Public Hearing - Vice Speaker V. Anthony Ada - March 13, 2025 830am

e e e e e e Pap day and good morning this public hearing conducted by the L committee on land housing environment agriculture parks and infrastructure is called to order and The Time Is Now 8:31 a.m. today's date is Thursday March 13 2025 notice of this hearing was disseminated to all local media outlets on March 6 2025 with the second notice provided on March 11th 2025 notice of the hearing was also made known on the Guam legislator's website and the government of Guam public notice portal this morning the committee will hear testimony on Bill number

32-38 Co introduced by the committee on rules By Request of IM mahagan guahan the governor of Guan in accordance with the organic Act of Guan an act to authorize the transfer of lot 5173 D1 D R2 new- R7 and lot 71 by 3-1-2 new- 6 in the municipality of tuning from the tomorrow land trust commission to The Heirs of Francisco D peris the original landowner I would now like to welcome my colleagues join us today to my right is Senator Sabrina sales manani and to my left is Senator Chris Barnett thank you uh colleagues for

joining me this morning before we begin I would like to go over general rules of conduct individuals testifying shall first be recognized by the chair before speaking and shall State their name for recordkeeping purposes questions and testimonies shall be confined to the substance or nature of the agenda personal inference as to the character or motive of any Senator or any individual testifying is not permitted the chairperson of the committee May re May order the removal from the hearing of any member of the legislatur Guan who fails to observe property quum pursuant to the 38th Guam

legislature standing rules any violation of this general rule of conduct will result in the removal from the hearing from the host we will now proceed with hearing testimony on Bill number 32-38 Co the bill was introduced at the request of the governor and the committee chair takes no position on this bill at this time I would like to call Mr Joseph B from the Department of Land Management who will provide oral testimony and also if there's anyone else who would like to provide oral testimony to please come to the uh to the table good morning

Mr Bor good morning Miss canata morning Mr Herrera good morning um with the two gentlemen we would always let the rose go first please ladies first thank you I Manus I wish that I didn't have to be here today I wish that I didn't know what I've now learned because for many many years I've deceived myself because I did not you know that the terminology trust but verify yeah uh it's a good one a necessary one I realized I mean it took me till I was 72 going 73 to you know really realize that when

I first heard of this great hope of giving the land back to the Paris heirs I was quite happy because I made sure that naan Manata and the SKC the cultural uh area there were not a part of the return that they would be severed that was my immediate Med and first concern right and then it was yes of course these wonderful human being these wonderful Familia gave this land to be used to build a hospital so yes return the lands please please return the lands those my feeling until about a month ago when I

I listened to Bob kitki and Ry talking exactly about this bill and I normally don't buy newspapers I kind of just watch what uh the what comes out in you know selective news Gathering but this particular conversation was when I picked up which is unusual know I live in pneumatic and we don't have the I our I don't have cable so we the radio doesn't normally it won't pick up FM stations so I'm in I'm listening to this to the point where I have my husband pullover I said wait let's listen to this and then

I did some research after listening to this talk show conversation on the point about how how this land was actually purchased and that according to the con of conveyance it was purchased for 59,900 some OD dollars forever was the words in the conveyance that caught my eye as Mr Paris signed the conveyance of these property that we're talking about it was for the sum of 59,900 some odd dollars and some odd cents and it was conveyed and assigned and all the other words that they use transferred to the government of Guam forever and that my

friends my dear that's a long time man and I I met with the governor about about a different matter that was related to this subject um and we talked and I actually told her and I'm very s sorry Governor that uh we were all about and I sh some more order is all about land returns it was if it was condemned if you took it and the military returned it and pleased For the Love of All that is good and mighty by the Lord yeah return that land this is not the case with this conance

that the go the transfer or gift that the governor wants to give to these to the some wonderful people this is not the first legislative term that has heard this call to return this property because it was given and conveyed to be used as a as a hospital and out of the goodness and kindness and it was a gift to the government of Guan it was not a gift it was conveyed in 1951 under an organic act president who was Carlton Skinner and Mr Paris as a US citizen and of sound mind sold this property

for $59,900 900 some odd dollars and some odd cents the choral land trust is not a piggy bank it's not a gift box it's not it is a life line we have so you want to they want they're talking about homelessness and oh we're going to build affordable housing like the people that are dirt poor are going to be able to afford affordable housing ah the chantas has been raided and misused by I just got through telling Joe Bor that he's probably the only he is the only chamor lantas uh administrator that I absolutely trust

