NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Independent Guåhan will present on the risks of drafting a constitution as a territory and honor the late Lt. Governor Frank F. Blas for June GA For Immediate Release, June 18, 2019-  Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, June 27 th ,  from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. This GA will focus on the risks involved should Guam decide to pass a constitution as a territory of the US. As part of this educational focus, the group will honor as maga’taotao the late Lt. Governor of Guam Frank F. Blas.  Following the passage of a federal law that enabled Guam to draft a local constitution, the second Guam Constitutional Convention (ConCon) was held in 1977. A constitution was drafted and approved by the US federal government; however, it was rejected at a 4-1 margin by the voters of Guam. There are many reasons why the draft constitution was rejected, but many of them ste

War reparations is something that hardly receives much attention anymore. It used to be the issue that could make or break a candidate for delegate in Guam. It was something that people pushed for, and always seemed likely to get in some form, but never materialized. War reparations in the Chamorro context, is about compensation for the atrocities, suffering and destruction that Chamorros experienced during World War II at the hands of occupying Japanese forces. Chamorros did receive some compensation for what had happened in the immediate postwar era, but a commission later determined that they were not given enough information or access to those channels of redress and that further compensation should be awarded. This issue is waning in political importance due to the fact that the war generation is dying out. The number of people who would be eligible for compensation decreases with each year. The impetus is slowly being quashed as time ravages our elders and making the issue ap

I just finished up an interview on the issue of war reparations for Chamorros. This past week a group of politicians, who are part of the non-profit group Guam World War II Reparations Advocates announced their intent to file a lawsuit against the US government on behalf of Chamorros who endured Japanese occupation from 1941-1944 and who waiting for some form of compensation for close to 30 years. I've included an article on the lawsuit below from The Guam Daily Post. I also wanted to share a quote from my interview, in which I responded personally to what I felt about the possibility of reparations being granted today. Gof annok gi ineppe'-ku i minala'et-hu. Fihu iyo-ku grandfather ha faisen yu' put este na asunto, ya kao sina mohon ma risibi este na salape' para i pinadesen gera. Lalalo' yu' sa' matai i nanan biha-hu tres anos tatte na tiempo ya matai si grandpa gi ma'pos na sakkan. Anggen un diha ma na'i i taotao-ta este, hafa i bali-na angg

The Chamorro Land Trust was a government program born as an idea and hope during an expansion of Chamorro consciousness and then implemented and given life during a period of heated activism and protest for Guam. When we look back at the work of Chamorro rights pioneers such as Paul Bordallo or Angel Santos, the Chamorro Land Trust is a key, tangible piece of their legacies. The Chamorro Land Trust's mission is to provide land to landless Chamorros and for the benefit of the Chamorro community, but different administrations have always found ways to blur that or to quietly sneak around or shockingly expand what that might mean, giving away lands meant to be held in trust for the Chamorro people to all sorts of public and private enterprises. The late Senator Ben Pangelinan once said, "anggen ta manteni i tano', ta susteni i taotao." If we hold onto the land, we sustain the people. A very true point that is important to remember as Guam is sold off to foreign compa

Driving around the past few days was surreal. It wasn’t because of the change in the air due to the storm. It wasn’t because of the eerie clouds that have been hanging around lately. It was because of something that for a day or two largely disappeared from the island’s landscape, political signs. Si Yu’us Ma’ase to all the candidates who pulled their signs down during the most recent storm warning. It is one thing to have people use your signs as plywood after an election is over, it is another entirely to have your signs appear on Facebook or Instagram after one of them was thrown into someone’s windshield by wannabe-typhoon-force-winds. After months of watching these signs multiple faster than rhino beetles and brown tree snakes put together. After months of watching these signs, like gladiators bravely clash at street corners, in neighborhoods and in empty fields, using cut up American flags, partially hidden Guam seals and plenty of platitudes as their

I'm writing up my 2012 Guam Political Sign Awards. For those who need a reminder about what this entails, I thought I would post below my awards for the last election, in 2010. ******************* 2010 Guam political sign awards Wednesday, 10 Nov 2010 01:22am by Michael Bevacqua |  Marianas Variety News Staff The political signs are slowly getting taken down around island and so before we forget that for close to a year our island was covered in a sea of slogans, promises, and smiling faces, Id like to hand out my 2010 Guam Political Sign Awards. These awards are decided by me and me alone, there is no panel of judges who have debated or voted on them. The categories are neither fair, nor uniform, and they change for each election depending on what signs are out there. These awards are meant to be fun and funny, and rarely serious. These are not meant to attack any candidates, but are instead given to celebrate how invested our island

