Aral (Filipino term meaning "travel-study") is a program develooed and implemented by the Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO) since 1983 to enable Filipino youth abroad to undertake a journey and rediscover their roots and heritage.

ferent schools got $100. TI1e organization is encourag

ing participating schools to invest in reading materials.

Among the books purchased by SVES students are Winds of Change edited by Rev. Francis X. Hezel; National Geographic

The Around the Islands section covers community stories, local events, and cultural activities. Should you have a story you would like to share, or an event that needs to

be covered, contact Lalla at 234-6341

Society: Alaska's Wildlife Treasures by Tom Melham; The History of Northern Mariana Islands and Self Government and Citizenship in the CNMJ, USA.

The JA program on Saipan, S YES Principal Martha

v'.· ·l ~

Haberman said, help the children comprehend how does it feel to have a business and/or what do you need to do to have a successful business.

Part of the learning objective for the program is the promotion of businesses on the islands.

' ~: ·,,-,,,(

The program involves a two-week cultural immersion activities such as traditional festivities, on-site lectures about Filipino heritage, guided visits to historical places, and interaction with Filipino students, members of the indigenous communities and community leaders.

The programrn is aimed at giving the participants a greater awareness and appreciation of the rich Filipino cultural heritage.

Sixth Grade students of San Vicente Elementary School hold the books that they recently purchase to donate in two school libraries. Joining their students are 6th grade teachers (from right to left) Alfred Ada, Rose Adams, Anna Flores, Val Welch and Principal Martha Haberman. Photo by Louie c. Alonso

Lakbay-Aral program will be held on July 6-19. Participants should be 15-25 years old and physically-fit.

Program fee is US$900 per participant The fee covers transportation, meals, hotel accommodation, tour packages, learning materials, and accident and medical insurance for the duration of the program.

Entertainm.ent extravaganza Application forms are available at the Philippine Consulate Office

at the 5/F of the Nauru Building in Susupe.


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television set for suspenseful thrillers or head to the University of Guam Planetruium for free educational entertainment.

KGTM-ABC- TVl4 will air "Netforce" tonight, Feb. 8 and again Tiiursday, Feb. 11 at 9 p.m.

The futuristic action thriller, from author Tom Clancy ("The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games"), delves into the year2005 where the FBI has a special unit to protect the Internet. Someone is trying to infiltrate the computer system and infiltrate the Internet.

The Internet and computers control al most every aspect of government and business.

Watch in suspense as Netforce Deputy Commander Alex Michaels (Scott Bakula, "Quantum Leap") tries to catch the culprit who throws the FBI Unit intoc'iaos

through murder and attempts to sabotage the Internet.

Lined up for next week's programming is a tale from the Master ofHorror. Stephen King once again offers another spine-tingling tale in the "Storm of the Century."

The plots goes a little something like this: a little town in ''Anytown," America comes under siege "from both nature's full fury and the supernatural forces of evil."

The townspeople are used to hurricanes and snowstorms, but the storm that's coming will bring to the town a horrorthat the townspeople of Little Tall Island, Maine have never seen or feared before.

You can catch "Storm of the Century" on ABC-TV 14 on Sunday, Feb. 21 and once again Monday, Feb. 22 at 9 p.m ..

Military to do bomb drills on FDM THE MILITARY Units-509th Bomb Wing, will be conducting Air Wing Bombing exercise on the island of Farallon De Mendenilla on Tuesday, February 9, from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm and Thursday, Februru-y I !,from I l:30amto l:30pmand again from 3:30pm lo 5:30pm.

The general area of the exercise will be the island of Farallon De Mendenilla Training Arca (R-720 I) from surface to 5,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) on a ten ( l 0) nautical mile radius on all quadrants.

Due to the danger imposed by this exercise, the general public, especially fishermen, tour operators, and commercial pilots are advised to stay clear from this area du1ing the time and the date indicated.

·n1e cooperation and understanding of the general public is greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions, please do not hesi tale to contact the Emergency Management Office at telephone numbers, 322-957219274/ 9529.

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Micronesia airline study on By Giff Johnson For the Variety

MAJURO - Air Nauru is launching a survey of air service needs in the Micronesian reoion • b m an effort to support establish-ment of a sub-regional airline, Nauru President Bernard Dowiyogo announced last week at the close of a transportation ministerial meeting in Nauru.

The survey-being carried out forAirNaurubyANACOMManagement Corporation of Manila - is on a "fast track" to starting last Saturday and be finished by the end of February, according to

Air Marshall Islands general manager Marc Mackay who attended the Nauru meeting.

"There's been so much talk and previous studies about a sub-regional airline," Mackay said yesterday in Majuro, adding that this survey has a different focus, since all the countries agree on the critical need to improve air service in the Micronesian area.

The new survey will focus on what Air Nauru and other islands can do to improve the service by meeting specific needs of each country in the Micronesian area, he said.

"The meeting agreed that this sub-region has the worst air service of any area within the South Pacific Forum," Mackay said. "This study is looking for solutions to the problem, (including) a sub-regional airline."

The two-day meeting in Nauru last week produced a high degree of cooperation among transporation and airline representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru and the Marshall Islands, Mackay said.

The mentality that each island nation must have its own flag

High food prices push RP's January inflation rate to 11.6% MANILA (PHNO)-The sharp rise in food prices caused inflation to soar in January, with consumer prices rising 11.6 percent from a year earlier and 2.1 percent from the previous month, the government said yesterday. The January inflation rate was considerably higher than the IO percent economists had predicted.

Food prices, rose 13.3 percent in January, up from 11.5 percent in December, the National Statistics Office said.

Two strong typhoons last October had a severe impact on agricultural production and contin-

. ' . .

Estrada·to · meet Muslim· rebel chief

MANILA (Reuters)- President Joseph Estrada said on Saturday he will meet the head of a Moslem rebel group this month to try to bring peace to the southern Philippines.

"We have agreed to meet to once and for all end the conflict for the sake of the welfare of Mindanao," Estrada said in his weekly radio programme, refcring to the chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Hashim Salama!.

He said the meeting would probably take place this month.

The government signed a ceasefire with the MILF earlier this week, part of the preparations for · formal peace talks later this month.

Theceasefireendeddaysoffighting that has killed dozens and displaced thousands of families in the southern Philippines.

The MILF is a breakaway faction of a larger Moslem rebel group that signed a peace accord with the government in 1996.

Moslem rebels have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines since the early 1970s. Some 120,000 people have died in the conflict.

Little type

ued to cause scarce food supplies in January.

Last November inflation peaked at 11.2 percent. In December, moderating food prices brought the inflation rate down to I 0.4 percent.

In January, however, prices of many basic food items, such as rice, fish and vegetables, rose sharply. The only items that posted lower rates were corn, cereal preparation, dairy products and miscellaneous foods.

1998 was marked by a sharp drop in agricultural production, caused a severe drought induced

by the El Nifio phenomenon. In turn, this kindled inflation and dragged down overall economic growth.

The government expects a strong rebound in agriculture this year, quite unlike the farm output drop of 6.6 percent in 1998, one of the worst performances on record.

By region, year-on-year, inflation rate for Metro Manila slowed to 10.6 percent in January from I0.7 percent in December.

Inflation in areas outside Metro Manilawentupto 12percentfrom I0.3 percent.

OFWsin Hong Kong are exempt from.$25 OWWAfee MANILA (PHNO) - Filipino workers bound for Hong Kong, whose contracts have been affected by the reduced minimum wage on Hong Kong domestic helpers, are now exempt from paying the US$25 Overseas Workers Welfare Fund (OWWA) membership fee. ·

The exemption was announced yesterday by Presidential Spokesman Jerry Barican, who pointed out that it would be unfair to impose such a membership fee on OFW s whose contracts have a term of less than two years.

Barican said the OWW A board held the planned fee in abeyance until such time that a schedule based on the varying effectivity periods of the contracts can be drawn up.

The board, he said, wants to set a minimum effectivity period before requiring the OFW s, who are mostly domestic helpers, to pay the membership fee.

Barican said Secretary Bfonvenido Laguesma of the Department of Labor and Employment had instructed the Labor AttachE in Hong Kong to meet with OFWs on Sunday to explain to them the nature of the fee ·and the benefits that can be derived from OWW A services.

President Joseph Estrada had earlier assured OFWs in Hong Kong that the government has livelihood programs for them should they decide to return to the country for good.

Aside from livelihood schemes which are now in place, returning OFW scan avail of the small investors' program under · which they can buy treasury bills, which used to be beyond the reach of most Filipinos, for as low as P5,000.

The President ordered the denomination for T-bills lowered in step with his administration's commitment to democratize the nation's wealth. With this plan, Mr. Estrada said ordinary Filipinos will have a chance to invest their hard-earned money on a risk-free venture and still enjoy high returns.

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carrier is evolving toa feeling that "we just need to get the air service established," he said.

Dowiyogo said that the first phase of Afr Nauru's survey will be to identify the "enhancements required for each state's tourism programs to enable a base volume of tourist and trade passenger traffic to flow to and from each of the destinations."

Over a two week period beginning this Saturday, the AN ACOM group will visit - using their own private jet - the Mars halls, Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Guam, and

Saipan. "The survey is being undertaken

initially because of our obligation to consider additional services in the Federated States of· Micronesia, but it clearly may assist the deliberations of the (subregional governmental) task force regarding a sub-regional airline," said Dowiyogo.

Mackay said that in contrast to many of the larger South Pacific islands, the Micronesian area suffers from the lack of a tourist base that would bring increased air service.

Clutching a Bible and wearing a crucifix, Filipino death row convict Leo Echegaray is led out of his eel/for his execution. Echegaray wore a wrist band of President Joseph Estrada and a protest button pin which reads: Execute Justice Not People. AP

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Man cheats death ~..... Elsewhere in the Papific

in PNG plane crash Salary hike proposed for PORT MORESBY (Pacnews) - Guineans chew for its refreshing Am 8 s I d A man who narrowly escaped and mildly intoxicating effect. er1can amoa ea ers death in a plane crash in Papua He was slow to get back to the New Guinea this week, says he airfield and missed the flight. owes his life to God and betel nut. A few hours later, Weniong

Eleven people die din the crash heard news of the crash and says of a Britten Norman Islander in he's been pinching himself ever West New Britain province - since to make sure he really is one of Papua New Guinea's worst alive. air disasters. Weniong was clearly shocked

Slim Weniong from Morobe when he later visited the crash province had checked in for the site. flight at Hoskins airport. He expressed sympathy for the

While he waited for the depar- victims and their families, and ture, he went to a nearby market thanked God and betel nut for his for betel nut, which Papua New escape from death.

Fiji enacts new copyright bill SUVA (Pacnews) - Fiji's Parliament has this week passed a new Copyright Bill that aims to end piracy and make unlawful, other forms of unauthorised copying and reproduction.

Those found violatingtheBill 's provisions are liable for a fine of up to 50,000 dollars (US$25,000) and three months in jail.

The penalties also include a 5,000 dollar (US$2,500) fine for every illicit recording. Second offences carry higher penalties.

The Bill also protects the original ownership of any work of art or performance, song, folklore or

other creative work or inventions. It protects performers' rights

by restricting illicit recording to domestic or private use only.

Drawn up by Fiji's Law Reform Commission and the subject of extensive consultation, the Bill is based largely on the UK Copyright, Design and Patents Act of 1988. · While both sides of Parliament

have welcomed the Bill as long overdue, there is concern about its impact on the scores of video library operators throughout the country who rent out copies of videos.

PAGOPAGO (Pacnews)-The salaries of American Samoa's Governor and Lieutenant Governor will be increased by 35,000 dollars if a bill being reviewed by the territory's Senate is approved.

Introduced by three Senators, the bill would hike the governor's salary from 50,000 dollars to 85,000 dollars, and the Lieutenant Governor's annual pay from 45,000 to 80,000.

The salary hikes for the top two government leaders is being widely viewed as leverage by the Senate to get the governor to sign into law a bill now before the Senate that would hike allowances for members of the Legislature.

Presently lawmakers get. 5,000 dollars per year for expenses related to their duties as members of the Legislature.

The Speaker of the House and Senate President get 10,000 dollars.

Now the Senate bill is asking that the allowances be increased by 10,000 dollars and that they be tax exempt.

Governor Tauese Sunia has said that unless the Legislature comes up with a funding source for the increases, he will not approve the allowance increase.

Samoa politician told to resign over adultery APIA (Pacnews) -A politician in Samoa, Gaiga Tino, has been ordered by his constituency to resign from Parliament as punishment for adultery.

The order was delivered at a meeting of the council of chiefs (matai) of Safotu, the single village that makes up the constitu·ency, on Savaii Island.

The village council has also fined the MP six cattle beasts, one

. thousand Tai a ($335) in cash, 300 loaves of bread and ordered that he feed the whole village for a day.

Gaiga separated from his Samoan wife, a former resident of Wellington, New Zealand earlier this year and now lives with another woman at his Safotu

home. The village, which comprises

three sub-villages, considered this adultery and imposed the penalty.

His estranged wife is his second, his first wife having died a few years ago.

Gaiga entered Parliament in the 1991 general elections as a candidate for the ruling Human Rights Protection Party and was re-elected in 1996 for his second teITll.

He is an undersecretary for the Treasury Department.

While an MP hew as once jailed briefly for abusing police after his motor vehicle left the road.

Gaiga is a prominent busi-nessman of Safotu. ·

NZ foreign minister says Japan damaged its reputation in APEC

· sure should not stop Japan from WELLINGTON (Pacnews)New Zealand's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Don McKinnon, saysJ apan has damaged its reputation within the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum over its refusal to reduce tariffs in the fisheries and forestry sectors.

McKinnon told Japan's Kyodo News Agency that when almost the wealthiest country in the world says it cannot do certain things, and which cost very little economically, then there are obviously some inherent problems which are not giving Japan a very good reputation.

Don McKinnon

New Zealand is the host nation for the 21 -memberregional group this year.

McKinnon says domestic pres-

giving a nod at the APEC summit to reduce tariffs in two of the nine sectors earmarked for early liberalisation.

He says there are some things Japan has to do which can be painful domestically.

That, says McKinnon, is the cost of being a superpower.

Meanwhile, more than 600 government officials from the 21 APEC members met in Wellington for the fourth day in a series of committee meetings leading up to the first APEC senior officials' .meeting for 1999, which begins Monday.

Pago Gov't stops paying employee~' loans· Vanuatu to get second telecom provider

PAGOPAGO (Pacnews) -American Samoa's government will no longer pay loans and utility bills for its employees, Governor Tauese Sunia has announced.

He told the Samoa Post that all government workers whose financial obligations are being handled by the government should be forewarned that once their loans have been paid in full, the government will no longer make payroll deductions for them.

The only deductions that the

government will continue to handle are for Social Security, federal tax payments and local income taxes.

The Samoa Post quotes Governor Tauese as saying that while the government has been providing this free service for its workers, the exercise generates more work and costs for the government and many complaints when the deductions are not paid on time.

The governor says the govern-

ment has accommodated the needs of public servants ·in return for nothing but ridiculous complaints.

He says if this is the thank you the government gets, then let the employees take charge of their own financial obligations.

In the past, some workers whose utility bills were paid by payroll deduction, have had their phone and power lines disconnected when the government was late in paying the monies it had deducted from the workers' paychecks.

PORT VILA (Pacnews) -Vanuatu 's telecommunications sector is to open up to competition, with the government grant-· ing a private telecommunications license to a local company.

Communication Services Vanuatu (CSV) Limited has been granted the license as part of the government's comprehen -sive reform programme, under which the private sector is encouraged to offer alternative

services to govemment-runcompanies.

Telecom Vanuatu Limited has so far been the country's only provider of telecommunications seivices.

CSV general manager, Hollingson Issachar, says his company has for some time been involved in getting the license -which he says is the first of its type to be issued in the Sputh Pacific.