I can go to him today and he knows verbatim yeah he knows the lands but the chimor lantas was intended to enable our people those the most in need we have people living in squalor right now they're living on there are some lot that they have lived in for the longest time without any water but they're still raising children and those children are going to college and they're doing things but they don't Des deserve that chamor Land Trust has been misused and so many people put Blood Sweat and Tears into enabling that piece of legislation

it was a safety net it was and it's got we've got to stop taking from that inventory and giving it away we there's like several legislations that are out there that are going to be heard about people wanting to give property to an to agencies I mean there was a whole thing about making reservations for property for future use unfortunately maybe some of the administrators at that time were not didn't have a clue what they would need in the future which is understandable you know it's uncertain but I don't understand the concept of we're going

to transfer the ownership of the property to this agency because we can no you can't there's an entire law that's written that says you can't unless it's yours you want to give away your own private property uh even that you notice that they require that you say at Le that you got at least a dollar we're not even asking a dollar from these folks and we're going to give them full-on properties that are commercial lots that can bring that should be bringing money into the coffers of chor anos to catch those houses that are lost

when that have were the more people couldn't afford the mortgage we don't even have that money why how is that even possible where is the money that these lesies have been or should have been or are paying into paying the choral land TR where's this money going I mean do this it's like a NE it's a bottomless pit and we can't seem that the the most needy in our community can't seem to get that we need to stop this concept of it's very ni I mean I can make some earrings or a a nice little

Seascape or some soap and candles and I can give those to you you know that's from my heart but I can't go and give my neighbor's property away as much as I would love to it's not mine and it's the tomorrow land trust belongs to all of The Tomorrow People most especially the ones that are have been robbed of All rights to any lands because when they condemn lands for military use I mean it's not like I mean Lots were Family Properties entire family properties I mean it's they don't normally have properties all over the

island you have one big place you're building you have your Ranch you got whatever is going on prior to the war then the military came in and and did their thing many of those people are either living in squalor or in Gora housing that will never be theirs there's people that have lived in Gora for generations and that's not what they want to do they can't even plant are you folks aware that if you're in a gur Section 8 house you cannot plant vegetables but you have you can plant flowers you're not allowed to grow

any food products on gura property at Section 8 please if somebody could ever explain that to me I would be one very happy woman if I would take that to my grave as happiness because it makes absolutely no sense to me self-sufficiency people can't be they're weaned the federal government is screaming being loud and clear that they're looking at pulling all those nice little goodies that they think they've been giving us because out of the goodness of their hearts but it isn't they aren't paying rent for the land they're using either I mean those section

30 monies are just not cutting it especially at the land values today but to get back to the real reason I'm here is I have to emphasize again as much as I want to keep my word that I sort of gave to the governor but that was without the correct information I have to take that back and I'm here today on behalf of nashon Soro and there are many of us and they're old and they're young and are struggling or they're doing okay but still struggling cuz they're are helping their loved ones that are struggling

please let's start with the governor she's the top of the the chain right let's stop this stealing land taking Land from the tomorrow land trust inventory and giving it away because it's none of ours to give away but to live in to enable our families to live live and nurt be nurture their children and grow some vegetables so that they can be self- sustaining when times are really rough and they're Beginning to Look they're getting rougher every minute so please put for please set a precedent make it clear that Chamorro Land Trust lands are not

for sale and they they are not gifts they're not you know freebies for everybody to stick their hands in uh or or state unless you were a prior occupant and we living there 40 years ago let's not even discuss this everybody's got to pay rent you're on Chamorro Land Trust property even the lesies are paying rent right what is it they have to pay the taxes and they pay their dollar a year but every body's got to pay they have it in their budget they can pay ctech they can pay other renters where they're all

over the place everybody is renting from somebody you're going to have to rent from chamor ananas from now on because we need that money for infrastructure because apparently we're not shareholders with CC uh the CCU and those poor suckers are going to have to come up with $61,000 to put in pipes so they can have water for their families that we need that money in the coffers in a lock box that is utilized only for the survey and infrastructure and then when we get lucky to provide funds to educate the youth to assist the elderly

because that's all part of the law that's what that money is supposed to be used for we're supposed to have a revolving fund it's not a freebie you get an education you get to come back and pay back into the fund and serve the community we can't even get past surveys while we're supposed to have some surveyors at least I mean there were that management was supposed to give us surveyors there were surveyor transferred there please let's stop this concept of showing our telling our children it's okay to steal from the most vulnerable from the

