Cruz: Guest workers ‘using’ NMI
Wednesday, 23 December 2009 00:00 By Richelle Ann P. Agpoon - Variety News Intern
GUEST workers should not use issues about “abuses” for self-serving agendas, Taotao Tano leader Gregorio Cruz said yesterday.
Advocates of guest workers, he added, do not have respect for local culture and traditions because they are fighting for temporary guest workers who want to become permanent residents.
“We Chamorros must protect our culture against outside influences,” he said.
CNMI guest worker regulations, he added, should not be used to pursue the personal agendas of foreigners.
“The people of these islands are U.S citizens and the CNMI is in a political union with the U.S. It is wrong to accuse U.S citizens of human rights issues to pursue improved status for guest workers,” Cruz said.
Showing posts with label Taotao Tano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taotao Tano. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Cruz: Indigenous Affairs Office should be fully funded
Cruz: Indigenous Affairs Office should be fully funded
Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00 By Richelle Ann P. Agpoon - Variety News Intern
THE Indigenous Affairs Office must be adequately funded so it can help preserve and promote Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, Taotao Tano leader Greg Cruz said.
He said the office has failed to meet its constitutional mandates which include coordinating the development, distribution, adoption and translation of a comprehensive history of the Marianas; ensuring local participation in executive managerial decision-making in the government and the private sector; assisting and promoting local entrepreneurial development; establishing a community foundation in the advancement of the indigenous people; planning for the establishment of the Indigenous Cultural Center and the indigenous hall of fame; developing and implementing a long range plan to assist and promote the entry of the indigenous people into professional and technical institutions of higher education; and serving as an advocate of the indigenous people.
“Have any of those things materialized?” Cruz asked.
The office has yet to have a new director following the death of Gonzalo Q. Santos.
Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00 By Richelle Ann P. Agpoon - Variety News Intern
THE Indigenous Affairs Office must be adequately funded so it can help preserve and promote Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, Taotao Tano leader Greg Cruz said.
He said the office has failed to meet its constitutional mandates which include coordinating the development, distribution, adoption and translation of a comprehensive history of the Marianas; ensuring local participation in executive managerial decision-making in the government and the private sector; assisting and promoting local entrepreneurial development; establishing a community foundation in the advancement of the indigenous people; planning for the establishment of the Indigenous Cultural Center and the indigenous hall of fame; developing and implementing a long range plan to assist and promote the entry of the indigenous people into professional and technical institutions of higher education; and serving as an advocate of the indigenous people.
“Have any of those things materialized?” Cruz asked.
The office has yet to have a new director following the death of Gonzalo Q. Santos.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Taotao Tano Attacks Federalization Lawsuit
Cruz criticizes Willens for ‘embarrassing’ lawsuit vs feds
Tuesday, 07 October 2008
By Junhan B. Todeno
Marianas Variety News
TAOTAO Tano president Gregorio S. Cruz Jr. is questioning the integrity of the governor’s special legal counsel Howard P. Willens for urging the administration to sue the U.S. government over the federalization law.
“Today, after 36 years you are saying something is wrong with our Covenant and are now suing the federal government on something that has not taken affect,” Cruz said in his letter to Willens.
Willens was the legal counsel of the Marianas Political Status Commission in the Covenant negotiations from 1972 to 1976.
He was also the legal counsel to the First Constitutional Convention.
Cruz said that since the inauguration of the CNMI government on Jan. 9, 1978, contentious issues and controversies have surrounded the commonwealth.
Local U.S. citizens in the commonwealth, he added, have been pushed in their own backyard by the controllers of their islands’ economy.
“All labor fees collected were intended to be appropriated to Northern Marianas College for the education, training and certification of our local people to eventually takeover positions in the private sector held by non-resident foreign guest workers,” he said.
“The program was eventually derailed and deliberately shut down simply due to self-interest greed and the preference of nonresident guest workers in the job market. A job market Gov. Fitial was well aware off and participated during his tenure as a member of our legislative branch, all the way to being the speaker of the House representing his business constituents and not my local people,” Cruz said.
He said the Fitial administration will not stand a chance in its “embarrassing lawsuit against the federal government.”
The commonwealth has opposed “federal takeover” numerous times in the past, he said, because the local people believed that it was unsustainable and impractical.
“We maintain that [federalizing immigration] now without appropriate accommodations of our economic and social needs, when our economy is so weak, will be counterproductive and is certainly not supported by the will of our people,” he added.
But “we also do not feel that the ‘no modification’ position of our governor is productive, reasonable or in the best interest of the people of the Northern Mariana Islands and the people of the United States,” Cruz said.
Tuesday, 07 October 2008
By Junhan B. Todeno
Marianas Variety News
TAOTAO Tano president Gregorio S. Cruz Jr. is questioning the integrity of the governor’s special legal counsel Howard P. Willens for urging the administration to sue the U.S. government over the federalization law.
“Today, after 36 years you are saying something is wrong with our Covenant and are now suing the federal government on something that has not taken affect,” Cruz said in his letter to Willens.
Willens was the legal counsel of the Marianas Political Status Commission in the Covenant negotiations from 1972 to 1976.
He was also the legal counsel to the First Constitutional Convention.
Cruz said that since the inauguration of the CNMI government on Jan. 9, 1978, contentious issues and controversies have surrounded the commonwealth.
Local U.S. citizens in the commonwealth, he added, have been pushed in their own backyard by the controllers of their islands’ economy.
“All labor fees collected were intended to be appropriated to Northern Marianas College for the education, training and certification of our local people to eventually takeover positions in the private sector held by non-resident foreign guest workers,” he said.
“The program was eventually derailed and deliberately shut down simply due to self-interest greed and the preference of nonresident guest workers in the job market. A job market Gov. Fitial was well aware off and participated during his tenure as a member of our legislative branch, all the way to being the speaker of the House representing his business constituents and not my local people,” Cruz said.
He said the Fitial administration will not stand a chance in its “embarrassing lawsuit against the federal government.”
The commonwealth has opposed “federal takeover” numerous times in the past, he said, because the local people believed that it was unsustainable and impractical.
“We maintain that [federalizing immigration] now without appropriate accommodations of our economic and social needs, when our economy is so weak, will be counterproductive and is certainly not supported by the will of our people,” he added.
But “we also do not feel that the ‘no modification’ position of our governor is productive, reasonable or in the best interest of the people of the Northern Mariana Islands and the people of the United States,” Cruz said.
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