,,·, ,. ,i, '.•. ,,'1

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Estrada after child rapist's execution:

'Drug tr MANILA, Philippines (AP)A day after the Philippines put a child rapist to death, President Joseph Estrada said Saturday that his country should execute drug traffickers next.

Leo Echegaray, convicted of raping his I 0-year-old stepdaughter, was put to death by lethal injection Friday in the Philippines' first execution in 23 years.

Estrada refused to stop Echegaray's execution despite pleas from the Vatican, the European Union and human rights groups ..

"If I had my way, drug users and traffickers should be next because almost all crimes are drug-related," Estrada said during his weekly radio program. "That is destroying the future of our youth so we have to impose stiff punishment."

About 2 million Filipinos, or 2.8 percent of the population, are drug users, according to police figures.

Echegaray's wife, Zenaida, said Estrada had a "heart of stone" and denounced his refusal to review the charges against her husband, who had maintained his innocence.

"Mrs. Echegaray should understand that a president has a

Joseph Estrada

sworn duty to. implement the law. And ihis should serve as a warning to other criminals," Estrada said.

Neighbors of Echegaray in a poor community in suburban Quezon City hung a large banner saying, "Oppose the death penalty" across an alley where his family lives.

Inside his casket, Echegaray wore a white Filipino "barong" shirt with a button saying "Execute justice not people."

Echegaray's was the first execution among 915 death-row convicts. Eight prisoners could be executed this year.

The debate over the death pen-

ckersnext' alty has divided the nation, but many Filipinos favor capital punishment because of rising crime.

The constitution abolished the death penalty in 1987 but allowed congress to impose it for "heinous" crimes.

A law that took effect in January 1994 restored the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, rape and drug trafficking.

Zenaida Javier, wife of Leo Echegaray, views the remains of her husband Saturday in suburban Quezon City, a day after he was put to death by lethal injection. President Joseph Estrada said the execution will serve as a warning to criminals and urged that drug traffickers should go next. There are 915 death-row convicts at the national penitentiary. · AP

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_14-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY-FEBRUARY 8 1999

Australian Parliament showdownloomsin'99

By John Mair SYDNEY (Reuters) Australia· s parliament resumes for 1999 on Monday with Prime Minister John Howard's reelected government facino a showdm\~n with the Senate o~er key legislation on tax reform and privatisation.

Howard's conservative government has a five month wi;dow in which to pass legislation before newly elected senators take their places in the upper house. leaving it dominated by left-leaning parties that will almost certainly block key elements of his second-term reform agenda.

··Jc has this window of opportunity. which lasts until the first of Julv. and if it can get somethino thr~ugh in that period it has sue~ ceeded. ·· Australian Defence Force Academy political analyst Malcolm Mackerras told Reuters.

"Otherwise it has failed. because it won't get anything significant through from the first of July onwards ;hen the parties of the left will have a combined majority in the Senate," Mackerras said.

Fresh from his October re-election victory, Howard has made it clear he intends to overhaul Australia's tax system, with his plans centring on the introduction ofa I Opercentvalue-addedgoods and services tax (GST).

Howard also wants to sell the remaining two-thirds of telecommunications company Telstra and implement a second wave of industrial relations reforms.

The government does not control the Senate even with its current makeup. but Ho•·, ard has previously got contentious measures through the upper house, such as Telstrn · s partial sale. with the support of independents Brian Harradine and Mal Colston.

But after July. the balance of power will be held by the Democrats. a minor centre-left party

John Howard

that opposes key elements of the government's tax and privatisation plans.

Howard's problem in trying to pass legislation before July is that Harradine has also expressed concerns about the equity of the government's tax package and the benefits of selling Telstra.

The government says the GST, which will replace a myriad of indirect taxes, will be good for welfare as it broadens the tax collection base. Offset by hefty income tax cuts designed to increase public support, the scheme would cost the budget about one percent of GDP once it commences in 2000.

In an attempt to win Harradine' s support the government has set up a special Senate inquiry into the the GST that will report in time for a vote before mid-year.

However, Howard has also said he would not accept any changes to the tax package, such as removing the GST from food, and has claimed the election victory -where his lower house majority was slashed - was a public mandate for tax reform.

"We did put it on the table, we didn't keep it a secret. we didn't keep it in a drawer until after the election and I hope they respect the fact that the public voted for us in the last election." Howard

said in a radio interview on Thursday.

The government has also tried to increase the pressure on the minor parties by linking tax reforms to other benefits.

Treasurer Peter Costello said earlier this week that if economic growth was maintained, and tax, welfare and labour market reforms were introduced, unemployment could fall from around eight percent to levels of four to five percent.

He did not give a timeframe or commit to any target.

"It's interesting that the government is raising questions on unemployment levels," said Rodney Smith, a political scientist at the University of New South Wales.

"I think what's happening there is unemployment, which is a problem everyone is worried about, can be used to lever a whole set of other economic objectives through the parliament."

Analysts say the government's hardline no-negotiation position is unrealistic. given the Senate makeup and it has to decide on a compromise before July 1.

"Taxreformiseithercompleted oroffthe agenda by then, and the same is true of the sale of the remaining two-thirds of Telstra," the Defence Academy's Mackerras said.

While Howard's next six months will be dominated by economic issues, the second half of 1999 will also see him face the seeming! y intractable issue of whether Australia should become a republic, with an Australian president replacing Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

Howard, an avowed monarchist, has promised to hold a national vote on the republic in November, but not only is the Australian public split on the issue, so too is his government and senior ministers.

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An old man begs from a soldier at Beijing's railway station Saturday. China's Vice Premier Wen Jiabao said in January that the government's a.ttempts to elimin~te poverty by 2000 have been hampered by corruption and natural disasters. AP

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Korean politics rumbles as economic storm abates South Korea presses

ex-president to testify By Bill Tarrant

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's receding economic storm has thrust to the fore political and social tensions that threaten to complicate President Kim daeJung 's reform programme, political analysts said.

Rising unemployment, expected to peak during the traditional spring demonstration season, is fuelling social unease.

.. The most critical time to watch is March and April," said Kirn Byung-kook, professor of political science at Korea University. "That is the time when the major conglomerates are likely to start mass layoffs as they restructure and downsize."

Unemployment is expected to peak at around two million people by April from around 1.67 million at the end of December -nearly a four-fold increase from end-1997.

"There will be a lot of social uneasiness," the professor said. "The game is how to override that sense of social uncertainty or even unrest."

Poli ti cal temperatures are rising as well, as President Kim attempts to bolster his coalition's thin majority in parliament by enticing opposition members to defect.

The ruling coalition has also launched hearings on the causes of 1997's financial debacle - a humiliation for the opposition which was then in power.

The hearings are an attempt to fix responsibility for a crisis that saw the national per capita income plummet by one-third to around $6,000 now.

The opposition Grand National Party has hit back with anti-government protests in its southeastern stronghold, despite official warnings its mcwes are sharpening local rivalries, stoking social unrest and endangering ec-;:,nornic

Kim dae-Jung

recovery. The protesters claim the south

eastern industrial heartland has suffered disproportionately in the recession, while President Kim's electoral base in the southwest has been cushioned from it.

President Kim's coalition partner, the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), is demanding he redeem a 1997 election campaign promise to adopt a parliamentary cabinet system of government through a constitutional amendment by year's end.

The democrats' leader, Prime Pinister Kim Jong-pi!, would become head of government in that case, and the powerful role of president would be reduced to a figurehead.

But with Korea trapped in the economic doldrums, President Kim's party is urging him to indefinitely postpone the issue.

Kim Jong-pit could leave the coalition and ally with the GNP, transforming the opposition into the majority party again and throwing a huge wrench into President Kim's reform machine.

Or President Kim could woo over enough defectors from the GNP to let him do without Kim Jong-pi!.

The two share an uneasy arrangement.

As prime minister and head of the hated Korean intelligence

Chung Tae-Soo, head of the bankrupt Hanbo Group (center) is helped to his seat to testify before a hearing on corruption that led to South Korea's 1997 economic crisis at the National Assembly in Seoul. AP

CALL:234-7272(PARA) -

agency in the 1960s and '70s, Kim Jong-pi! was one of Kim Dae-jung' s chief persecutors during his time as the country's leading dissident under autocratic military rulers.

"All these parties are making moves because the deadline on adopting the parliamentary system is approaching," professor Kim said. "That's the cause of all the uncertainty."

Media reports have said Prime Minister Kim has given the president until February 25 to state his position.

President Kim will perhaps reveal all during a televised town hall meeting planned for February 21.

"I think it's all a bluff," professor Kim said. "The ULD doesn't have much of an option. It can participate in government as a junior partner, or go out and become a small minority opposition party and be perceived as irresponsible."

There was little chance the squabbling would derail the reforms, analysts said.

For foreign investors, none of this should make a huge difference, they added.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's ruling coalition said on Sunday it plaµned to file a complaint with prosecutors if former president Kim Young-sam fails to appear at a parliamentary hearing on the causes of the 1997 financial crisis.

Local media said Kim was unlikely to show up .

A spokesman for the ruling party said that if Kim did not appear on Monday, members of the parliamentary committee conducting the hearing would visit Kim's house to urge him to testify.

"lfhe doesn't listen to that, the committee will file a complaint with the prosecution," he said.

The panel, investigating the crisis that forced the country to accept a record $58.35 billion International Monetary Fund-led bailout in December 1997, said Kim's testimony was crucial.

The founder of South Korea's failed Hanbo Group,

Chung Tae-soo, testified on Thursday that he gave Kim millions of dollars to fund his 1992 election campaign.

Kim has repeatedly denied accepting any money from the Hanbo Group.

The collapse of Hanbo and other major conglomerates sparked the country's financial crisis and Hanbo was also at the centre of a loans-for-kickbacks scandal which ended in jail terms for Chung, a former cabinet minister, four lawmakers, three exbankers and Kim's second son, Hyun-chul.

The hearings, in their third week, are viewed as an attempt by President Kim Dae-jung's National Congress to discredit the opposition. which was in control when the crisis broke.

The main opposition Grand National Party has boycotted the proceedings.

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16-MARIANAS V ARIEIT NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- FEBRUARY 8, 1999

Legal experts attack HK immigration ruling HONG KONG (AP) - A landmark court ruling that will let thousands of mainland Chinese move here is a ··serious challenge" to the authority of China's parliament, mainland legal experts said.

The Court ofFinal Appeal, Hong Kong's highest court. ruled on .Tan. 29 that any Chinese person with one Hong Kong parent has the right to live in Hong Kong.

The court said it is up to Hong Kong to decide who can come and that -mainland China is violating the rights of such people by insisting on its own screening process. which has been attacked as slow and corrupt.

of the Portuguese enclave Macao to China later this year.

Moreover, the Hong Kong court's jurisdiction is limited, Xinhua quoted Xiao as saying.

Only core members of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, have the authority to interpret the Basic Law, Wu Jianfan, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said.

Legal experts attending the meeting "expressed strong indignation" over the ruling that Hong Kong has the right to pronounce legislation passed by China's parliament invalid, Xinhua reported.

.~ That ruling violates the "one country, t\vo systems" principle and the Basic Law, Hong Kong's miniconstitution. both of which Hong Kong adopted after reverting to Chinese rule in July l 997, Beijing University professor Xiao Weiyun was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying.

Hong Kong and mainland officials are discussing a system to allow the immicrants to move in gradually and p~event a surge of human smuggling.

Residents ,rom mainland China protest Friday, outside immigration offices in Hong Kong. A court ruling has given anyone with one Hong Kong parent the right to live here, but officials say some, including these women, must return to the mainland until they get official clearance to migrate. AP

A huge immigration wave could possibly overload Hong Kong's education, social welfare and housing systems. The court ruling also covers children born out of wedlock, those who are adults and those whose parents became Hong Kong citizens only after their birth.

Hong Kong immigration blocks stay extension for mainlanders

Xiao and others were attending a meeting in the southern Chinese city Zhuhai to discuss the handover

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By Mishi Saran HONG KONG (Reuters) -About 200 mainland Chinese men and women held a sit-in · and many went on a hunger strike in front of Hong Kong government offices to demand. the right of abode in the territory.

The group, mostly from south China's Guangdong or Fujian provinces, sat huddled on piles of tattered newspapers, sipping water from plastic bottles or squatting to smoke cigarettes.

Many had been on a hunger strike since Friday evening and were bleary-eyed from a sleepless night in the courtyard in front of the offices.

~l! NORTHERN MARIANAS HOUSING CORPORATION A "'s--.J!.'.,!,;'~ P.O. BOX 514, SAIPAH, ~ 96950 ~.~ CDHMONWJ:ALTH OF Tl!E NORTil:El!H WJAHA ISLANDS SAJPAN, !IP 96950 EQUAi.HOUSiNG

OPPORTUNITY

AMENDED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The government of the Commonwealth of the N orthem Mariana Islands expects an allocation of $921,000 in the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), $345,000. Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) and $43,000 for Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funds for Fiscal Year 1999 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The grant funds, authorized under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, may be used for a wide range of community development activities principally benefiting low and moderate income persons. Information concerning eligibility uses of the grant funds may be obtained upon request at the offices of the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation (NMHC) located on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

111c CDBG program requires a grant recipient to certify that it will minimize displacement of persons as a result of activities assisted with CDBG funds. The CNMI government does not plan on undertaking any activity which will cause displacement of persons. In the event of any unforeseen displacement resulting from any CDI3G funded activity, the CNMI government will comply with the requirements of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, it implementing regulation and applicable local law.

In order to plan ahead as the use(s) of the Fiscal Year 1999 allocation whicl; is expected within the next few months, the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation (NMHCJ, which administers the CDI3G program on behalf of the CNMI government, will be conducting hearings to obtain public input on community development and housing needs and to provide information to the public on the status of the approved ongoing CDBG projects. The hearings have been scheduled to be held as follows:

1. On Tinian, February 17. 1999 at 6:30 p.m., at the Tinian Multipurpose Center. 2. On Rota, February 18, 1999 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rota Multipurpose Recreational Center. 3. On Saipan, February 24, 1999 at 6:30 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

Additional inquiries concerning the CDBG program may be directed in writing to Manager, Northern Marianas Housing Corporation, P.O. Box 514 CK, Saipan, MP 96950, or by calling telephone numbers 234-6366/ 9447/7670.

ls/Diana P. Crisostomo NMHC Manager

They held handwritten banners in Chinese saying "We are the sons and daughters of Hong Kong people" and shouted slogans demanding the government grant right of abode.

Shi Jiandao, a 27-;yearold resident ofFujian province, said his father had been in Hong Kong for the past 20 years.

"We have been to the Legal Aid department for help," Shi said. He said he lived on his own in China.

"My father, mother and younger sister are all in Hong Kong," he said.

''I hope we can all be together, my parents are old, I hope I can look after them," he said.

Hong Kong's Immigration Department said on Saturday it has refused applications for an extension of stay for a number of two-way permit holders who claimed to be eligible for the right of abode under the new ruling.

The mainland Chinese visitors were notified they had to leave Hong Kong within their limit of stay. The applications for residency had to be made in the mainland, Immigration said.

Hong Kong's highest court,

the Court of Final Appeal, ruled earlier this month that children born before either of their parents became Hong Kong residents, and illegitimate children born in the mainland to Hong Kong residents, had right of a,bode in the territory.

The government has repeatedly said the new arrivals would stretch resources and pose serious problems and demands. It has ordered a survey to determine how many people could flood into the territory.

Many in the protesting group had come to Hong Kong on twoway permits granted to visit relatives. They wanted their status adjusted so they would not have to return to the mainland.

"If your father or mother is a resident of Hong Kong then you can get right of abode according to the new law," said one 23-year old Guangdong woman surnamed Liu.

But Franco Mella, an Italian Roman Catholic priest from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, briefly in Hong Kong from China, was not optimistic.

"I think that the two governments are not yet decided what to do precisely," he said.