needy and please don't teach them to violate laws that's what you guys make laws and many of us don't like them some of them right but we're still we have to follow them so please follow the law please recognize your obligations are sacred our lands are sacred I'm sorry I was so longwinded but this is very uh this is very important but for thank you s Gata Mr Herrera Mr borha you can go ahead and uh testify I could but I might be take long and uh I defer to you in any event uh senators

and uh committee chair and uh members of the uh committee and Senators attended the hearing thank you very much for the uh opportunity to testify on behalf of this bill and to support the bill the only technical correction that I would request would be in section three page three line six through line 12 where it reads on line 7 one Public Law number 33-24 designated a portion of lot 5173 D1 D2 new- 6 not to exceed 5 Acres for the naftan Manata Shrine that's in keeping with the law so that language is um uh incorrect

in there um secondly I'd like to give a brief his history of the U property which was originally owned by Atkins scroll and was sold to uh Mr Paris in the early days of the arganic ACT here in Guam um in the first legislature there were 88 laws passed and about 13 of them actually uh dealt with land um there were a couple of laws that um appropriated money Public Law 1-49 I rather 1-29 section two uh what to build and for the permanent for the prent GU Memorial Hospital in this particular case the presten

GU Memorial Hospital was a hospital over where present day Hornet Sporting Goods say that's the Carmen Memorial hospital that was the first hospital there and it was called Carmen Memorial uh I believe uh Carmen was the wife of Frank Paris and uh he wanted the memorial for those chamorus that died during the war that was my understanding from my research uh Public Law uh one29 was introduced by U Frank Paris and then shortly after that Public Law 1-33 which created Land Management uh became law and then the U last bill that we have or last

public law that we have in the first legislature actually the second to the last there were 88 laws and uh Public Law number 1-87 was an appropriation for the maintenance of con and construction of the permanent Guan Memorial hospital and that was a million dollar appropriation on October 28th 1952 uh the property uh uh like I said originally belonged to Atkins scroll uh was so bought by Mr Paris and then subsequently through this first legislature uh the property uh was sold to government of Guam uh government of Guam received it the governor of Guam received

it on behalf of the uh um people of Guam Governor kton Skinner and um the hospital was constructed and then uh for several years when the hospital was moved from the uh oite over to where it is now uh in the 1980s uh operations ceased at that hospital except for mental health mental health operated there for a few years before it was then absolutely uh abandoned and uh became a um abandoned building until uh the term of Governor carget ter where somehow Governor carget teris had it qualified as damaged by I believe typon Paka at

that time and FMA uh gave some money to gwam to demolish the building and uh open the building up uh it's stayed unused for several years and then um senator lamarina in public law 25-1 179 transferred the jurisdiction of that property over to uh the chamor lantas commission um unlike the property in N where the Land Management building is supposed to go uh chamor lantas was not issued a certificate of title for that property the AA property just as for comparison purposes uh uh chamor Lantos was actually given a certificate of title for that property

uh subsequent to the publico 2579 I believe in 2003 2004 where there was a big effort to uh develop a sevenstar hotel in the property uh that did not go through and then the property sat idle for many years until a cultural group uh looked at occupying uh eight of the um government staff housing buildings there and subsequently a public law cut that out for a cultural center uh referring referencing the tomorrow land us license at that time to a cultural group to uh develop a lease for that property that lease was never developed but

the property has been severed and that property is what is referred to in section 4 which is not uh included in this return um subsequently in publico 33-24 a uh portion of the lot was reserved for the neft man at and that was not uh that law said that the property the nap Manata was not to exceed 5 Acres Land Management developed a uh a scheme a sketch of that property of the naftan Manata Shrine and originally put a buffer zone around that 5 acre piece going up to uh 14 acres um that 14 acre

map was actually not presented to the legislature for their approval but that came up in a uh public hearing on funding I believe for the uh there is right now the status of that plan uh it has been signed by do staff the technicians it has been signed by the director I understand the shipo uh uh gentleman will be signing it uh in the next few days and then after that that map will be transferred to the or the issue really would be transferred to the choral ananas commission uh because it is their property uh

shall uh reserve a portion of it and uh that will go to the choran trust where the chorr uh will or should authorize their executive director to sign the map and then after the map is signed uh it would be officially transferred to uh Department of parks and wck in care of the ship for transmitt to the legislature for uh review approval or disapproval uh by legislative resolution so that's the status of that particular uh uh portion of the uh the big lot and that's section three section four I believe uh I don't think that