2012 Guam Election Results (courtesy of KUAM) Congressional 1 BORDALLO, Madeleine * Democrat 20,174 2 BLAS, Frank Jr. Republican 13,160 * Designates incumbent Senatorial 1 RODRIGUEZ, Dennis Jr. * Democrat 20,408 2 AGUON, Frank Jr. Democrat 19,820 3 ADA, Tom * Democrat 18,462 4 MORRISON, Tommy Republican 17,307 5 SAN NICOLAS, Michael Democrat 16,963 6 ADA, Tony * Republican 16,188 7 LIMTIACO, Mike Republican 16,150 8 DUENAS, Chris * Republican 16,022 9 CRUZ, Benjamin J. * Democrat 15,446 10 WON PAT, Judith * Democrat 15,333 11 MUNA BARNES, Tina * Democrat 15,084 12 PANGELINAN, Vicente 'Ben' * Democrat 15,031 13 YAMAS

From GUAMPDN: 5:30AM Unofficial results of the Primary Election as of 5:30 a.m., with 58 of 58 precincts counted. PUBLIC AUDITOR Brooks, Doris Flores 14,027 Gutierrez, Carl (write-in) 4,692 5:00 AM Unofficial results of the Primary Election as of 5 a.m., with 58 of 58 precincts counted. All election races, except public auditor race. DELEGATE DEMOCRAT Bordallo, Madeleine Z. (I)    7,866 Dizon, Karlo 2,829 REPUBLICAN Blas, Frank Flores Jr. 5,301   INDEPENDENT Diaz, Jonathan Frank Blas 86 LEGISLATURE   DEMOCRAT Rodriguez, Dennis G Jr. (I)        7,721 Aguon, Jr, Frank Blas        7,572 Ada, Thomas C “Tom” (I)        7,447 Muna Barnes, Tina Rose (I) 6,833 Cruz, Benjamin J.F. (I)        6,697 Won Pat, Judith T Perez (I)         6,674 Pangelinan, Vicente C. (I)        6,660 San Nicolas, Michael F.Q.         6,570 Respicio, Rory J. (I)        6,392 San Agustin, Joe S.          6,382 Palacios, Adolpho Borja Sr. (I)        6,306 Guthertz, Judith P. (I)        6,175 Naholowaa, Lea

The delegate race has been unfolding in an interesting way in recent weeks. For the first time ever Congresswoman Bordallo has a significant challenge for her re-election as Guam's non-voting delegate. Frank Blas Jr. is challenging her on the Republican side, but their dialogue has been muted as Bordallo faces off two other challengers, one from within her own party and another an independent wild card. When the primary is over than the real race may be beginning. Delegates tend to have an incept date ( Bladerunner reference) of 10 years, and so if Bordallo can survive this challenge, she'll have surpassed Won Pat, Blaz and Underwood in terms of longevity. Karlo Dizon has shown himself to be very measured and intelligent in terms of addressing the issues, but to me he seems to suffer the populist, everyday appeal to changes someone from someone that a voter may find interesting, to someone they are excited to hand their vote to. In most circles you might refer to him

The full text of Congressman's address yesterday is below. I found her quotes from previous non-voting delegates Antonio Won Pat and Robert Underwood interesting. I was upset at her discussion of war reparations, for many reasons, only a few having anything to do with her. Her buildup discussion was a very cute sort of tip-toe-tight-rope walk, between addressing the needs of those at the top who still want as much "buildup" as possible, and the rest who feel mixed on the issue and aren't as sure about it. Like most politicians, the way out of this sort of quagmire is to celebrate the right of everyone to speak out and express their concerns. There was even a UOG FITE Club mention in there. I haven't talked much about the delegate race lately because it's full of some tough choices. I have known Congresswoman Bordallo for a while, and support her on some things, but not others. Senator Frank Blas Jr. is running for her seat this year and I like his rhetoric a