Police and Coast Guard personnel search Chinese immigrants in Long Beach, Calif., after they were found in a ship's cargo contai~er. The men wc;re aboard the Hanjin Beijing, which sailed from Taiwan with a stopover m Hong Kong. AP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999-MARIANAS VARIEIT NEWS AND VIE\VS-17

US, Japan, S. Korea to discuss N. Korea SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States, Japan and South Korea meet in Seoul on Tuesday to coordinate their policies on a suspected North Korean nuclear site and other issues, Seoul's foreign ministry officials said on Saturday.

The talks would be led by chief U.S. negotiatoron North Korea Charles Kartman, by Japan's ambassador to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation, Terusuke Terada, and by South Korea's Kwon Jongrak, director general for North American affairs at the foreign ministry, they said.

"The talks will cover a variety of issues ranging from the suspected nuclear site to food aid," one ministry official told Reuters by telephone.

The United States, South Korea and Japan were the chief underwriters of a 1994 agreement promising North Korea $5 billion in new nuclear power reactors and alternative fuel oil in exchange for Pyongyang halting what Washington says was an active nuclear weapons programme.

Charles Kartman

Kartman is leading U.S. efforts to force North Korea to grant access for multiple inspections of an underground site at Kumchang-ri that the Americans believe may be evidence of a revival of the Stalinist state's nuclear programme.

He also heads the U.S. team at four-party talks with North Korea, South· Korea and China, seeking a permanent peace ac-· cord to replace the frayed armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

The United States has said North Korea was negotiating constructively and the two sides had made progress on a deal

with North Korea on the underground site.

The two sides are to hold more negotiations soon but a date still has not been fixed.

The United States has consistently ruled out meeting a demand from North Korea, which faces severe economic problems, for payment in exchange for access to the site.

Kartman, visiting Seoul from February 6 to 10, is scheduled to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Hong Soon-young on Monday ahead of the three-way meeting, the officials said.

Kartman is set to visit Beijing on February 11.

His visit comes after Pyongyang's surprise offerof government-level talks with South Korea, to which Seoul has responded positively.

Meanwhile,. the foreign ministry said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth cancelled his two day trip to Seoul, which was schequled to start on Saturday.

The ministry did not give the reasons behind the aborted plan.

A North Korean soldier (right) takes a look at a South Korean soldier at thebordervillaqeof Panmunjom, Saturday. ChungJu-yung, the owner of the Hyundai Group, South Korea's largest conglomerate, returned

Goh: Budget mildly stimulative from North Korea at the end of a three-day visit. AP

NOTICE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ROTA

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore businesses can expect some help from the government this year through a mildly stimulative budget, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said on state television on Saturday.

Goh, attending a Lunar New Year event, said he felt this year would be difficult.

"I think you can expect the budget, therefore, to be mildly stimulative and perhaps there

could be some tax cuts here and there," he said.

Goh said he would be briefed by Finance Minister Richard Hu next week.

The government had said previously Singapore's 1999 gross domestic product (GDP) would fall between minus one to plus one percent.

Last year, the economy grew by 1.3 percent, against a much higher 7.8 percent growth recorded in 1997.

Indonesia will cr·ack down on lawlessness JAKARTA (Reuters) Indonesia's armed forces chief General Wiranto said on Saturday the military wouldcrackdown hard on growing lawlessness in the country.

"I have given specific instructions to the entire armed forces not to tolerate any breaking of the Jaw, to take stem action against any individual or groups who ruin society," Wiranto told reporters after a two-day meeting with armed forces heads of staff and military commanders.

An upsurge in crime and violence has accompanied Indonesia's worst economic crisis in 30 years, in which millions of people have been plunged into abject poverty.

The latest violence flared up in the city of Ambon in east Indonesia, where Moslems and Chris-

· tians clashed on January 19. Ninety-four people were killed in the rampage, and hundreds of shops, homes, churches and mosques were burnt. The situation remains tense.

Wirantosaidtheannywoulduse the same measures adopted to secure Indonesia's north coast highway from robbers and looters during last month's Moslem holidays. Anyone attacking "national assets" or fighting security forces would be shot on the spot by police.

The military would also set up a special task force to prevent lawlessness from spreading through the country.

"The task force will prevent the spread of such activities and will take repressive measures to find the source of the problems as well as exposing the background to them," he said.

Goh Chok Tong

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ROTA IS PLEASED TO INFORM ALL MEMBERS IBATTHERE WILL BE AN ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING FOR THE ELECT!ON OF OFFICERS AS FOLLOW~•

DATE: FEBRUARY 15. 1999 DAY: MONDAY (PRESIDENT'S DAY) PLACE: VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK TIME• 12•00 NOON

ALL MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATfEND. THERE WlLL BE A FAMILY-TYPE POT LUCK PICNIC FOR ALL. PLEASE COME AND JOIN us. SS: HERMAN AP.A.TANG

PRESIDENT

Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT CIL Grant Application #CFDA 84-132A-l

A Federal Grant for the CNMI under the Centers for Independent Living Program (CIL) is available to any consumer-controlled, community-based, crossed-disability, nonresidential, and private nonprofit agency to apply. The Center is designed and operated within local communities by individuals with disabilities and provide an array of independent living (IL) services to individuals with the most significant disabilities. Copies of the Application Kit are available at the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation located in Navy Hill, House #N-2. If you are interested 1n applying for this grant or need more information, you may contact Maria T. Persson, Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation at 664-6537/6538. The Application Kit should be postmarked before February 26, 1999.


· sta11, India to t borderregionofKashmir,accord- of arming and training militant

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan and India will hold talks later this month in the Indian capital in an effort to ease tension between the rival neighbors, a

news agency reported Saturday. Since conducting underground

nuclear tests in May, Pakistan and India have been under intense pressure from the international

community to improve relations. The foreign secretaries of India

and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi for three days beginning Feb. 18 to discuss the disputed

Anwar Ibrahilll to finally get his day in Malaysia's court

By ALVIN UNG KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - After months of seething silently in the dock, jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim will finally have his day in court, where the former deputy prime minister is accused of engaging in illegal sex and abusing his power to cover up his actions.

However, it's unclear whether he will actually be given the chance to clear his name when the defense opens its case Monday.

Anwar has repeated! y asserted his innocence and insists the allegations against him were cooked up to undermine his challenge to the 18-year leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Protesters show a cartoon poster supporting jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim while shouting "Reformasi," the local word for reform in downtown Kuala Lumpur Saturday. AP

Last week, High Court Judge Augustine Paul refused to throw out four com.Jption charges despite the prosecution's request. Paul said there was enough evidence to justify prosecution.

The judge did, however, allow the government to weaken those four charges so that prosecutors would only have to prove that Anwar abused his power by ordering a cover-up. ·

Original charges required the state to prove that Anwar engaged in illegal sex.

"Barring any unexpected changes, we' re still planning to make Anwar our first witness," Kamar Ainiah, one of Anwar's nine lawyers. tvld The Associ-

ated Press. The defense also intends to ask

Mahathir to take the witness stand .. He fired his handpicked successor on Sept. 2 after denouncing him publicly as morally unfit to lead this Southeast Asian nation.

Anwar's supporters, many of whom took to the streets after his arrest and imprisonment, hope he will embarrass Mahathir and prove that top government officials plotted to topple him.

"Our client will try to talk about the political conspiracy against him and how the police acted in bad faith by fabricating evidence," said Kamar. "That's been our strategy right from the very start."

But the prosecutors are determined to scuttle that strategy.

After closing its case last month, the prosecution startled the de-

fense by taking the sex out of the sex-related charges.

Paul then ruled that all sexual allegations were off limits and would no longer be accepted as evidence-an action that could, in effect, . thwart An war from clearing his name after he was dubbed in court as a sexual slave master, an adulterer and a sodomist.

"The situation in court could end up being really restrictive" if the judge enforces this ruling during An war's testimony, said one of his lawyers, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Anwar might find it difficult to defend himself."

The array of sexual allegations, gleaned from nearly two dozen prosecution witnesses, has been mind-boggling.

Department of the Northern Mariana Islands :;JBepartment of Jl..abor anb JJ'mmigration

Division of Labor

IN THE MATIER OF: ) Rolando Molano, et. al., )

Complainant (sJ, l vs. )

Evangelista, ,John/,JAC DEV'T CO. INC. ) Respondent )

)

TO: COMPLAINANTS AND RESPONDENTS

· PUBLIC NOTICE (Consolidated Labor Cases)

L.C. #93-0199 L.C. #94-0274 L.C. #94-0306 L.C. #95-0056 L.C. #96-0622 L.C. #97-0537

The Complaint (s) and Respondent (s) in the above titled cases are hereby given this PUBLIC NOTICE to respond to their cases within THIRTY (30) DAYS after the date of issuance. All Parties are urged to contact the Department of Labor and Immigration, Task Force Investigators'VINCE S. SALAS and DEAN TENORIO at telephone number 664-3158 to discuss your case. (NOTE: LABOR CASE NUMBERS AND PARTIES ARE LISTED BELOW).

I. L.C. NO. 94-0199 2. L.C. NO. 9·1-0274 3. L.C. NO. 94-0306 4. L.C. NO. 95-0056 5. L.C. NO. 96-0622 6. L.C. NO. 97-0537

ROLANDO MOLANO, ET. AL., vs. EVANGELISTA, JOHN JAC DEVELOPMENT CO., INC. JOSEPHINE BERMUDEZ vs. ANTONIA MANIBUSANIEVELYN M. TAKAI MARISSA C. DELOS SANTOS vs. HELEN NGUYEN/Ll'ITLE SAIGON KUMARA UDAYA vs. FELIPE Q. ATALIG/CASA DE FELIPE CUJ, BINGZHE vs. ,JO, SUK KON OBA KOREA TOWN CAO, DI KANG vs. AMERICAN PACIFIC BEACH INC./WU, LI YU and SUN, HONG MEI

Dated this 04th day of February, 1999.

ls/GIL M. SAN NICOLAS Director of Labor

ing to the Associated Press of secessionists in its Kashmir terri-Pakistan. tory. Officials in Pakistan's capi-

Kash~irhasbeentheflashpoint tal, Islamabad, deny the charges, for two of three wars they have and say they give the secession-fought over since independence. ists only political and diplomatic The Himalayan region was di- support. vided between the two nations A first round of talks between after British rule ended in 1947, the foreign secretaries of the two and both lay claim to a united countries was held in Pakistan in Kashmir. October, but ended without any

Indian officials accuse Pakistan major breakthroughs. ·

Cambodians: 'Forget trial, give us food'

By Chris Fontaine PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Foreign powers would serve Cambodia better by spending their money on food and development aid rather than on a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders, Cambodia's king said in comments released Friday.

Norodom Sihanouk's comments were in the latest edition of his monthly bulletin, a compilation of the aging monarch's correspondence, reprints of newspaper clippings on Cambodia and historical reminiscences.

Next to a Jan. 25 article speculating that it could take several years for the United Nations to convene a tribunal and secure convictions against senior members Khmer Rouge, Sihanouk scrawled: "If this money could be converted to rice aid for our little people, it would be infinitely better."

"This money could equally help Cambodia with certain irrigation projects and water conservation," the 76-year-old king wrote.

The Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 and forced Cambodians into crude farming collectives in a brutal attempt to create an agrarian utopia.

As many as 2 million people died of starvation, overwork, disease and execution before the Vietnamese invaded in 1979 and

forced the radical communist guerrillas out of power.

Efforts for a genocide tribunal have increased since Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, two of the top lieutenants for the late Khmer Rouge chief Pol Pot, emerged from hiding in December and surrendered to the government.

Instead of arresting them, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that a trial could re-ignite civil war and gave the defecto~s a warm welcome and a tour of the country.

The outrage in Cambodia and abroad forced Hun Sen to make a public statement of support for a tribunal.

However, the prime minister has refused to arrest any Khmer Rouge unless they are indicted and has suggested that a U.N. investigation of Khmer Rouge crimes be broadened to include foreign powers that.aided the radical guerrillas during their 30-year existence.

Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he again warned that a trial could unleash new violence in the Southeast Asian nation and unravel the reconciliation process among the warring groups.

"We should not push action that can lead to more killing of Cambodian people," Hun Sen said in a speech during a three-day visit to Malaysia.

A Cambodian bike-taxi driver transports a woman sitting on a big load of two-handled baskets through a busy traffic street in Phnom Penh on Saturday.. Mpst of them can only find jobs as day laborers in the construction mdusrty. AP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-19

Republicans see Lewinsky tape bolstering their case

Affidavit ties Blumenthal to stalker rumor WASHINGTON (Reuters) -White House aide Sidney Blumenthal was named on Saturday as the source of a rumour about Monica Lewinsky being a "stalker" after appearing on videotape at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial denying it.

Bill Clinton

By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The videotaped image and confident voice of Monica Lewinsky filled the stately U.S. Senate chamber on Saturday as prosecutors made a final desperate push to revive their case against President Bill Clinton.

Excerpts of the taped depositions of Lewinsky and two other witnesses were shown at Clinton's impeachment trial, giving most Americans their first real glimpse of the woman whose affair with a president was at the heart of the year-long White House scandal.

A calm and composed Lewinsky, seated in front of a plain gray background, was shown in a series of short snippets that House ofRepresentatives prosecutors said illustrated "a broad tapestry of corruption" by Clinton.

''There is only one judgment the Senate must make for history abou~ Monica Lewinsky. Do you believe her?" said Republican Representative James Rogan of California. "If her testimony is truthful, then the president committed the offences in the articles of impeachment."

But White House lawyers, showing many of the same taped excerpts to argue the president's innocence, said prosecutors had used them out of context to create a "profoundly erroneous impression.',

"The managers have cleverly snipped here and there in an effort to present their story, even if as a

result the story they are telling you is not Ms. Lewinsky's story," Clinton defence lawyer Nicole Seligman said.

Senators said they doubted the presentations had changed any minds before next week's final votes on two articles of impeachment alleging Clinton obstructed justice and committed perjury in trying to hide his affair with Lewinsky.

With the Senate lacking the 67 votes needed to convict Clinton and remove him from office, Democrats were preparing a harshly worded censure motion that would condemn the president's actions in the Lewinsky case.

Senators have been able to see the full tapes in private all week, and transcripts of the depositions of Lewinsky, Clinton's friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal were made public on Friday.

They revealed no bombshells and largely echoed the witnesses' previously published grand jury testimony. But prosecutors used snippets of tape from all three to build a narrative outlining their allegations.

The videotaped images put faces and personalities to familiar allegations, such as Lewinsky's contention that Clinton secretary Betty Currie initiated the retrieval of Clinton's gifts to Lewinsky after they were subpoenaed in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

"I remember her saying either 'I know you have something for me' or 'the president said you have somethingforme'," Lewinsky said under questioning from Republican Tennessee Representative Ed Bryant.

Prosecutors contrasted the images of Lewinsky, hand upraised, taking an oath to tell the truth with Clinton'snow-famousfinger-wagging denial that he had sexual relations with "that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."

Rogan, who said Lewinsky's I ife had "forever been marked by the most powerful man on the Earth,"

,·., '•" Monica Lewinsky, shown in this video image gestures in response to a question during her deposition Feb. 1, 1999, shown during the defense presentation' in the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton Saturday. AP

argued the evidence showed Clinton's "continuing pattern of indulging all choices and accepting no consequences."

The tapes were played for members of the Senate on four screens mountedoneithersideofSupreme Court Chief Justice William· Rehnquist, who is presiding over the Senate trial.

They were also played for a national television audience that previously had seen only brief, silent clips of Lewinsky being pursued by cameramen or in her famous black beret, hugging Clinton at a White House receiving line.

Several Republicans said they were impressed with the prosecution's presentation, which focused heavily on the obstruction of justice allegations now believed to have the widest support in the Senate.

"I think what I heard this morning is devastating to the White House," Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, said. "Does it change many minds? I don't know."