the uh cultural group that's there uh ever did get a uh sign lease uh for that area or license for that area uh but I do note that uh they have an event coming up this 16th I believe which would be Sunday so it might be good to uh visit them at that point other than that uh Mr chairman I don't have any other information and I am open for questions from the uh panel thank you Mr borha Mr Herrera W commission 2022 2024 or 2025th Commission Vice speaker uh chairman tonada and honorable Senators for

the committee on land environmental housing agriculture parks and infrastructure I respectfully appear before the 38 committee on land to oppose Bill 3228 to transfer sacred lands again to transfer sacred lands away from the cotc and Tor just a couple of weeks ago we were here testifying in opposition to Bill number 6-38 to again transfer sacred lands and I repeat sacred lands from the chamor lantas inventory and we will be here again to trans uh to testify on Bill number 7- 38 51-38 and 49-38 or dealing with extracting sacred lands from this cltc when I first

read bill 32- 38 during our cltc commission meeting in December of 2024 and January of 2025 I made a motion to the commission to have a comprehensive chain of title search completed as soon as possible to also obtain an official legal opinion from the general from General Douglas moand Before the bill is scheduled for a public hearing today the chain of title is completed and pending an official AG opinion from General moand the basis of my question at the time was to verify the decision and order rued by the Guam cestu land commission by Superior

Court Judge Authur binas on civil case cv1 1461 -10 that came before the court on the 11th day of February 2011 if it can be applied as precedent or legal reasoning to protect the chamor L trust commission inventory from legislative or executive transfer I have a short chronological order here of uh uh the history between 1898 to 2025 but I don't want to belver belabor the uh uh process I not go straight to the uh core of the gist of my question and my question at that time when I heard about this transfer or the

transfer of multiple lands from the CC inventory is can judge B's ruling apply to protect CC lands uh yes in my opinion and based on many many other legal uh assessment yes with some adaptation while see cltc lands do not fall under the exact ancestral land return process they are a part part of a legislative created indigenous land trust with a clear public trust purpose to support chimor land rights and economic survival this logic creates a strong argument that number one cltc lands should be treated with similar legal protection as Guam ancestral lands commission lands

because both were created to fulfill a specific land Justice obligation number two any transfer or removal of cotc lands shall be subject to a higher legal threshold such as a su super majority vote or a requirement for beneficiary consent number three Guam organic act which is the federal law and the chimor lantas ACT recognizes CTC or chantas commission as fulfilling a public trust purpose which strengthens the argument that the legislative legislature and the executive cannot unilaterally withdraw lands from its inventory without violating the doctrine of public trust public trust Doctrine lands held in trust for

public or indigenous benefits cannot be sold transferred or diverted from their intended purpose without violating the public trust statutory protection cotc was established by public law 12- 226 Public Law 2218 chapter 75a and 18 guard to protect and promote chamoru chamoru land rights any removal of land without following formal amendments to the CC act itself violates legislative intent equal protection for indigenous rights if womex lands are protected from political interference cotc lands deserve equal or greater protection under the principle of the equal protection for indigenous rights and land trust again I repeat cotc lands deserve

an equal or greater protection under the principle of equal protection for indigenous rights and land trust J bis ruling created a Legal Shield around gual lands recognizing their cultural historical fiduciary import importance the ruling Shall Serve as a strong persuasive precedent for protecting CC lands because both both programs were created to correct historical injustices and secure the future of indigenous land rights if the legislature or executive can remove CC lands at will it renders the trust meaningless again it renders the trust meaningless and violates both the public trust Doctrine and the tomoru self-determination rights therefore

the legislature should adopt the same protection for cltc lands that exists for gual lands commission creating a legal fire role requiring super majority legislative vote for any land removal mandatory cotc board and beneficiary consultation clear public notice and comments and judicial review options for any removal original landowner at Loren original land owner Loren orig Leno Navy inner and outer harbor Airbase no doora 1975 commission Commission for government of Arthur lands [Music] commission land Commission commiss s sacred in other words no sagu the see whoes commission sacred manyy for land commission lands Mari Vice speaker Mari

s Herrera U I believe uh also uh Ron you wanted to testify as well right and Jessica day day you can just stay there and today it's okay we'll go ahead and start with Jessica before Temple Vice speaker document orig Loren estate number Commission Vice speaker commission Department of Defense condemnation proceedings right you return to original land owner the process and the methodologies that you uh the property that you return to original land owners are the properties that were condemned unfairly condemned by the federal government Fano [Music] Ben Mal garu Jesse Tano Rivera benti Jesse

faran Joe C Peru David matania Johnny Tony L Caba for MOS de Masia the gu for mot in in com de M holiday Resort sport CER who eras track Jeffrey John banish Manu [Music] Special Olympics Olympics not Washington B Dal imminent domain condom Nation fig dis Baba matu the for Fore for Goan for prot protot has in and Def thank you sen Miss de when is in half day my name is Jessica de this testimony reflects the views of those who work tirelessly to tackle actions that contravene the C TC act and to commence the

process of issuing new leases it is not representative of the views or opinions of the chimor lantas commission or its Board of Commissioners several bills have been introduced to transfer properties from the cltc inventory for various reasons and sizes while some may perceive these properties as mincle compared to the total inventory of cltc it is crucial to consider how these properties can further the commission's mission for example these properties can provide residential or agriculture lots to the applicants generate the needed revenue for the installation of infrastructure and assist in surveying and clearing of East Mints

today we can all agree that cltc has been stagnant for a long time however within the last year those of us who worked tirelessly and have developed a process within the parameters of the law that would address the leases with the legal Cloud this process would provide a sense of certainty for those who have improved their lease properties and now call it home this would not have been possible without the commitment of the speaker and the senator of the 37th Guam legislature another matter on which we all can agree is the pace of the issuance

of new leases please be cant that the pace is contingent on the response time of our applicants with so many issues plaguing the cltc it is clear that the proper support and our recent achievements cltc will overcome from the negative public perception with that said we do not support the transfer of the land commonly known as Oka Point as the 38th Guam legislature continues reviewing this bill it is essential to remember the key elected leaders such as senator Paul J beralo Senator Angel santes Senator Ben pangelinan Senator Mark Forbes and many others who played a

significant role in Cate creating and supporting CT's Mission additionally let's remember the men and women of the nashan Chamorro and the other groups who have dedicated immense effort and sacrifice to ensure the implementation of the cltc ACT SOS Mari thank you Miss D and I'll I'll open up the uh the panel to my colleagues to ask question questions that they may have or and uh I ask my colleagues again to please limit their their questions to five minutes I'll go ahead and start with the vice chair Senator dwas you have any questions for the panel

to Mr chairman uh I just came to listen this morning given that this is a submission uh from the governor and uh so I'll defer to my colleagues masi uh thank you Senator um first I'd like to introduce the rest of my colleagues that uh showed up this morning Senator tahi T tahi Senator Tel tidu Senator will Parkinson Senator Shan gatal Senator Shelley calwin Senator Vince Bor thank you all for being here and joining us uh this morning Senator Sabrina sales monani you have any questions I don't have any questions but um since you did

bring a picture of Senator Angel Santos um you know that means something to me because I knew Angel when I first got to Guam and I was reporter at Guam cable news and he always contacted me and let me know when there was a protest whenever choro Nation had something to say and so you know I just got a copy of some documents yesterday that I'm going to take time to review and also read the testimony that was provided by the Paris family but thank you again um Auntie Debbie Ron Mr Herrera and Mr borha

and and Jessica for providing your testimony thank you thank you Senator matani Senator Chris Barnett you have any questions sir manness uh thank you Mr chair for the opportunity to uh I don't know if I have any well yes I have a lot of questions but you know the problem is I already know the answer to these questions uh as we just received here from the chor Lantos uh chairwoman uh Miss Arlene BDO that the cltc will not provide testimony on this bill because the board has yet to have the opportunity to discuss it because

the board has no Quorum because the governor just fired the two Commissioners one of them who is here testifying against the bill and I'm assuming that the other commissioner who is fired who I've talked to uh personally is also opposed to the bill uh I don't need to see any documents to know where I stand on this bill I'm against it uh I don't support this continual uh continuous rating of the chor lant trust uh commission this continuous handicapping of the process to get our people out on the lands that that they deserve it's almost

like a sabotage and then when you ask the questions they attack you you know when the when this bill was uh sent down here to the committee on rules chair I came out with a press release and basically my press release was ketza you know ketun Naza because this is we know what this is about this is about the new hospital and this is about the nuclear option of taking this land at supun okaa Point whatever you want to call it off of the table but this is the Crown Jewel of the cltc and when

we're talking about uh so anyway when I came out press release saying katuna they they came out with their own release and they said Barnett is against returning land to the original land owners but it almost seems like our government doesn't know who the original land owners are we are the original land owners that's why this property should stay in the cltc you know I'm I'm realistic if if the governor is going to fight everyone who is asking questions about building the hospital at mow then that means we have to start examining what we can

use this property for to benefit our people who are waiting for this land whether it's long-term commercial lease so that we can generate the revenue to get more infrastructure out to these properties to get our people out into these properties I don't think we should take another acre out of the cltc until our people are being put onto these lands with the infrastructure and I commend the leadership of speaker Tali because we were in the 37 passing bill after Bill after Bill to address a lot of the challenges that the choran trust commission faces and