Democrats, not surprisingly, said they heard nothing in the tapes that changed their thinking about the four-week-old impeachment trial.

Leahy said. The censure motion, spearheaded

by California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett, would be introduced after the trial is concluded with final votes on the impeachment articles.

"It is very fluid, very much a work in progress," Bennett told reporters of the censure motion.

"We will make our mark with future historians if we can send to them the message that.a very large majority of the members of the United States Senate are in one way or another appalled at this president's behavior and would like ·the opportunity to say so," he said.

House prosecutors and White House lawyers will make closing arguments when the trial resumes at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Monday and senators will then begin final deliberations on the perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Asked·what he wants to hear in closing arguments, Rhode Island Republican John Chafee said: "What I most want to hear is 'That wraps up our case."'

Journalist Christopher Hitchens swore in an affidavit that Blumenthal described Lewinsky as a "stalker" during a lunch they had shortly afternews of the White House intern's affair with Clinton broke a year ago.

Hitchens, a free-lance British journalist who contributes to Vanity Fair and The Nation magazines, said Blumenthal used the word "stalker" several times during their March 19 meeting.

Hitchens also swore he knew of other journalists who had been told the same thing by the White House aide.

"Mr. Blumenthal stated that Monica Lewinsky had been a 'stalker' and that the president was · the victim' of a predatory and unstable sexually demanding young woman," Hitchens swore in the affidavit.

Blumenthal has repeatedly denied being the source of demeaning comments about Lewinsky.

In a videotaped deposition taken on Wednesday and played on the Senate floor on Saturday, House prosecutors asked Blumenthal: "Do you have any idea how White House sources are associated with statements such as, 'She's known as Elvira,' 'She's obsessed with the president,' 'She's known as a flirt,' 'She's the product of a troubled home, divorced parents,' 'She's known as The Stalker'?" "Do you have any idea how that got into the press?"

"I have no idea how anything came to be attributed to a White House source," Blumenthal replied.


"I think there's a general feeling among most senators that they added nothing new. Each side has places they can highlight," Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Pullie: 11Dlice .. ,,., .. ''" ' .. , -~~· ... '" ' . ' '. ' ' . . ., ' ' '.. '•,•

William S. Reyes Elementary School Restoration Advisory Board Meeting

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (center) speaks with fellow Republicans Arlen Specter (left) and Susan Collins during a break in the the proceedings of the impeachment trial of President Clinton Saturday in Washington. AP

There will be a meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) on Wednesday, February 10, at 3:00 p.m. in the William S. Reyes Elementary School Library. The purpose of this meeting is to update the RAB as to the work and findings of the Army Corps of Engineers at the project site on school grounds. The public is invited to attend.

K~;;;~VIBi~Y-;;~e-or-break talks By Tom Heneghan

RAMBOUILLET, France (Reuters) - Make-or-break Kosovo peace talks get down to details in a French chateau on Sunday after more carnage in that corner of the Balkans and Serbian brinkmanship over which ethnic Albanians could attend.

The stark alternative facing them - the threat of NA TO air strikes if no agreement is reached here -~-on in the end over the deep enrmues the deleg?tes were brought here to escape.

Serbian officials, rebel Kosovo Albanians and mediators from the United States. Russia and the European Union will start to thrash out details of a political settlement designed to grant ethnic Albanians wide-ranging powers in their home province.

The talks, which could last two weeks. opened in a delayed ceremony on Saturday at the elegant Rambouillet chateau southwest of Paris. with French President Jacques Chirac urging the participants: ·'Allow the forces of life to triumph over the forces of evil."

Goodwill seemed in short supply. however. The Serbian authorities had held up the departure of ethnic Albanian delegates from Kosovo, ostensibly because some from the separatist Kosovo Liberation Front (KLA) did not have the proper travel papers.

~-··

Serb Vice Prime Minister Ratko Markovic (left) Yugoslav Vice Prime Ministers Nikola Sainovic (center) and Vladan Kutlesic sit together as they wait for French President Jacques Chirac to open the Kosovo Peace talks at the Ramboui!let Chateau near Paris, Saturday. AP

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, talks co-sponsor with his French counterpart Hubert V edrine, said the delayed arrival of the ethnic Albanians was just the first of problems to come.

"I don't think anyone should be surprised by what happened over the last24hours," Cook told Reuters Television after Belgrade finally allowed the whole 16-man ethnic Albanian delegation to leave for France.·

obstacles are put in our path in the future," he said.

The six-nation Contact Group on former Yugoslavia plans to· present proposals envisaging substantialautonomyfor Kosovo,leav- · ing Belgrade only tenuous control over its troubled southern province, diplomats say.

"The plan sees vecy little role for Serbia and Belgrade in Kosovo," said one European diplomat close

to the talks. A three-man mediating team led

by U.S. envoy Chris Hill will tackle constitutional issues with the two sides in a bid to build momentum before confronting some of the most tendentious issues, such as defence for the province.

Thethickdraftproposals-drawn up by Contact Group made up of

. the United States, France, Russia, Britain, Gennany and Italy - spells

out in a key section what powers of self-detennination the people of Kosovo will have.

"They should have the right to democratic self-government through legislative, executive, judicial and other institutions established in accordance with the agreement," said the confidential document that diplomats showed to Reuters.

The Serbs by contrast would control "territorial integrity, maintaining a common market, monetary policy, defence, foreign policy, customs services and federal taxation."

The exact nature of Belgrade's role in Kosovo's defence -a crucial issue in a province where 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian - still had to be considered. "We do not yet have documented proposals on defence," a diplomat said.

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said on Saturday that any agreement that was reached in the Kosovo peace talks would be doomed unless it was enforced by NATO troops.

"Ifitisnot implemented by forces on the ground, the agreement will not 'be a success," he said, addressing an international security conference in Munich.

NATO is considering sending perhaps 35,000 troops, including some Americans, to police any accord reached between the warring factions in Kosovo.

And just as the session was starting, a powerful bomb killed three people outside a food shop owned by ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo capital Pristina. Mobile phone-toting Kosovo Albanians here heard the news from home within min-

"There are going to be obstacles put in the path of these talks. We have overcome this one. We will show the same determination and the same firmness when similar

Clinton pledges Jordan new aid utes.

fTWELvEANNIVERsARY ·r JI iJn Lwitt}J JR:emotlf J. •

We the family of the late

Would like to invite oil relatives and friends to join us os we commemorate the twelve years of our Beloved Sons.

Beginning on Sunday, February 14th to 22nd, 1999.

Nightly rosary will be held nightly ot 8:00 p.m. at the residence of Mr. Arnold Anthony Aguon/Eden Cruz in Airport Rood, Dandan.

On the final day Monday, February 22, 1999. Moss will be offered at 6:00 p.m. at the San Vicente Church.

Dinner will be served at the above mentioned residence.

1/.iaM IJ/au q.OII .411 'lf owi P~ I•. Un Sm ':b~ ha SJ 'lfu'uJ Ma'au

THE FAMILY/CHILDREN ~ JACK AND TONA AGUON ~ r-~~~------------~·'lo-=-4' .~ ~~"" .

By Steve Holland WASHING TON (Reuters) -President Bill Clinton on Saturday signalled strong support for Jordan in the face of King Hussein's death, and he pledged $300 million in U.S. aid to help keep the country stable. ·

'The United States stands by Jordan and is determined to do all that it c:m to support and strengthen it," Clinton said in a written statement.

He said the United States was also working with the international community, including key allies and Group of Seven nations, to mobilise additional resources to help Jordan maintain its economic stability.

The United Arab Emirates late on Friday began steps to transfer funds to Jordan's central bank, in an apparent move to provide the bank with liquidity after King Hussein was pronounced clinically dead. The king was unconscious and being kept alive by life support on Saturday.

Senior administration officials said Clinton wanted to send more aid as a sign of strong support for a friend and ally, and was not meant to signal a sense of emergency in Jordan.

"We think it's important to demonstrate at this difficult time that Jordan has friends and can rely on them," said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Clinton and much of official Washington have watched with

Bill Clinton

sorrow King Hussein's losing battle with cancer. Aides said that of all the Middle Eastern leaders Clinton has worked with, he has been closest to the king and relied heavily on his counsel in the ceaseless quest to bring Arabs and Israelis together.

"At this difficult time, my thoughts and prayers, as well as those of all Americans, are with His Majesty King Hussein, his family and the people of Jordan," Clinton said in his statement on Saturday.

ThepresidentandhiswifeHillary were expected to lead the U.S. delegation to Hussein's funeral upon his death.

Senior U.S. aides said they were starting to come to grips with the fact that Hussein's leadership in the tumultuous Middle East peace process was gone, although they expected his son and designated successor, P1ince Abdullah, to continue his father's policies.

Crown Prince Abdullah was sworn in on Saturday as Jordan's regent, assuming the powers of head

of state, "King Hussein has been a giant

of a leader in terms of his commitment to the peace process and his statesmanship ... I think the loss of that kind of leadership is significant," said one senior official active in the peace process.

"We would expect continuity there. But the role the king himself has played, his personality, is something we will miss sorely,'' the official said.

Clinton·said that next week he will ask Congress to approve quickly $300million in additional assistance - $100 million a year over three years,

The aid is in addition to the $225 million in annual assistance the United States plans to send Jordan this year.

The $300 million had already been promised but otherwise would be delayed until implementation of the Wye peace agreement signed in October by King Hussein, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. That agreement is now in limbo.

"The United States stands by Jordan and is determined to do all that it can to support and strengthen it," Clinton said.

He said the United States was also working with the international community, including key allies and Group of Seven nations, to mobilise additional resources to help Jordan maintain its economic stability.

--MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999 -MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-21

Jordan King's son takes helm

Prince Abdullah

By Jamal Halaby AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - The powers of the monarchy passed from the dying King Hussein to his oldest son Saturday, shifting to a political novice the job of maintaining Jordan's role as an anchor of moderation in a turbulent region.

The transferof authority over the military and Cabinet closed nearly a half-century of rule by Hussein, who survived coup and assassination attempts and waged war against Israel but later made peace.

Weeping crowds kept vigil outside Hussein's hospital and people piled flowers under the king's pictures across Amman, but attention focused on the untested Crown Prince Abdullah.

Even before his swearing in by the Cabinet, government leaders strenuously tried to present the image of a seamless transition to the37-year-oldAbdullah, who was educated in Britain and the United States.

''The constitutional vacuum has to be filled," said Information Minister Nasser J udeh.

At stake is Jordan's pivotal role as a reliable Western ally and key supporter of Middle East peace efforts. Persian Gulf states, longtime financial backers of Jordan, also worry about ripples from any upheavals in the strategically located but resource-poor kingdom ruled by Hussein since 1952.

President Clinton asked Congress to speed up aid to Jordan, reflecting the belief that a weak economy may be the main threat facing King Hussein's son in his first brush with exercising power.

Clinton said his administration is also working with lending institutions and its allies to help Jordan deal with its international debt. "The United States stands by Jordan and is determined lo do all that it can to support it and strengthen it," he said.

Gravely ill from cancer, Hussein was on a respirator and his liver and single remaining kidney had failed, said a statement from one of his physicians, Dr. Samir Farrij. He said the king's heart and brain remained "intact," but did not elaborate.

Sources had said earlier that the king's brain had ceased functioning.

Hussein had been under sedation since Wednesday, after a bone marrow transplant failed in the United States, said a medical source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Death was expected once cancer reached his heart, "in a matter of

hours or days," the source said. A physician who paid a personal

visittothe king Saturday, Dr. Daoud Hanania, told Associated Press Television News that no medical measures were being taken to cleanse his body of toxins building up from the failed liver and kidney. Hanania is not a member of the team treating Hussein.

A cancer specialist, Dr. Arna Rohatiner at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, said someone in Hussein's condition could survive "for some weeks" depending on factors such as the state of his heart and lungs, But she added, "We have to assume that King Hussein will die soon."

Hussein's American-born wife, Queen Noor, wanted to move the 63-year-old king from the hospital to the palace. But physicians advised against it, the source said.

The Cabinet bestowed Abdullah with all royal authority, including the ability to mobilize the military, dismiss parliament and name Cabinet ministers.

Hussein himself rose to power in a similar fashion. Cabinet leaders declared his father, Talal, unfit because of a mental illness in 1952 and handed power to the 16-yearold heir.

Last month, Hussein named his eldest son as successor, bypassing his brother Hassan, who had been groomed for the throne for 34 years. Hussein reportedly accused Hassan of overstepping his authority by trying to purge military officers and ambassadors.

Abdullah, a career military officer, lacks his father's deep political anddiplomaticexperience, leaving some experts wondering if he will be able to negotiate the complex web of the Middle East.

In an obvious sign of his many years away, Abdullah appears more at ease speaking English than formal Arabic.

'This is an experienced man who is followed by an inexperienced man in a region that is in rurmoil andacountrythatisfacingsomany choices," said Labib Kamhawi, a political science professor at the University of Jordan.

But Abdullah also brings some new elements.

His wife, Rania, comes from a prominent Palestinian family on the West Bank. This could help relations with Jordan's large Palestinian refugee population, which opposesJordan's 1994peacetreaty with Israel.

Persian Gulf leaders also were quick to show support for Abdullah. Their pledges of resumed aid and strong political ties ended eight years of estrangement following Hussein's perceived tilt toward Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

Abdullah was expected to stick closely to his father's pro-Western policies.

Some Arab opponents of Western influence held out hope Jordan might change course. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged Jordan to return ·'to the Arab fold."

As Jordanians waited for word on Hussein, state television broadcast scenes from the king's life.

Outside his hospital, the King Hussein Medical City, more than

Jordan's Queen Noor, and four of King Hussein's sons (from left) Prince Faisal, P~ince Hamz~h, hidden behind the Queen Prince Ali and Prince Hashim, thank wellwishers gathered outside the medical centre in Amman, Jorda~. Saturday: where King Hussein is reportedly being kept alive b)! artificial ~e~pirat(on. Jordan's government has handed power to Crown Prince Abdullah, declaring that Kmg Hussein ,s unfit to rule. AP

5,000peoplelightedcandlesatdusk on a chilly evening and prayed aloud for a miracle recovery. Men and women wept and embraced.

When five members of the royal family left the hospital, they were engulfed by the crowd. "How is our dear king?" people shouted in unison.

'The king must not die," cried a 19-year-old woman, Sumaiah Ahmed.

Later, Queen Noor walked through the crowd and repeatedly bowed her head in a gesture of thanks.

Government offices and businesses opened as normal in the

capital, but the city of 1.2 million people had the feel of a stricken small town.

Onsomedowntownstreets,small heaps of flowers were piled near the ubiquitous portraits of Hussein. red and draggled against the wet gray concrete. Mosques were crowded with worshippers.

~ ~*~*~*=~*~*•~*~ • DEATH AND FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENT

He is predeceased by his:

#U«# 2~ }1()//)k;. Better known as "Juan Sibwe"

BORN: OCTOBER 23, 1918 .

'Wa4. calkJ I.a 1w eklud IU>d = M~, q.~ Of, f999 ai tk aye °t 80.

Father: Joaquin Cruz Quitugua (Aguida Rojas Rios) Mother: Maria "Sibwe" Norita Former Spouse: Maria Torres Baleto Children: Isidro Manglona Norita, and Remedio Manglona Norita Parents in-law: Angel Maratita Manglona I Adela Lizama Atalig . Brothers and Sisters: Daniel Rios Quitugua (Maria Toves), Gabriel Rios Quitugua (Vicenta Songao), Binancio Quitugua Norita, Juana Norita Quitugua (Guillermo Atalig), Moses Atalig Manglona, Sinforosa A. Manglona He is survived by his: Wife: Ana Atalig Manglona Sister: Isabel Ngos Norita Brothers and Sisters in-law: Rafael Rios Quitugua (Maria B.), David Rios Quitugua (Josepha A.), Antonio Rios Quitugua (Maria 0.), Jose Rios Ayuyu (Lucia T.), Jesus Atalig Manglona (Amanda B.) Apolonia Lizama Manglona, Maria Manglona Mafnas (Francisco M.)