Mr bora's uh testimony was um very interesting but the only words that I really heard in that testimony was three words sold to GV Guam sold to G Guam so if this Governor is falling all over herself to and we have to be careful with how we use these words return give back transfer that's not accurate the accurate word is give away and so if our governor is willing to give away land that the government of Guam paid money for what about our people whose lands were taken what about are people whose lands were stolen

there's no mention in in the bill about our people being compensated as we Ponder giving away this land uh the documents are very clear $599,000 sold fee simple that is the highest level of ownership that you can have with the land and so if you do the math $59,000 in [Music] 19501 that's over half a million dollars in today's money and yet this bill doesn't say anything about a buyback it's just a giveaway and I absolutely oppose this bill I thank you all for your uh testimony seei Mr chair thank you to Senator Barnett I

appreciate you that uh Senator trahi uh Mr chair I regret that the five minute rule is going to limit us here today because I think we really do need to have a very full discussion I want to thank all of you who testified and I want to thank those from cltc who are doing this hard work and over many years many many many disappointments and all of you from the N chamoru who I'm sure heartbreak uh that we have to go through this but um let's do it uh I think it's very unfortunate and I

really feel for the Paris family that they have been put by the governor in the middle of politics pure and simple I don't think it's sincere I don't think it's anything but politics because when she sent the bill down to us she wrote a letter to the speaker and she says uh consistent with the legislature's findings regarding ancestral lands the return of the property furthers the decades old policy of the government of Guam calling for the return of land to the original land owners in the interest of Justice this is wrong that's not what the

decades old policy of the government government of Guam advocated for it's very clear in all the records that the decades old policy of legislators before us was Return of ancestral lands that had been taken unjustly by the United States government not property that's been sold to the government of Guam or otherwise transferred but taken by the United States government that's put in in the settlement that the cltc reached with the federal government the court recognized it it's instead a compensatory entity that seeks to implement the return to the people of Guam of land that the

United States took from them this is the same as this an Guam ancestral lands commission this is the same as those people at Eagles field who want their land returned from the federal government to the government of Guam and then the government of Guam decides whether they're going to transfer it to those original land owners through the existing process or not and um so it's unfortunate that uh in the press release she just when she submitted this bill to legislature it talks all about the mangila property now that we have a mangila property so it

really to me it really is politics regarding the new hospit and not really a sincere approach to what are we going to do with all the other people of Guam who's land the government of Guam has bought or taken or condemned or continues to use and that the governor's not proposing to return what do we do about all of those people what do we do with the people who should get their lands back that the governor has turned her back on by refusing to advocate for the return anymore of eagles field because she doesn't want

for the hospital anymore now she doesn't want it for the people of Guam all of that process that was put in place by Congress through the hard work of the people of Guam the advocacy of those before her that Congress put it in statute that the military would coord coordinate with Guam the list of lands that are excess and would work on returning those G was in here not too long ago G is the lead of this process they make the list that the secretary of the Navy eventually signs or or doesn't sign and they

said they've pretty much stopped that process because uh they were told by the military they're not going to be returning any lands well that was not the deal the deal was a one Guam approach for this buildup that was a commitment made it's a mandate by Congress even uh Congressman Underwood confirms that those mandates are still alive that uh there is nothing in any law that he passed while he was in Congress that prohibits the return of the land to the people of Guam that is deemed excess so I just think um it's unfortunate that

that politics we have a an affidavit by Governor uh Skinner that said um the contention was not that the land was ever taken unjustly not the Oka point the contention was that they were supposed to get as you described construction equipment in Return part of the sale price was also construction equipment but another military entity took that construction equipment so they never got that so I do agree perhaps if somebody wants to move on that they've put a claim in we should honor the claim but they've never made a claim that the sale was unjust

it's that the military reneged as as you said earlier they reneged on their deal and we can take care of that part but um not it's and it's it's not even too long ago it was 2010 when there was a proposal of how to use Oka point before this new hospital talk of course back in 2010 when the buildup was coming they recognized we needed a new hospital even back then they made a plan of how they would begin the new hospital in Oka point they would put the Maternal Child Health entity there they would

begin with that they would put in the infrastructure they would put that in and they would um then bring the rest of the hospital uh in stages in phases so that none of the existing Services would be interrupted or anything but again I want to thank um especially those at chamar l trus it's unfortunate the firing of the Chamorro lantas Commissioners is just part of this politics that we are seeing that uh perhaps the governor supports this raid on the chimor lant trust lands and that that's what we are all bracing for while we finally

got it moving we're able to do what these people have dedicated their lives to doing now we're going to see the land taken out and as as my colleague said when they say the crown Jew what they mean is it was recognized back then when the legislature said that Chamorro lantas can use this property for its building of infrastructure surveying they knew the value of this property they knew it was probably the the most valuable property in the inventory of the trust so I don't think it's just that we're going to make our beneficiaries of

this land trust wait long they are living in poverty as the magaga the Nash says they are the ones that are living in poverty they are the ones that we need to help they need our help and we need to move on that as soon as possible we need to use the land as intended Mr chair thank you Senator trahi Senator T Tha we please you're next man s mly Mr chair and a good afternoon to my colleague but most especially good afternoon to those who are here and testify today it's always so inspiring to

listen to you come here you know my tomorrow is not that good but I've already got people on this side you know making sure that I understand exactly you know what you're saying some words are good and I continue to work on that daily so but um you know I Senator uh trahi as well as Senator Barnett uh as well as myself we've been fighting this for a long time right now and it and we will continue to do it and it's important that the people of gu those who are listening those who are here

today understand exactly what's going on and nothing is hidden behind some kind of decision making all by one person's self and then we get our we get our agencies who are given marching orders even though in their heart they know it's not right and that's so disappointing but sometimes we we can see it in their eyes when they come before us the legislature they know it's not right we can see it in their eyes but they're given their marching orders they know who pays their paycheck so it's up to us to expose the issues in

front of us and to let people know that the decision on making wherever this hospital is going to go was not made with the legislature and ask the legisl help out it wasn't asked by the people of Guam to participate it was made by one individual person without taking the input of her community and other leaders especially this body who would provide the funding who is responsible for the purse of this island and the taxpayers money because right now I don't know if you know this but we are definitely in financial challenges right now all

the covid money is dried up it's gone and now we're facing Federal Cuts Frozen in areas that help the people of Guam so with that in mind we have an opportunity to build a hospital within our means in an area that has already been designated that has the infrastructure and it doesn't make any sent it's if you ask a fifth grader they will tell you it's best to have it at at Oka point because it won't cost us that much it's simple a legacy is going to be left by putting us in debt a legacy

of this Administration is going to show that the people it doesn't matter I don't care what the people think I don't care about taking their land condemning their land doesn't matter I've been living with a silver spoon in my mouth I don't know what they're going through I don't care it's very shameful but rest assure we will continue to fight for what is in the best interest and we will continue to reach out to this Administration to have us sit down at a table and discuss and not this be her way or the highway we're

a community so other than that Mr chair I thank you for having this hearing to bring out this information important information that people didn't know and as far as the Paris family is concerned I to feel like Senator terly he said they need to be um given what they were supposed to be given from the very beginning I don't know why this took so long but that's something we need to look into too as well thank you Mr chair thank you Senator taigu Senator Parkinson thank you Mr chair when I think about this topic I

think about what we've done done in the past specifically with eagles field because I believe in the good of returning the land to the original land owners so even though my number one priority was to make sure we had a brand new hospital at eaglesfield when I heard there was an opportunity to give the original land owners their land back I sabotaged Eagles field and I voted against it I voted against e Eagles field because I thought there was a true opportunity to get the land owners their land back and so I did that that

is how strongly I believe in the return of land ownership and to be consistent with that conviction I showed then I will show the same conviction now I support the return of this land to the original land owners we have testimony from the Paris family that says they want this land back that not only do they want this land back we hear terms that they had a legitimate deal with the government of gu but these people were never properly paid so how could we say that deal is legitimate by the good grace of that family

they let that stand because they wanted a hospital in that location and God bless them for that love and service to their Community truly but we are in a different time now and there is no hospital there and there are plans to build a hospital somewhere else and long I have heard the call if we are not going to do what was intended by the original land owners when they gave up a piece of their land to the island of Guam that we should give it back to them and I think we should I've always

been consistent that whenever we have an opportun Unity to give land owners their land back we absolutely should Bill 3676 passed by the 36th legislature changed our mandates at the cltc and does not allow race-based distribution of land anymore it has changed the Mandate so that is for restorative justice I believe that was passed by speaker trahi in this in the 36 and so I believe that this bill is in service and in spirit and in line with that bill with that mandate for restorative justice these landowners were offered a deal and were never properly

paid there were terms of their agreement that we not honored and if a deal is not honored can we say it is legitimate if that is the situation I say we honor our consistency and our ability to give land back to the original owners we have an opportunity here and just like with eaglesfield when I sabotaged the hospital because I deeply cared about giving people their land back I will vote for this for the same reason r or wrong so uh with that Mr chair I yield the rest of my time thank you thank you