Children {Spouses) - Grandchildren: Connie Norita Taisacan (Antonio Lizama Taisacan)-Marylee, Remae, Anthony, Marty and Keiomi Lucia Norita Barnes - Kimberly and Kevin Mateo Balelo Norita (Zosima) - Michelle, Anthony and John Antonio Quitugua Naog (Sela) - Carla, John-Anthony, Damien-Jose and Derek Frances Palacios Aflleje (Daniel Aflleje) - Marisa, Danny, Brian and Christopher Linda Manglona Norita (Manuel Salas) Isidora Anson, daughter of the late Isidoro M. Norita Bernadita Norita Sondossi (Mohsen Sondossi) -Ali-John, Sarah-Tiffany and Bijan-Michael Jose Manglona Norita (Penelope Levy) - Joe, JoAna, Jonathon and John-Serafin Lourdes Nori ta Hodge (Anthony Hodge) -Jean Pierre, Tenika and Anthony-Gregory Serafin Manglona Norita Remedio Manglona Norita Elizabeth Manglona Norita-Pando (Luis Pando) - Leivanny, Anabel and Yasmin

Rosary is being said nightly at 8:00 pm at Kristo Rai Chuch in Garapan. The deceased body will leave the Commonweallh Health Cenler (CHC) al 8:00 am on lbesdny,

l'ehruary 09, 1999 to the Kristo Rai Church.

The State funcrnl will he held at the Mulli-Purpose Cenler at 9:00 a.m. Afler the State Fune rut, the remains will be transported to Krislo Rni Church.

Holy Rosary will be at 11:30 am followed by Responso Service at 12:00 noon.

Mass will start at 4:00 PM at Kristo Rai Church followed by burial service at Tam\Da~ Cemetery.

+>«<*~*~*~*~*~*~


Restaurants. Continued from page 3

Ayuyu pointed out that the new rules entail more time, money and effort not only on the part of the employees, but to the employers as well.

He said the food handlers' test should be done simultaneously with the DepartmentofLaborand Employment-regulated alien heal th screening.

··Toe DOLI -health screening should be incorporated into the food handlers' health regulations to save time and money, especially with declining revenues these days. ... Make it a one-stop shop," he said.

'Ridiculous' This view has been shared by

the owner of one of the most popu-1 ar bars in Saipan. He, however, went on further, saying the food handlers· health test is .. ridiculous and unneeded."

"If there's something that goes wrong with the customer who eats something from the restaurant, the

H.E.W .... Continued from page 3

ship programs into one, identify the professional career categories that need scholarships, define "grants" and "student loans."

Hofschneider said HEW will work closely with the Senate in drafting the bill, referring to the willingness earlier expressed by Senate President Paul A. Manglona (R-Rota) and Sen. Juan P. Tenorio (R-Saipan) in supporting such legislation.

':'.It· s goi~g to be a joint effort with the Senate," Hofschneider said.

Meanwhile, HEW, which has been conducting oversight hearings on NMC and the scholarship programs, will hold its third hearing on Feb. 17.

Hofschneidersaid the committee will continue to probe into NMC's financial management practices and policies.

"'So far, there has been a lot of

probability that it is because of the employees is small," the source said who requested anonymity.

DPH, meanwhile, said it is willing to accommodate the recommendations of the private sector in order to effectively enforce the said rules· which took effect on Jan. 28.

"We will try our best to accommodate pressing concerns of the private sector even though it has already been in effect," said Health Sec. Joseph Kevin Villagomez.

D' Elegance Restaurant also said the food handlers' health test is important.

Purificacion Manalastas, supervisor of the said restaurant, said even if it duplicates some of the tests conducted during the alien health screening like the tuberculosis test, it will ensure better protection from diseases for the community.

'We support, but .. .' The Hotel Association of the

Northern Mariana Islands (HANMI), for its part, suggested that food handler-employees should take the health test upon

inconsistencies between policy and practice," he said, but did not elaborate.

"We will continue to determine what really are the functions, duties and authorities of NMC officials and board of regents, and how they effect the college and its students."

CDA • • • Continued from page 3

crate revenues is severely restricted," the law said.

CDA is to write off MIHA's $6.6 million since the dissolved housing agency's assets and liabilities were transferred to the Development Authority upon its disintegration.

The move was also taken by the government in apparent efforts to maintain the financial integrity of the NMHC and to provide CDA with the ability to better manage its financial resources.

FIRST ANNIVERSARY ROSARY :lit l:x.i,'ll 'llCfMt)/ q roe &fooeJ wi.fe,

mol&t1 9w.t1J-nwtlleo ~,w 9=<·:Jt.aitJ-mctllet

~ff~ 'nY,,.,.,,~na-L~ V·I.~~., .. ... · ..... , ....... -..

/ieller known as ".llama Deang"

We, /be family uould like lo i11vile relatives a11dfrie11ds lo joi11 11s i11 prayers as ll'e commemorate ber firs/ a1111iversary rosary:.

Nigbtly rosary• will be said at the family residence in District #2, S0ngso11g Village, Rola al 8:00 p.m. beginning on S11t1day, February 7, 1999. On the final day Monda;; Febmar;• 15, 1999. Mass of i11/enlio11 will he at 6·0011.111. at /be San Francisco de Rorfa Cburcb. Follou·ing the mass of i11tenlio11s will be the mass for the reposed souls al the San Jose Cemeler;•. //osary• will be said al 6:00 p.m. al tbe Jami()' residence a11d dimwr will follow immediately aj)er.

Kindly join us. Si Yu'usMa'ase

./lkjo. II. /rleHdiola S1i. 1 e~ awl. q.am4 l{OIA

the renewal of their contract so as not to be away from their work place on separate days.

Ron Sablan, HANMI president, said that while hotel establishments support the intent of the food handlers test of protecting the community from the spread of communicable diseases, it wants the new health tests done towards the expiration of the alien workers or food handlers' permit so that they will just have to leave their work only once during work

NMI ... Continued from page 3

post, the CNMI government would want to establish a better and more cordial relationship with whoever will replace him.

Reports claimed OIA would be filled in by an Asian-American woman close to the Clinton administration 1fStayman leaves the position.

"I hope whoever will take his place will understand the situation we are facing now," Tenorio said, adding that this should be the case especially with the re-

DPH . . . Continued from page 3

University-bred, while someone . was able to head the Atlanta-based Centers for Communicable Disease and Prevention Program.

"We need somebody with a broad public health background that will solidify the foundation that has been started by Dr. Bruss because public health program is the key to addressing our health care problems," the health secretary told reporters.

Villagomez pointed out that DPH's aim is to have someone from the local community to head the public health program, but there is no qualified to fill in the said position.

Bruss, in an interview, voiced out the same concern. He said DPH would like to see a.candidate sourced from the CNMI, who has a strong public health goals, and is able to carry on the vision of DPH into the next century.

"It would be best if the person comes from here. The first choice would be to have a qualified candidate from the CNMI. If none, then we have to look from other

MVA ... Continued from page 3

Sablan is set to meet with DOU Secretary Mark Zachares to relax its restriction on Russians four months after he issued a memorandum instructing all airline carriers flying the CNMI to obligate all Russians lo present an Authorization to Board issued by DOLL

"If I can find a way to promote Saipan anywhere, I'll go tap that market. Russia is a good market and we only need to develop it," said Sablan.

The Board chairman said MV A will not throw in the towel in stirring up arrivals into the CNMI despite some labor-related issues.

"We're not going to give up because we have already invested so much to justturn the other way.

hours. "If I have to send my employee

for medical check up, for renewal purposes or syphilis or HIV test, why can they do the new health test for food handlers also at that time so that they will only have to leave the work place at one time? So there will be three items accomplished for minimal loss operation time, cost or fee, and visit," said Sablan.

For resident workers who don't have contracts, the new health

gional economic crisis plaguing Asia which has affected CNMI's tourism industry.

He stressed .that he is hoping. that OIA would try to help and work with the CNMI in terms of solving local problems and in efforts to solicit the help of US Congress for financial assistance.

"Our economy is bad and we have to work together with OIA, with or without Mr. Stayman, instead of working against each other," he told reporters.

Stay man is reportedly planning to resign from his current OIA post to seek the position offederal negotiator for Compacts of Free

places," said Bruss who has been with DPH for three and a half years.

Bruss, together with his wife Mojdeh Bruss, DPH nutritionist, will be moving to the U.S. mainland for the educati.on of their child. Bruss said he will be working in a large pharmaceutical company in Michigan.

"We decided to move to Michigan because it is where one of the highest ranking schools in the U.S. is located," he said, adding that he is willing to come back to the CNMI.

The outgoing medical director said the CNMI should not rest on its laurels when it comes to providing public health services.

"I strongly believe that the people who can best understand the health needs of the CNMI community are the people from this place, and we should invest in education so that we may be able lo provide the best care," he said.

Bruss pointed out that to be able to provide better public health services, the CNMI should enhance its educational level and increase the availability of its resources.

Villagomez, meanwhile, said

We are ready to accommodate tourists from Russia," he said, adding that DOLi restrictions is hampering efforts by the government to expand local tourism to other markets.

Russia is still feeling the pinch of the regional economic crisis as arrivals from this country plunged by 30 percent during the first quarter of fiscal ·year 1999, MV A records show.

MV A managing director Perry Tenorio earlier said that efforts aimed at increasing the mTivals from Russia and China are underway despite labor concerns.

"We like to work on those issues and try to balance the concerns of immigration and tourism," said Tenorio.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio said the temporary restriction on the entry of both

regulation may be done on a separate schedule, Sablan added.

The food handlers' heal th test came as a result of the increasing number of food-borne diseases like Salmonella, Shigella and Campy lobacter.

While the existing mandatory health screening is directed only to non-resident workers, the food handlers' test is applicable to both local and alien workers who are involved in food preparation and Serving. (Wilh reports rrom Aldwin Fajardo)

Association, which will expire in 200 I, and the re-negotiation for the treaties is set to start this year.

Stayman did not confirm nor deny the information. He only said that no final decision has been made by the US State Department regarding the FAS negotiator position, "so there is no vacancy elsewhere in the government that relates to the filling of that position."

The Compacts, which cover the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau, established the independent status of these Micronesians nations in free association with the United States.

that Bruss is a great addition to the DPH, particularly in improving its public health services.

"I hope we could find somebody like that; someone who has focus and commitment in protecting and educating the community," he said.

'Bruss also made a- pitch on the kind of services provided by the CNMI, saying it is a product of hard work and teamwork among its employees.

"The community should feel good about it and support it- because not in many places here in the Western Pacific that you can find programs as good as what we have," he said.

Despite rapid modernization in some parts of the world, there are still a number of Pacific island hospitals which don't even have the most basic of facilities and services like 24-hour water service.

Villagomez said some Pacific hospitals only have water for one to two hours a day.

CHC, for its part, not only have 24-hour service, but a potable water system as well because of its in-house reverse osmosis system.

Russian and Chinese nationals into the CNMI will remain in effect until further review and succeeding recommendations are made.

Bills ... Continued from page 3

President's fiscal year.2000 budget. To ensure equity in funding inclusion for territories, legislation was introduced to guarantee that the territories will receive funds for the program over the next seven years.

Underwood said protecting and nurturing children should be prioritized in the nation's agenda. If the legislation is approved, Guam couldreceive$7.8millioninCHIP funding for the next several years.

Voter's ... Continued from page 7

nors and dead. Joe Mesa, chairman of the

Board of Directors for the Guam Election Commission said in earlier testimony that he believes no fraud was ever committed.

This was supported by GEC Executive Director Henry Torres, who testified that no fraud was

Villagomez . Continued from page 7

Villagomez added that the bill's final draft will endorse CUC's choice, which is likely to be based on the results of the independent

/review, and not necessarily Marubeni-Sithe, CUC's "first pick."

It was CUC's selection of Marubeni-Sithe that triggered the filing of several protests by the other bidders.

Villagomez and his House counterpart, Rep. David M.

Senator . . . Continued from page 7

alien workers, he said. "The other factories are 'riding'

on these three garment factories that were 'victims' of the Hiring Moratorium Act," Villagomez said. "In effect, we would be giving additional workers even to those who didn't ask for it."

Asked why the Senate, which sat on the bill for more than two months, passeditanyway, Villagomezsaid, "We were told that the House will not accept any amendments to it."

He added, "So now we 're just hopingthat(Gov.PedroP. Tenorio) will sign the La Mode bill, S.B. 11-93, and look closely into the figures provided by the House bill."

Villagomez was refening to the conflicting numbers of alien garment workers provided by the Departments of Commerce (DOC), Labor and Immigration {DOU) and by the Saipan Gaiment Manufacturers' Association (SGMA).

The Senate bill would exempt

Affidavit ... Continued from page 19

Senators seemed puzzled by the development and called the Hitchens affidavit immaterial to whether Clinton had committed perjury and obstruction of justice in his efforts to cover up his affair with Lewinsky. The Senate is considering two articles of impeachment against Clinton based on the charges.

Non . . . Continued from page 9

also be provided to resident workers, equivalent in jobs where the standard hourly wage is less than $4.25 per hour.

Local workers covered by the law are those who are getting Jess than the federal minimum wage rate which is now $5.05 an hour.

And while economists said the

committed on behalf of absentee, voters, precinct officials, or the tabulation process at Election Central on the night of the election.

Cunliffe and Carbullido have contended that nothing has been proved that massive fraud occurred in the November polls.

The hearing will conclude today with closing arguments this morning at the courtroom of Judge Manibusan.

Apatang (R-Prec. 1, Saipan), have said they will go ahead and file enabling legislation despite the possibility of new lawsuits, adding that eventual losing bidders "will sue anyway."

In an interview Friday, Villagomez said that "we just want to back up CUC's choice and to endorse their findings to expedite the process so we could prevent a possible power shortage. But now there will be an independent review of the bids, which, we were told, could be finished in six weeks."

La Mode, reportedly a US-owned company, from the Hiring Moratorium Act.

Villagomez said that like La Mode,thethreeSouthKoreancompanies-American Pacific Textiles, Inc., Top Fashion (which now owns TransAmerica' s garment operations) and Handsome Saipan-claim that they had paid all the licenses and fees to obtain alien workers even before the enactment in spring 1998 of the Hiring Moratorium Act.

One of the co-sponsors of H.B. 11-315, Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes (R-Saipan), has said that the bill would lead to the entry of only 610 new alien workers.

Further, he added, the bill would set an "enforceable cap" on each manufacturer and impose "tougher" penalties on factory owners found guilty of labor, human rights and work safety violations.

In addition, enactment of the bill will mean additional revenues for the cash-strapped government, he said.

Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa said the information was irrelevant to Clinton's trial.

"What does it have to do with article one or article two?" he asked, adding that if Republican House prosecutors tried to make it an issue they would be simply "clutching at straws."

But Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho said the Hitchens information might be trouble for Blumenthal.

"It's probably going to have a

presence of nonresident workers give an additional expense to the CNMI government or create a higher cost of living, their contributions outweigh the disadvantages that come along with their employment.

"[Nonresident workers] support an ever-growing private sector and thus an expanding tax base," an analyst said, while adding that the expense associated with the hiring of guest workers contribute to inflation and account in no small mea-


Aecom plices . Continued from page 7

The sentences received by the two were lighter than what they should have received, because of their agreement to cooperate with prosecutors by testifying against the triggerman, Frank Pangelinan.

The Alig murder was described as a gruesome crime by Assistant Attorney General David Rivera.

He brought forth testimony from the two men that Alig had showed up drunk late outside the Agat house where the three men were living in January 1998.

He shouted insults and challenged someone to come out and fight him.

Frank Pangelinan and Cruz accepted the challenge, chasing Alig to a nearby basketball court.