Senator Parkinson Senator Shan gato thank you Mr chair and uh thank you all for um for being with us today Joe I have a I I just want to ask you real quickly I I want to focus on the very beginning of your testimony this morning you mentioned this the transaction between AK and the Paris family and then you talked about the conance from the Paris family to the government of Guam can you just maybe help me understand that um that transaction between the paris's and the government of Guam just a little bit based on

your experience and knowledge of this transaction it it was actually a deed and we have a copy of the deed that I can provide to the committee I believe the committee probably should already have that but uh it it was by a de and it was from Frank the Paris to government ofam so it was a transaction between Mr perz to the government a Guam that's correct okay cuz I'm I'm I'm just trying to understand the this whole thing I was listening earlier when was driving in um this is super different than probably anything I

probably heard over the last 30 years relative to that particular property so so again it was AK to Mr Perez Mr Perez or the family or the Perez Family received it was a transaction actually between G Guam it was conveyed to the government of Guam for money it now belongs to the government of Guam that's correct and that transaction was actually authorized by a public law I believe it was uh 1-87 it's in the first legislature that's the one that you referenced at the very end of the the list of the final actions of the

first legislature correct correct okay thank you so much Mr uh Bor thank you Mr chair thank you for the time thank you senator mat house Senator Shel cowo you're next ma'am thank you Mr chair thank you everyone for your testimonies I truly appreciate everything that you said although some of um um the testimonies I could not understand everything but I could pick up the words so for me that's enough [Music] um there's so many things going on in my mind um for one I am the type of person who will not Loosely give away land

because land for me is valuable land is land land is valuable um I think we need to truly proceed with caution in this matter um I find it difficult to support any initiative that will just uh like I mentioned lose loly give away or or or Grant land to individuals or entities unless it really really Mak sense to me then I will support it um as much as I respect the fact uh see I have so many notes as much as I I respect the fact that the intent of of of this is to return

the parcel to the original owner I I think that we we Tru need to be mindful um because this parcel is owned by the people of Guam this is in a trust I I I do believe that um I'm I'm weary I'm concerned about our depleting inventory you know and um I I just think that uh we need to do uh what we need to do is explore further how we can utilize this for the people um I mean it's it's something that we probably should not decide on uh hastily but um we should we

should give time we we should give more time to think about matters like this um I have no questions I just wanted to express my opinion um on the matter thank you Mr chair thank you to everyone thank you sen thank you Senator calville Senator Bor you're recognized thank you Mr chair um I don't I don't have any any questions but I I do want to um you know take this time to thank everybody for for coming out and and testifying uh today I think you know what what I I I do want to share

is you know as you as we you put the picture on the counter most don't know but I actually my family was was a big uh support of Angel saas we were part of nashan Chamorro in the early 90s spent you know the entire time in front of adal loop to to fight with Angel santes for for the for the for the you know the return of lands to The chor Tomorrow People in fact almost my entire family all live on chamaro land trust land U my grandmother lives on a in a land in in

a stumbo that is is was a shter which is where I grew up as well um so you know in regards to just giving land away and um and and and you know the legislature being the one to dictate where land goes I think we we need to you know like some of some have testified and my colleagues have shared we we that should go back to to its original land owners and I support ensuring that land is is is given back to the original land owners and not dictated by the legislature and those are

my comments for today thank you Mr chair thank you Senator warha I also have written testimony submitted by Mr Steven amwin uh not in favor of this legisl ation then I also have a testimony submitted by The Heirs of um Mr Frank peris submitted by John D peris who supports this testimony so these written testimonies will also be placed into the committee report but we like to thank all of you for being here to testify today whether you you support or oppose this legislation I think this hearing is very important but we appreciate you for

coming out uh this will conclude today's public hearing the committee will continue to Wren statements on today's hearing within 10 days from today which may be mailed to my office on the second floor of the Guam Congress building at 163 chalang Santo Papa in aanya you may also send your statements to us at Vice speaker tonata at Guam legislature. goov thank you all very much for your participation this public hearing is adjourned and the time is 10:00 a.m. thank you sedu masi be by miss tomorrow e