They beat him, breaking many bones in his face and several ribs. But that was not enough for the men, prosecutors said.

They returned to the basketball court. Frank Pangelinan had

But for House Speaker Diego T. Benavente (R-Prec. 2, Saipanone of the two House members who voted against its passagethe bill will only further f1ustrate the local people who are concerned over the presence of an alien workforce that already outnumbers them.

Moreover, the bill's enactment will only fuel· the efforts of the CNMI'scriticsinCongresstopush for "federal takeover" legislation, he said.

More • • • Continued from page 7

Mning Hsing #7 on Jan. 30 for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain. Again, the illegals were stuffed into a cargo hold of that ship.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is investigating the scam.

Arraignments for the alien smuggling rings have yet to take place in U.S. District Court.

lot of impact on Mr. Blumenthal. He may be the other person who lied under oath and he may have to do the time," Craig said.

The affidavit has been turned over to the Senate legal counsel's office, which could decide to refer it to the Justice Department or independent counsel Kenneth Starr.

Last spring, Blumenthal testified to the same effect before Starr's grand jury investigation of the White House sex scandal.

sure for the high cost of living. Both an economic and human

multiplier effect will be activated since more workers would require housing. Houses, he said, require power and water, fire and police service.

with him a machete where he proceeded to cut off Alig 's right foot.

The three men then loaded Alig's near lifeless body into the back of a pickup and drove him to the old Agat-Umatac dump. ·

It was there that Frank E. Pangelinan shot Alig once through the head witJ:i a .45 cal. pistol and then shot him once again through the chest.

Judge Unpingco called the crime "totally inhuman" but cited the full cooperation of both men in the plea agreement.

Frank Edward Pangelinan was sentenced last Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for two counts of aggravated murder and was given an additional 145 years for crimes relating to the murder.

Mae Alig, the victim's mother, said the sentencing not only closed the horrible episode but also reassured her that "my Joseph can rest peacefully now that these insidious people have been brought to justice."

IN THE SUPERIOR COURTOFTHE COMMONWEALTH OFTIJE NORTHERN

MARIANA ISLANDS

Philpan International Corporation Plaintiff, versus Tri-All International Corporation dba Wendell's Shopping Mart, Defendant. Civil Action No. 98-1319D

SUMMONS

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED Ddendant: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and notified

to file any answer you wish lo make to the Complaint of which is given you herewith, within twenty (20) days after service of this Summons upon you.

YOURANSWERSHOLlD BEIN WRITING and flied with the Clerk of Court, at Saipan MP 969i0 and served upon plaintiff's counsel, Atty. V.K. Sawhney, 2rd floor.Lizama Bldg., Garapan, P.O. Box 7250, Saipan, MP 969i0. It may be prepared and signed for you by your counsel and sent to the Clerk of this Court by messenger or mail. It is not necessary for you to appmpmonally until further notice.

If you fail to file an answer in accordance with this Summons.judgment by default may be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

By order of the above Court.

is/Deputy Clerk of Court Superior Court Commonwealth of the Nonhem Mariana Islands

Dated :his 21st d;iy ofDecember, 1998.

For long-Term Lease Dandan Across Shen Gas Station

4 Units, 2 Bedrooms 1 Bath each unit

Appraised tori $231.000 Priced for Quick Sale at

$125,000

CAU: JEFF at 233-0579/0583 (day)

238-1973 or lax to 433-0710

LET US KEEP·· CNMI LITTER

FREE.

DOUSE FOR.RENT (2 Units) Located in China To"Wn

2 big bedroom, suitable for housing up to 12 employees 24-hr water, quiet place In uire at Tel. 233-9298/9299, ask for Cora

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN

MARIANA ISLAr,.'DS

Vincent A. Manglona. Plaintiff. V,

Mona T Clothier. Defendant. Civil Action No. 97-863A

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE lS HEREBY GIVEt> that, pursuant to a Writ of Execution issued by the Court in this matter on Dcceml:<r l0.1998. I will sell at public auction. on the tcn11S and conditions set forth herein below, all of the right. title and interest of Defendant in and to the following property:

Pmy of that tract of land in the North District of Saipan, known as Property Number 600 as shown on Land and Claims map #4 on nle with the Clerk of Court, Saipan, Northern Marianas, described in Dctennination of Ownmhip No. 681, which tmct or parcel of !;ind is bounded on the North by a portion of Property 1\umber 540, on the East by a portion of Property Number 600, on the South by a portion of Property Number 600 and a portion of Property Number 540, and on the West by a portion of Prop· ert'j Number 601. The tr.ict conti3iTl'i an area of 2.1 hectares, more or less, subject to survey. Date lime and Place of Sale: The sale will be

held on Saturday, February 27, 1999 at the hour of 10:00 a.m. at the Law Offices of Atalig and Chang. Second Floor. Family Commercial Building. Gara pan. Saipan (670) 322-2189. The sale will be open to the general public.

lnspcction of Property: It is the responsibility of the buyer to insixet the property. Failure 10 in· spect the property or any portion thereof will not conslitutc grounds for any claim. adjustment or rescission by the buyer.

Warranties and Covert.ml~: The pmp<."ny listed for sale in this Notice will be said in its current condition and at its currem location. The sole will be held without any warranties or cm·enants whatsoever. whether express or implied including but not limited to warranties of litk. merchantability andlor fitncs:, for any purpGsc whatsoever. all of which warranties and covcmnts arc hcrchy c,;prcss!y disclaimed with respect to the proprrty listed for s.:de in 1his notice. Neither the undersigned nor the Plaintiff .1h:ill be li:iblc ror the 4uality or the propcny listed for sale in this Notice. or for any fault or defect in the description thereof. Buyers shall not be- entitled to rescission. damages. or any other remedy on account thereof.

Conduct of Sale a) Reserve. The auction sale may te held with

reserve. The reserve price on any property offered for sale may or may not be disclosed !O bidders. and is in the sole discretion of the undmigned.

bJ Rights and duties of Auctioneer. Consistent with the laws, customs and usages of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands governing auctions sales. the undersigned shall have the following rtghts :rnd duties in conducting the auction sale: (I) to withdmw the land listed for sale in this Notice before sale or before a bid for such property is accepted; (2) to adjourn the sale without notice at any time before any spccir.c property is struck off. wjthout incurring any liability whatsoever thereby. and (3) to reject. on behalf of the seller. any or all bids, for any reason.

e) !llil,. Bids may be submitted in advance for the property listed in this Notice. The highest of such bids will automatically be considered the opening bid for the property. Advance bids may be submined only in writing. signed by the bidder, and delivered to the Law Offices of Atalig and Chang, Second Floor Family Commercial Building, Gar.1pan, P.O. Box 5332 CHRB, Saipan, Commonwealth of tJ1r i'.'onhrm !\.fariana lslnnds 96950 The hiJdcr a.,;sumrs all risk of non-Uclivcrv. bt.: delivery, ·or misJclivcry of bicis. Any pers;n, including the Plaintiff n'1y bid in person at the ouction sak, whether or nol sLich p('rson has submit· tcd an advance hid.

d) Disputes. The undersigned may resubmit the property listed in this notice if a dispute arises as to any bid thereon.

Enforcement of Auction Sale. a) !li.'.!1illiL Every successful bidder shall pay

to the undersigned a deposit of Ten (I O\f) percent of the purchase price immcdintcly after !he sale is eonsumn'1ted. Payment shall I:< in ctLSh or by certified check in cure of the Law omces of Al1lig and Chang Trust Account. The balance must be paid to the Plaintiff within forty-eight (48) hours from the date uf sale. in cash or by cenified cheek. tf the lxttancc is not so paid. Plaintiff will retain the deposit as liquidated damages. and will again offer the property for sale.

h) Memorandum of Sak. If re4ues1cd by the undersigned, every successful bidder nmst sign .i Memorandum of Sale. immediately after !he sale of any propeny is strud off m auction.

c) Court Apprcm1l Rcquin.·d. Every sak is subject toappro,al by the Coun. The auctionecrrn:ikes no warramics or promises with respect to court approval of the sale, including but not limited 10 the time in which such approval may Ix: granted. No delay in the gmnts of Court approval shall Ix: ground for any d;1irn. adjustment. or recession by any successful bidder. The sumssful bidder will be promptly notiticd if and when Court approval is gmnted.

d) Chan°c of lcnns and conditions. The un· dersigncd and the Plnintiff reserve the right to change any of 1h, tcm1s hereof by announcement. written or oral, made before the auction sale or at the commencement thereof, and such change or changes. by virtue of this clause, shall Ix: binding on all hidders by cortstruetive notice.

Dated U1is 28th day of January, l 999.

ATALID AND CHANG By:/s/Yoon H. Chang


~tMarianas 9/ilrietr~

Employment Wanted

.ltlllttii

. Job Vacancy Announcement

PUBLIC NOTICE All inleresled resident workers are

urged lo register at the Dept. of Labor & Immigration,

Division of Employment Services for the job/s being advertised in which

you are qualified and available. For further assistance,

please coll Alfred A. Pangelinan at Tel. 664-2078.

02 COOK-Salary:S3.05 per hour 01 WAITER-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: WILLA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED dba Hai Huang Restaurant Tel. 233-6688(2/15)M29739

04 HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORSalary:S6.00 per hour Contact: SAIPAN BUS & TRANSPORTATION CO., Tel. 322-3995(2/ 15)M76765

01 STOCK CONTROL CLERK-Salary:$3.05-5.00 per hour Contact: L.L.J. CORPORATION Tel. 235-4890(2/15)M29745

01 (SCUBA DIVING) INSTRUCTOR SPORTS-Salary:$3.05-10.00 per hour Contact: DOO YANG CORPORATION Tel. 234-6611(2/15)M29744

01 COOK-Salary:S3.05 per hour Confacl: MATIAS E. ELBO dba Elbe's Ent. Tel. 233-3839(2/15)M29742

01 BARTENDER-Salary:S3.05 per hour 01 WAITRESS-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: EC ENTERTAINMENT & PROMOTIONAL dba 8th Avenue Tel. 235-1767(2/15)M29741

01 ASSISTANT MANAGER-Salary:S600.00-2,540.00 per month 01 SUPERVISOR (PHOTO COPY)-Salary:S9.00 per hour Contact: TROPICAL COLOR DEV. CTR. MIC. INC. dba Tropical Color Saipan Tel. 234-7229(2/15)M29754

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-4.00 per hour Contact: ZHONG MING CORPORATION Tel. 234-8785(2/15)M29751

03 WAITRESS-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: RENATO G. AZUCENAS dba Jake's Amusement & Restaurant Tel. 234-1058(2/15)M29750

01 PLUMBER(MAINTENANCE)-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: ABC CORPORATION dba Camacho Realty Management Tel. 234-9006(2/15)M29749

01 PILOT-Salary: S1 ,780 per month 02 DISPATCHER-Salary: SB.00-10.00 per hour 01 AIRCRAFT MECHANIC-Salary: $5.00-7.00 per hour 03 ACCOUNTANT-Salary: S6.92-8.07 per hour Contact: PACIFIC ISLAND AVIATION, INC. Tel. 234-3600(2/8)M76646

01 CASHIER-Salary: S3.05 per hour Contact: MARIANAS HOTEL SERVICES CO., LTD. Tel. 233-6521 (2/ 8)M76652

01 HEAVY EQUIPMENT MECHANICSalary:$3.05 per hour Contact: TM CORPORATION Tel. 234-2700(2/15)M29748

01 ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: THE NEW STONE AGE CORPORATION Tel. 234-7625(2/22)M29853

01 SALES CLERK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: PACIFIC ENGINEERING & CONST., INC. dba Tessie's Corner Tel. 234-5224(2/22)M29854

•. ~

01 CARPENTER-Salary: $3.05 per hour 01 MASON-Salary: S3.05 per hour Contact: ARLENE C. TORRES dba S & A Enterprises Tel. 322-3276(2/ 8)M76639

02 ELECTRICAL ENGINEER-Salary: S1 ,050.00-$1,300.00 per month 01 AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICIAN-Salary: $3.05-3.75 per hour 02 MASON-Salary:S3.05-3.75 per hour 01 STEEL WORKER-Salary:$3.05-3.75 per hour 02 CAR PENTER-Salary:$3.05-3. 75 per hour 02 HEAVY EQUIPMENT MECHANICSalary:S3.05-3.75 per hour Contact: BLACK MICRO CORPORATION (2/8)M76635

01 BUILDING MAINTENANCE/REPAIRER-Salary:$3.05 per hour 01 CLEANER, HOUSEKEEPING-Sal-ary:$3.05 per hour · Contact: D& C CORPORATION Tel. 235-2592(2/8)M76642

01 SHIPPING (COORDINATOR) CLERK-Salary:$3.05 per hour 02 SEWING MACHINE OPERATORSalary:$3.05 per hour 06 CUTTER MACHINE-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: JIN APPAREL, INC. Tel. 234-3252(2/8)M29655

01 INSTRUCTOR (DIVE) SPORTSSalary:S3.05 per hour Contact: MARIANAS SEAS ADVENTURES, INC. Tel. 233-0577(2/ 8)M29656

01 DRESSMAKER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: NIEVLA C. CABRERA dba Nievla's Dress Shop Tel. 235-6443(2/ 8)M29657 ·

01 MANAGER-NIGHT CLUB-Salary:S650.00 per month 05 WAITRESS-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: ROYAL PALMS INTERNATIONAL, INC. Tel. 235-0767(2/ 8)M29658

01 MECHANICAL ENGINEER-Salary:S7.00 per hour Contact: NAURU COUNCIL MGMT., CO. (SPN) dba Nauru Building Tel. 234-6941 (218)M29659

01 INSTRUCTOR (MARINE) SPORTSSalary:S 1,000.00-1,600.00 per month Plus S50.00 gas allowance, S450.00 housing allowance 02 TRAVEL COUNSELOR-Salary:S1,0D0.00-1,400.00 per month Plus $50.00 gas allowance 01 (ASST.) MANAGER, TOUR (OPERATION)-Salary:S 1,000.00-1,400.00 Plus $50.00 gas allowance, S450.00 housing allowance 01 MANAGER, CUSTOMER TECHNICAL SERVICE-Salary:$2,000.00-3,350.00 per month 03 TOURIST INFO. ASST. (CLERK)Salary:$3.05-5.90 per hour Plus $50.00 gas allowance 01 SUPERVISOR, TOUR INFORMATION-Salary:$3.05-5.90 per hour Plus S50.00 gas allowance 01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:S3.05-6.15 per hour Plus S50.00 gas allowance Contact: PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT, INC. Tel. 322-8876(2/8)M29663

01 BARTENDER-Salary:S3.05 per hour 01 WAITER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: PACIFIC RESORT SERVICES INC. dba Esy Kitchen Tel. 233-3550(2/ 8)M29664

01 MAINTENANCE REPAIR-Salary:S3.05 per hour Plus $100.00 housing allowance per month 01 LAUNDRY WORKER-Salary:$3.05 per hour Plus S100.00 housing allowance per month Contact: JOMA RS ENTERPRISES Tel. 235-2013(2/8)M29665

01 STORE MANAGER-Salary:$3.25 per hour Contact: ARENAS ENTERPRISES INC. dba Oche's Mini Store Tel. 235-5229(2/15)M297 4 7

02 CARPENTER-Salary:$3.10 per hour Contact: JESSIE A. ARIZALA dba Systems Services Co. Tel. 234-5334(2/ 15)M29746

01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$3.05-4.50 per hour Must have a four year college degree Must have at least ten years of experience Must be certified public accountant Must have computer kills 01 COMPUTER OPERATOR-Salary:$3.05-4.50 per hour Must have college degree Must have three years or more o1 experience Full knowledge and skills in all type of computers , Must have buying skills and knowledge of all merchandise Must have very good communication skills Contact: JOETEN DEVELOPMENT INC. dba Price Costco/Dave Bernard or send your resume to P.O. Box 488 CK, Saipan, MP 96950 (2/15)M76775

01 LITHOGRAPHIC CAMERAMANSalary:$3.05 per hour 02 OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: R & M ENTERPRISES. INC. Tel. 322-3043(2/22)M29846

05 WAREHOUSE WORKER-Salary:$3.05-4.50 per hour 01 ELECTRICIAN-Salary:$3.05-4.00 per hour 01 ELECTRICIAN, MAINTENANCESalary:$3.05-5.50 per hour Contact: SAIPAN ICE & WATER CO., INC. Tel. 233-9298(2/22)M76911

01 SALES REPRESENTATIVE-Salary:$3.05-3.25 per hour 01 BEAUTICIAN-Salary:$3.05-3.50 per hour Contact: MECHILLE CORPORATION dba Tongyang Carpet & BIF Furnitures Tel. 234-1361 (2/22)M76893

01 SALES REPRESENTATIVE-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: C&R PROPERTIES, INC. dba Celis Store Tel. 234-5844(2122)M29838

01 OFFICE MANAGER-Salary:S3.05 per hour Contact: TOUGH BUILDERS Tel. 256-6762(2/22)M29841

04 COOK-Salary:$3.05-4.25 per hour 01 RESTAURANT SUPERVISOR-Salary:$700.00-900.00 per month 02 MAINTENANCE BUILDING REPAIRER-Salary:$3.05-4.50 per hour 03 (RESTAURANT) WAITRESS-Salary:$3.05-4.25 per hour 01 (ASSISTANT) MANAGER-Salary:$1 ,300.00-1,700.00 per month 01 ACCOUNTANT-Salary:$800.00-900.00 per month Contact: YANO ENTERPRISES INC. dba Kinpachi Restaurant/Convenience Kinpachi Dollar Shop Tel. 234-6900(2/ 22)M29840

01 MAINTENANCE BUILDING REPAIRER-Salary:$3.05-4.25 per hour Contact: MISA ENTERPRISES ING. Tel. 234-6900(2/22)M29842

01 MANAGER BRANCH-Salary:$4.00 per hour Contact: GLOBAL CORPORATION LTD. Tel. 235-6998(2/22)M29843

01 BUTCHER-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact:GLOBAL TRADERS, INC. Tel. 234-7 415(2/22)M29845

03 EMBROIDERY MACHINE OPERATOR-Salary:$3.05 per hour 01 GENERAL MANAGER-Sal-ary:$800.00 per month 01 ADMINISTRATIVEASSISTANT-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: SMZ CORPORATION dba SMZ Trimming & Embroidery Factory Tel. 288-2380(2/22)M29848

01 COOK-Salary:$3.05 per hour Contact: H & H ENTERPRISES dba Thai House Restaurant Tel. 234-8424(2/ 22)M29849

Classified Ads FIRST

DEADLINE: 12:00 noon the day prior to publication

NOTE: If some reason your advertisement is incorrect. call us immediately to make the necessary corrections. The Marianas Variety News and Views is responsible only for one incorrect inserti~n. We reserve the right to edit, refuse. reject or cancel ar.iy ad at any lime.

02 WAITRESS/WAITER-Salary:S4.00-4.05 per hour 01 SALES MANAGER-Sal-ary:$5,000.00-5,534.00 per month 05 COOK-Salary:$4.00-4.15 per hour 01 GENERAL MANAGER-Sal-ary:$6,000.00-6,556.00 per month 01 FRONT OFFICE MANAGER-Salary:$5,500.00-6,040.00 per month Contact: SAIPAN HOTEL CORP. dba Hafadai Beach Hotel Tel. 234-6495(2/ 22)M76901

01 DESK CLERK, BOWLING FLOORSalary:$3.05 per hour Contact: CAPITAL ENTERPRISES CORPORATION dba Capital Bowling Center Tel. 233-7820(2/22)M29856

Seishin dbo'l'.n .. ,ilOdmchl,f'FamD,~

WANTED Experienced Cook for Filipino Cuisine

contact: 235-5948

LOST PASSPORT Name: Sun Hui Fang (Chinese)

Passport No: P.2466950 Please Contact Tel. #31.2-1958

tifLV WtWJfl) 88l81P8P8DD . Experience in Hotel/Restaurant

sales needed Prior sales experience

Apply at Kweks-Saipan Middle Road, Gualo Rai

before February 12, 1999

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms 2,000 sq. ft with an excellent ~iew

. with swimming pool ' laundry facilities, 24 hrs . ..:utcr &

power, fully airconditioned.

CALL: 322-3685

(2) Bedroom, (I) Bedroom Apartment, Fully Furnished, Laundry Room, Security Gate w/lntcrcom, 24 hrs. hot water. Hi2h quality and cheap price. Located in Koblervillc

MODERN APARTMENT Contact Pe~oo:Daniel Lin Tel. 288-8471 or483-8484

JVA APARTMENT CHALAN KANOA

Wost ol W.S. Rayes Elllmentary 8ch0ol (NEWLY BUILT>

2 Bedroom, 24 lloUJ'S Water, FullY Furntshld, Water Heatur,

Ah:ondltklnud, lalDldrY Faclltltls, Door wltntercom and cable TV Roady

For lnqull'IIIS contact EVR YN TB.. # 2~5-2811

APARTHENT FOR RENT - 1 & 2 Bedroom, Fully Furnished,

Split Type A/Con all Rooms Including Living & Dining

- Breezy Atmosphere, Ocean View,

- Spacious Parking

- 24 Hours Power & Water W/Standby Generator

- WI Laundry Facilities

Please call: 23s-1111n2n

287-7070

Tel.234,1233 jDavJ 2U8·22221Evening)

FOR RENT New 2 Bedroom Apartment Units

Near Coral Ocean Point and Kobler Elem. School

24 hour water, fonced location, air con in every bedroom, refrigerator, range, water heater& trash collection 235-4341 after 5:30 p.m.

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/.


EEK & MEEK® .bY Howie Schneider

Garfield® by Jim Davis

PEANUTS® by Charles M. Schulz l1LL HAVE TO ADMIT THAT IN MAN'( WA'i'S WE ARE A CLOSE FAMILY .. BROTHER5 AND SISTERS JUST NATURALLY TEND TO SE

TJ.!AT WA'r' .. SUCH CLOSENESS IS VERY ADMIRABLE ...

STELLA WILD ER

YOUR BIRTHDAY MONDAY, FEB. 8, 1999

Born today, you are considered by many to be a dreamer rather than a doer, but the facts contradict this assertion. In fact, you are someone who knows how to take the bull by the horns, control your own destiny, and do those things that must be done in most situations. You are disinterested in what others think of you, or how others view your behavior and judge your character. You are far more concerned with how you make your way in the world, and with what rewards - tangible and intangible - can come from your daily activities.

Because you know what others arc thinking on so many occasions, you and those around you may actually begin to believe that you've been endowed with some sort of extrasensory perception. Be that as it may, you have remarkably keen instincts and intuitions.

Also born on this date are: John Williams, composer and conductor; Mary Steenburgen, actress; Jack Lemmon, actor; Ted Koppel, news commentator; Nick Nolte, actor; John Grisham, novelist.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb.18)

- You'll have a chance to surprise a friend or loved one by

doing something that will be long remembered despite the strange timing.

PISCES (Feb.19-March 20) - You may notice today that someone is acting quite differently around you than yesterday, and the reason should be clear to you by day's end.

ARIES (March 21-A pril 19) - You will have some difficulty making a fast start today. No matter when you actually get going, however, you must maintain an even pace.

TAURUS (Apri120-May20) - Avoid any activities today which could put you or someone you love at risk. A longterm decision may have to be made prematurely.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - You'll have a few important questions to ask yourself about how you are expressing your feelings today. Someone may misunderstand your actions.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) - Give yourself a little more credit today. There are certain things that are out of your reach, but you 're capable of accomplishing something grand in scope.

LEO(July23-Aug.22)-You will be tempted to tum down the help you've been offered recently, but before the day is over, you will see the wisdom of saying ~'yes."

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - Leave important messages in person today, or wait until a

"better time." It's not a good day for trusting indirect means of communication.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-0ct. 22)Your behavior is likely to defy explanation or comprehension today, especially when y,ou are fueled purely by the irrational later in the day.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -A misunderstanding is likely to arise today. You can put an end to it quickly simply by telling your side of the story. Don't hold back.

SAG ITT ARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)-Don't try to take the credit today for something that is actually the result of someone else's efforts. Others are sure to know the truth.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - You'll have to take the time to get things done the "oldfashioned" way today. Try not to take any untried shortcuts at this time.

CROSSWORD PUZZLER ACROSS

1 Actors' erg. 4 Arctic abode 9 Prohibit

12 Aunt, in Spain

13 Future plants 14 Before

(poetic) 15 Author

Caldwell 17 Former

Minnesota Twins great

19 Comfort 20 Seabird 21 Kind of collar 23 Tiniest 27 Extinguish . 29 "Now--

me down to sleep"

30 Symbol for cerium

31 Kind of curve 32 Celestial

visitor 34 He's Nash

Bridges

35 Between Va. and S.C.

36 Sharpen 37 Critics Siske!

and-39 Devil worship 42 King toppers 43 "Thanks -

-!" 44 River in

Spain 46-Penh 48 Cajole 51 Mr. Koppel 52 Angry 54 Lend an-55 "Chasing-" 56 Mr. Romero 57 Pitcher's stat

DOWN

1 SaultMarie

2 Broadcast 3 Emitting

vapor 4 Egyptian

goddess 5 Hereditary

Answer to Previous Puzzle

1-20 © 1998 United Feature Syndicate

factors 6 Spike-7 Hypothetical

force 8 Kiss 9 "Uncle Miltie"

10 Metric

measure 11 Recent 16 Between

Colo. and Mo.

18 TV's McBeal or actress Sheedy

20 Strong wind 21 Paradises 22 Italian opera 24 Speechless

performers 25 Tally 26 Camp

shelters 28 01 money

management 33 "Step - -!" 34 Circuit device 36 Angel's

symbol 38 Reveal 40 Actress

Jessica -41 Conductor . Zubin-45 Lager 46 School erg. 47 Dress border 48 Existed 49 Sci.

workroom 50 Silkworm 53 Concerning

by Dick Rogers

3-1= ~WNI

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•.'

26-MARIANAS VARIETY NEWS AND VIEWS-MONDAY- FEBRUARY 8 1999

Jury· ... Continued from page 5

who was found dead in a grassy area near Domar Store in New Dandan Homestead on Nov. 29, 1997.

An autopsy showed that Obak suffered numerous blunt injuries to

Drilon . .. Continued from page 5

so that Filipino workers corning home will have more health benefits.

Drilon is also urging the executive department.of the Philippine government to enter into more detailed contracts and agreements with states that have a lot of Filipino workers.

"There will always be a tendency to abuse Filipino workers abroad and if the Philippine government does nothing about it,

Bill ... Continued from page 1

zenship to babies of alien workers.

Tenorio wanted to restrict it to children who already have at least one US citizen parent.

The Clinton administration.

Filipino .. Continued from page 1

The police theorize that Cerdema might have died in his sleep.

Cerdena's body was still being taken out of his room when the ariety atTived at the scene.

urnulong said he learned of erdena ·s death when he went to heck the latter in his room, wondering why he was still in bed at ast I p.m.

hen he opened Cerdena 's oorn, Sumulong found his house ate's lifeless body.

urnulong called the other occupants of the house who rang up he police. He also called his rather and other relatives who ive in Dandan.0

e of the neighbors said C rdena went to work at about l p.m. Saturday and came home at about 9 p.m.

The neighbor said that when he aJTived at about 11 :30 p.m., he

Tenorio . .. Continued from page 1

the government has to be "strictly mindful" of the available resources to make sure that scholarships are awarded to deserving college students. "But they have to underst:ind also that the money is not there and everybody has to sacrifice."

Finance officials suggested an amendment to existing laws which provide scholarships to off-island students lo limit the grants to a

the cheek, chin, left eye, and chest. . Court records showed that the

defendants beat Obak and poked the latter on the eye with a tangantangan stick.

Prior to the incident, Obak attended a Thanksgiving party in Chalan Kanoa .before proceeding to a friend's residence in Dandan Homestead.

this sad practice will continue. There are laws existing, of course, but these laws only cover Philippine jurisdiction. In other words, we can only cover the Philippinebased recruiters."

He added that the contributions of overseas Filipinos to the Philippine economy continues to be significant. "Last year, the amount of remittance sent by overseas Filipinos totaled more than $7 billion. This enabled the Philippine gross national product to grow despite the current Asian economic crisis."

however, described the proposal as "unconstitutional."

Still, there was a resolution introduced in the previous Congress, calling for a constitutional amendment to allow such restrictions on the granting of US citizenship.

The CNMI Legislature has endorsed the resolution.

went to Cerdena's room to invite him to join him for supper.

That was the last time that he saw Cerdena alive.

Cerdena had been in the CNMI for eight years and worked for three years as a maintainance man at L&T.

Meanwhile, a smashup involving three vehicles occurred at about 2:48 p.m. yesterday along Beach Road in front of the Saipan Grand Hotel in Susupe.

The accident was chanced upon by the Variety while returning from Koblerville.

The accident involved a Ford Van. a Toyota Previa (AAX238), and a Mitsubishi ES (ABB 827).

According to traffic investigators. the Mitsubishi car was struck by the Pre via which was tailing it.

Due to the strong imp:ict, the Toyota also rammed into the van ahead of it. As a result, the rear and front portions of the Mitsubishi car were wrecked, while the Toyota was heavily damaged on its front.

m:iximum of $15,000 per year effective this fall semester, inclusive of all expenses such as tuition and board.

The government is also considering suspending financial assistance for this summer for all students attending NMC or uni versities in the mainland, in efforts to help boost funds of the CNMI's only higher educational institution.

CNMI is expecting to save an estimated $342,000 from the two recommendations which need approval from the Legislature.

CALi.,234-7272(PARA)

Man . . . Continued from page 5

of the government which are material to the preparation of the accused's defense.

The chief public defend~r also requested for all reports and documents contained in the personnel files of Deleon Guerrero and Seman indicating "instances of dishonesty, excessive force in the performance of their duties as

CNMI ... Continued from page 5

the minor child Mercedita. On the other hand, the Supreme

Court ordered that all proceedings at the trial court and special master level to be open and unsealed.

Court records showed that Mercedita, who was born on Dec. 22, 1995, is a qualified heir claimant to the Hillblom 's estimated $600 million to $700 million estate.

From Nov. 1996 until the present, Rotbart has represented Milagros in her capacity as guardian for Mercedita

Rotbart is also currently representing Inos, co-guardian ad !item to Mercedita.

Milagros is currently represented by three other attorneys-Antonio Atalig, Manuel Teehankee and Jerome Leitner.

Mercedita, according to court documents, has established a presumption th:it she is a qualified heir claimant entitling her to receive 15 percent of the net distributable estate.

Last November the estate executor Bank of Saipan moved for a hearing regarding Feliciano's interim payments accounting filed on Oct. 28, 1998.

The executor outlined deficiencies in the accounting then sought the appointment of an emergency guardian residing in the Commonwealth until a full hearing could be conducted.

The Probate Court and Guard.ianship Court jointly issued an order directing Special Master Rexford C. Kosack to investigate and report on issues relating to Mercedita and Milagros.

Marshall. Continued from page 1

second major urban center.

• •

"There 'ssomuchred tape(with other countries)," local attorney David Strauss said in explaining why a growing numberof Americans arc turning to the Marshall Islands to adopt children.

Strauss, who handled more than half of last year's adoptions, said most of his clients have previously gone to China, Guatemala or Russia where they face lengthy and costly delays in processing children for adoption.

Then, he said, they must face U.S. immigration obstacles in order to get their children into the U.S.

But because of a Compact of Free Association with the U.S .. adopted Marshallcse babies or children have visa-free access to the U.S., and it's relatively inexpensive to adopt from the Marshalls compared to other

police officers and other evidence relating to the their-:redibility and character.

Palefsky also sought all reports, witness statements and documents in the possession of either the DPS or the AGO relating to the alleged assault by the two officers against Francis Eugenio on Dec. I, 1997.

"The discovery undoubtedly contains information which shows the officers' character reputation for violence," he said.

The court concurrently issued appointmentoflnosas Mercedita's emergency temporary co-guardian ad !item.

LastNov.18,Milagrosappeared with off-island attorney Teehankee and local attorney Michael Dotts, both seeking permission to participate in the hearing.

Dotts asked the court to substirute Teehankee for Rotbart as lead counsel for Milagros.

The special master denied the oral motion to substitute and directed Milagros to file a formal motion seeking a substirution from the court.

The special master ordered a medical examination ofMercedita, and issued an order of confidentiality governing all proceedings concerning the child.

Inos sought the retention of Rotbartascounsel, the move which wa;; supported by the execu,tor.

Milagros asked the court to dismiss Rotbart and to retain Teehankee along with attorneys Dotts and O'Connor and Atalig, as local counsel.

The executor opposed the substirution of Teehankee and joined Inos' s motion.

At the Nov. 24 hearing, the court issued its written order denying the motion to substitute counsel for Mercedita.

The court determined that substitution was not in the best interest of Feliciano, ·although the court approved of Teehankee' s representation for Milagros in her individual capacity in the special master proceedings.

!nos 's motion for retention of Rotbart as counsel for Mercedita wa~ granted. Teehankee was later joined in his representation of

places, he added. The concern of the Cabinet is

that too many children are going out of the country, Maddison said pointing to the statistics. Maddison said there have not been large numbers of complaints or

. apparent problems about foreign adoptions.

"We have only heard of isolated incidents (of problems)," she said. But, she said, the government wants to get a handle on what is happening with the children who are being adopted before serious problems develop.

Strauss observed that a substantial number of his clients have adopted two or more children, often returning several times over a period of a year or two for their second and third adopted children.

"One mother brought the children she had already adopted back to Majuro when she came for her third child so they could see their parents," Strauss said, adding that reports from the American par-

The defense lawyer said. that last July 6 Reyes \\'.as charged with two counts of obstructing justice for his alleged resisting and or interference with his arrest by the two officers.

"Reyes' defenses to these charges are that he acted in selfdefense in response to excessive force used by the officers that he used reasonable force to expel trespassers from his property and a general denial of the charges," Palefsky added.

Milagros by off-island counsel Leitner. . Rotbart then filed a motion to

withdraw as counsel of record for Milagros in order to disassociate himself from Milagros while continuing to represent the child through co-guardian !nos.

The trial court issued an order last Jan. 6 denying motion to dis-· qualify and for Rotbart to withdraw as counsel.

The lower court ruled that "based upon the need to responsibly manage proceedings and upon inadequate arguments the court denied the motion to withdraw as counsel filed by Rotbart and the motion to disqualify counsel filed by Milagros.

Based on these orders, Milagros filed a petition before the Supreme Court to prohibit the trial court from denying the motions-regarding actions taken against her.

The Supreme Court in its Feb. 4 order denied the petition,. saying Milagros is currently represented in her personal capacity by her lead attorneys of choice Teehankee and Leitner together with the local counsel Atalig.

The high tribunal said the Superior Court was correct in denying the substirution of counsel because the O'Connor firm and Teehankee have numerous conflicts of interest which would prevent them from representing Milagros.

Dotts and O'Connor both represented Hillblom during his lifetime and by participating in representation, have continuing obligations to the estate, through the executor.

Both ofTeehankee's firms, the Supreme Couit said, have previously represented the executor in the same matter.

ents indicate that many of the babies - who generally come from lower income families -have improved health living with their new families in America.

In addition to seeking the views of government ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sponsoring a public hearing next week Friday to get participation of people in the community, Maddison said.

"We'd like to get the support of the churches - because some are involved with adoptions - . and other community groups as we start looking into adoptions," she said.

TheCabinethasset a three month deadline for a report back with recommendations, and Maddison hopes to have it done sooner so that if ne!!d be, amendments to current legislation can be submitted to the Nitijela before the cu1Tent session recesses until August.

The :iim, Maddison said, is not to prevent adoptions but to develop a "more thorough way of dealing with it."

r

.1/ /, '


Mitchell retains A title By JOSEPH WHITE

WASHINGTON (AP) Sharmba Mitchell, who lay on the canvass in agony after a low blow in the seventh round, recovered to retain his WBA super-lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Pedro Saiz on Saturday night.

Saiz, who had earlier been warned for low blows, buckled Mitchell with a left hook to the groin early in the seventh. Mitchell cried out in pain, and the fight was stopped for about two minutes. Saiz was penalized one point for the blow.

When the fight resumed, Mitchell was fired up and produced one of his best flurries in a fight that saw the two left-handers land scores of punches. In the end, Mitchell hurt Saiz more than Saiz hurt Mitchell - Saiz had to stop at one point in the ninth round because of blood in his eye - and the champion was the clear winner on all three of judge's scorecards.

"I hurt my hand in the fourth throwing a hook," Mitchell said.

"I think I might have broken it. ... !,only had two weeks to

prepare. I wanted to knock him out, but it wasn't to be."

Mitchell, ofTakomaPark, Mary-. land, improved his record to 44-2

with 29 knockouts. Saiz, of New York, is 23-5-3 with 16 KOs. Both fighters weighed l 40 pounds.

The bout,alateaddition to the card, was the first of two title fights at the Washington Convention Center. In the headliner, Bernard Hopkins defendedhislBFmiddleweight crown in a rematch against No. I contender Robert Allen later Saturday.

The Hopkins-Allen bout was the only survivor in what was once billed as a rare ti tie tripleheader featuring three middleweight world champions.

WBC champ Hassine Cherifi was to fight ex-champ Keith Holmes in a rematch, bt1t Cherifi pulled a back muscle in his final sparring session in France. William Joppy was to defend his WBA belt against Darren Obah, butJoppy

Wizards to host NBA draft NEW YORK (AP) - For the first time, the Washington Wizards will be the hosts for the NBA draft.

The league said Saturday that the draft would be held June 30 at the MCI Center.

"We are delighted to bring one of the NBA's premier events to our nation's capital and to stateof-the-art MCI Center," commissioner David Stem said.

Abe Pollin, chairman of Washington Sports and Entertainment,

Woman ... Continued from page 6

toward Tuman. The pursue contained a small

amount of money and miscellaneous documents.

Busy ... Continued from page 6

introduced goes up for public testimony in front of the Committee on Judiciary, Public Safety, Consumer Protection and Human Resources Development.

Sen. Kaleo Moylan, author of Bill No. 1, seeks to repeal and reenact a section of the Guam Code relative to establishing the jurisdiction for judges of the Superior Court of Guam to protect the welfare of minors.

Efforts . .. Continued from page 6

Yamashita said. "Necessary changes could be

made without implementing the new reform law that directs the Department of Education to divide itself into four separate districts with separate Boards of Education to control the areas affected."

She said the Government of Guam is in a cash-strapped status,

said, "The Washington area is steeped in basketball tradition and for basketball fans everywhere, the NBA draft is one of the most anticipated events of the year."

The draft had been held in New York from 1979-91, before being moved around to various NBA cities.

Since then, it has been held in Portland; Detroit; Indianapolis; Toronto; East Rutherford, N.J.; Charlotte, N.C. and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hours after the robbery an allpoints-bulletin (APB) was broadcast. Officers then located two men and the suspect vehicle at the Lucky Too's Lounge in Yigo.

The suspects' vehicle, a black primer 1984 Toyota Hilux pickup truck, was impounded.

The committee will also review the confirmation of Angel Sablan as director of the Department of Corrections.

Finally, on Friday, the Committee on Education will hear testimony on Bill No. 79, which seeks to ren:ime the schools within the districts by the district Boards of Education.

The committee will also review the appointment of Dr. Franklin Quitugua as a member to the University of Guam Board of Regents.

as evidenced by recent layoffs of many school aids, teachers and others.

"The implementation of the Reform Act would cost at least$ I million and the operation costs would skyrocket," she said.

Yamashita told the court that the mere reschedulil)g of school bus schedules would create a huge financial problem for DOE.

The trial to determine if the Education Refonn Act is constitutional will continue at 8:30 a.m. today.

suffered a cracked vetebrae in an automobile accident last month.

D.C. native Holmes instead fought Alex Lubo, knocking the Colombian native out 1 :55 into the first round. Holmes improved to

32-2with21 KOs. Lubo, who trains in Davie, Florida, fell to 14-6.

Once again, the fashion statement of the evening was made by Washington super-lightweight DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley

(I 6-0-1, 10 KOs), who sported his usual red tights and yellow hightop shoes with red hearts as he remained unbeaten by stopping Sergio Pena of New York (5-9-1) in the fifth round.

Sharmba Mitchell, of Tacoma Park, Md. (left) defends his title against Pedro Saiz, of the Dominican Republic in the 3rd round of the WBA Superlightweight championship at the Washington Convention Center Saturday, in Washington D.C. AP

Brothers ... Continued from page 28

was the 1990 Brothers first coach, continues to play and is still very much effective on the hard court.

Adding to the Brothers dominance on the basketball court is their bench.

"The bench is filled with talent.

"When I look at the bench to make substitutions I don.'t have any problem. They are very

. talented and It makes it very easy for me," said Diaz.

Tonight's basketball games will bring a close to the 1999 BANMI regular season.

The unbeaten Brothers will go against the talented Local Stars in first game at 7 p.m. at Ada Gym. Following will be the final ballgame between STS vs. Flyers.

Little ... Continued from page 28

suppmt these good youngsters. Sports will help them to be good,· and build good citizens. And hopefully they will grow up and be better athletes," said the congressman.

He later added,"it's just a small part of what these kids need, that I can contribute. I've been doing this for several years".

The Cardinals uniform for the pas.t four years had been red, but, another team had already purchased uniforms, in the cardinals' color.

The 1999 Little League Cardinals will be sporting a blue/ white colored uniforms.

Cardinals left-fielder, Joshua Santos of Koblerville agreed that the new threads are cool. He wants to return next year and

play :igain. TI1e 14 uniforms cost about,

$1,600 dollars said Manalo. Gwen (as she prefers to be

called) Sablan fills the gap, in that all important position of shortstop. She was too shy to be interviewed.

However her coach was more than delighted to offer a few words of praise for the only girl on his team.

"She is a good infielder, she handles the ball very well. She is also a very good batter," said Manalo.

For parent Ton Dela Cruz, showing support to his I I-year old son, Chris, is important.

"I just came here to help my son, and the team. I give my son. the support he needs, and deserves," said Dela Cruz.

The 1999 Little League regular season is scheduled to open on Saturday, February 20 at the San Vicente baseball field.

-

--

--·

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SPORTS Brothers st_ay undefeated

Brothers' Ed Diaz warming up prior to a recent balfgame. The Brothers will be going against Local Stars tonight in BANMI action.

Photo by Tony Cells

··.A· . . · ... · .... · ·· . ·b· : .•. : .. · .. '·.·.·.· ·· .... ·.' :. /<.·••.···· ... :···.·<·(\· ... ·.::·t····:.\·.·.·./,·i.·•. ".:\ rl.Ces · · reeze ~aStt Miller.Lite·• .• · 67-65

. . ' ' ' ' ' '

By Patrick Lujan For the Variety

WHEN two closely related teams fight each other, something has to come through to make a difference.

The difference was the bench play of the MVP Aces - most especially Alan Chang and Fidel Calalang-as the Aces edged Miller Lite 67-65 in the Gatorade Basketball League Saturday at the University of Guam field house.

Statistics show the closeness of the teams. Miller had one more team assist, rebound and turnover than MVP.

The glaring difference was the bench scoring as the Aces outdid Miller Lite 28-13 as Chang and Calalang both scored 17 points.

Miller Lite was the first to get out of the starting blocks as Daryl Styles' 10-foot jumper put Lite ahead 8-2. ·

The lead increased to 20-12 when the punitive Fred Guzman picked the Aces pocket with a steal and strolled in for an opencourt layup.

That's how wide the window would be for Lite as MVP started its comeback.

"The slow start came from everyone coming late and didn't get to warm up," Aces point guard Manny Alegre said.

The Aces tied the game 27-27 on a Carmen Blas 3-po.inter from the corner and took off from there, garnering a 31-27 halftime edge. Calalang was the spark late in the first half with 11 points in the final 10 minutes before the break.

"It was those first-half turnovers that gave Ace the momentum and they were able to come back from the game," Miller point guard Rey Serafico said. ·

Chang then took over in the second half and carried the Aces on his shoulders.

By Tony Celis spmt. There isn't a player that on every player on the team. Variety News Staff doesn't think of the team first," Jess Dela Cruz powers the for-

A PERFECT record is hard to said Diaz. ward position, while Jay. come by. But for the APC The team is led by his cousin, Morishita reigns in center. BROTHERS that privilege'was Edward Diaz. Steve and Ponce Rasa have· paved beginning on Jan. 6, with "Everyone on the team looks improved their game tremen-their narrow victory over team to Ed is their leader. And no- dously, adding to the teams av-. Lite. body questions that. They play · erage of I 00 points per game.

They learned a lesson that to win. Whether Ed scores 30 The high leaping Peter Sablan night, a lesson that has given points or not. If Ed is being surprises many opponents, both the Brothers more drive to win. double teamed He 'JI just dish offensively and in defense. That drive has paid off as the off, and the others will continue Other members of the this Brothers basketball team remain to score," Diaz said. year's line-up have been re-to only undefeated team in the In the nine years since the cruited from other teams. 1999 BANMI league. Brothers basketball team had "Many of these guys have

They have come a long way to been born, they have continued been wanting to play together get to the top and it feels just have been improve, and have as a team, for a long time. But fine for them. been very close to winning a they were committed to play

Team manager Juan Diaz pennant title. But this year they elsewhere. This year though, can't help but show his opti- have the pennant title already we got lucky, and got mism about his team. wrapped. them,"added Diaz.

"This team is outstanding. Ev- · Making this team as good as it James Diaz, who incidentally eryone on the team has the team is, the coach and manager rely Continued on page 26 ! -------i

I Little Leaguers get new uniforms j By Tony Celis. i Variety News Staff I THE CARDINALS are now sporting a new color for their baseball uniforms. The San Antonio Little League Cardinals that is.

Most baseball teams that take in the cardinals name, have traditionally worn red colored uniforms, resembling the North American bird with the same name.

But children normally don'! give a hoot about what color uniforms they get, only that they

1 wear one. I Eleven year old Thomas Joad j really likes his uniform. ·----

. "I like the blue colored· ones. It's bad _ss,"said the youngster.

. Ben Manalo has been the Car-· qinals headcoach for the past four years. He also believes that his players are happy with their uniforms. He had them practice in their uniforms, on Saturday.

"They'll get them (uniforms) dirty anyway, might as well let them have fun," said the head coach.

For the past five years the Cardinals have adopted the San Antonio Elementary School baseball field as their home-field.

As part of that adoption, they have maintained the field in good condition.. The managers,

coaches, and some parents normally find the time to· get togetheron a weekend. They bring their own lawn-mowers, and yard rakes to beautify the baseball field.

Saturday was no exception, players, manager; coaches , and parents gathered at the San Antonio Elementary School pav_ilion for a picnic.

The occasion was to show their appreciation forCongressman Manny C. Tenorio.. The congressman partly sponsored the team, and purchased their uniforms.

"I have a moral obligation to

Continued on page 26 J

The Little League Cardinals of San Antonio think thelr new uniforms are cool. Congressman Manny Tenorio (far right) sponsored the purchase of the uniforms. Photo by Tony cells

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