Of CUC and Shutdowns...

Ming Palace shuts down, so they told us.

The ire of CUC bills have been plaguing establishments in the CNMI.

This renowned 24-hour diner griped about the utility bills that soared from $4,500 to over $9,000 just for one restaurant. The manager shared that the management has exhausted all cost-saving measures for the store. "I don't even know now which lights to turn off since most of them are," the manager said. The management said, it has been the worst the store has faced since its existence on Saipan. Then, the manager walked down the memory lane during the golden days of the CNMI. The management said it wouldn't want to raise the prices of the food in the restaurant because it knows that the people have lesser purchasing power nowadays.

Another establishment, a department store, will be downsizing and reducing its store area. The management has cleaned up the owner's backyard where the store will keep stocks et. al. The owner said the bill is just killing the business gradually. Thus, before it dies out, the management decided to reduce the store area and rent just one little space to make it work.

A little hotel used to pay $7,000 for CUC power. Then the management decided to use generator at night again to save from the grueling power bills. The AC's are on at night for the tenant's sleeping pleasure. Then in the morning they use CUC power. At first some pencil pushing saw the potential savings the hotel could reap from the measure, however, the little hotel's current power bill reached to a staggering $10,000 for last month's usage. The owner fainted in disbelief. The hotel had to pay the CUC bill plus the fuel for generators.

A small home or apartment tenant was happy to live in a building with generator. The owner of the building does not charge extra for generator. That should make the tenant happy. Last month usage reached 590 kwh for 31 days. The total bill due was around $160. Due to intermittent power outage, the tenant thought of saving a little because of the generator. New CUC bill came with less usage for the month which was 544 kwh. However, the tenant's bill was $210.

So much stories to tell out there...

So what's yours?

Rally Anyone?

Take a break people. This is not a Unity Rally or an AMP convention, but this is the second now annually organized car rally set two weeks from now. Read the organizer's press release below. We joined last year's event and it was so much fun! It was like Amazing Race Saipan style:

Beach Road Magazine - Get ready for Saipan’s second annual Beach Road Magazine Car Rally

GUALO RAI — By insistent public demand, Beach Road Magazine, the islands’ most popular monthly lifestyle and entertainment magazine, has launched Saipan’s second annual car rally.
Slated for May 24, this year’s event promises to be even more exciting than last year’s as it takes you round the island testing your IQ and scavenger hunting skills.
“We’d like to make the car rally more challenging and fun this year,” Susan Marchitti, Beach Road Magazine account manager and the event’s overall coordinator, said.
This year, the rally is open to drivers 16 years and older. Visitors are welcome to join. Each car is required to have at least one driver and as many navigators as participants think it would take to successfully complete the course.
Last year’s car rally had 13 entries with the top three teams winning cash prizes and all participants receiving various gift certificates from numerous sponsors, including hotels and bars.
More participants are expected this year considering the prizes at stake. “There’ll be more exciting prizes this year,” Marchitti said.
Registration is $15 and space is limited to 60 cars. Grab a copy of Beach Road Magazine for the entry forms, fill them out and submit to the Glimpses of Saipan office on the second floor of the Transpac Business Center along Middle Road, Gualo Rai (near Subway restaurant) during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A popular motoring event in the United States and Europe, a car rally is not a speeding contest. It’s a cross between a scavenger hunt and an IQ test behind the wheel that’s guaranteed to take your driving skills to the next level.
The Second Annual Beach Road Magazine Car Rally is a competitive motoring event in which drivers must successfully complete a given course by following a set of instructions. The starting point will be announced. Drivers will receive a new set of instructions at each checkpoint, which will guide them through the next section of the rally up to the finish.
Everyone will receive a prize just for making it through the course.
Winners will be announced at the Oleai Beach Bar & Grill in the evening of May 25. A special 10% discount on non-special food items will be given to car rally participants.
So polish your driving and navigational skills and get ready for the most exciting motoring event of the year.
The Second Annual Beach Road Magazine Car Rally is sponsored by Shell Marianas, Pacific Telecom Inc., DPS, American Red Cross, Pacific Islands Club, Oleai Beach Bar & Grill, Aquarius Beach Tower, and Budget Car Rental.
See Beach Road Magazine print ads for details.

The Reveler

Hollywood Theaters on Bid?

How true is it that an interested and prominent business group is willing to take over on managing the only movie house on the island? However, I heard there's a problem with this deal since the landlord is hiking the rental fee.

I was able to talk to some people and in their opinion or personal view, the local government should have stepped in to maintain this theater. Is that possible? Would it matter at all?

Let us know...

Slurrrr Me A River

Here's another one for the community about the recent IMC incident on its sudden closure. Reports said that its owner spoke on TV about the incident and made such comments that the Philippine Consulate Office found offensive and branded as a "slur." The TV interview caught the Consul General's ears when he made such comments.

Ok. Now our highly reliable sources from the Filipino community called the Saipan Middle Road Headquarters that they are planning for a massive boycott on all Indian owned establishments here in the CNMI. How true is this? Still a plan. No confirmation yet from the group.

SUSUPE, Saipan - Philippine Consul General to the CNMI Wilfredo DL. Maximo urged a businessman on Saipan to be more cautious in his remarks in the future, following what he describes as irresponsible and sweeping statement on the character of all Filipinos on the basis of one employee in recent media interviews.

Island Medical Center owner Tony Glad, during an interview aired on KSPN-2 on March 14, expressed suspicion that his former Filipino accounts manager’s sudden departure from Saipan may have something to do with the forced closure of his clinic.

The Philippine consul general, however, has taken issue with Glad’s statement which the diplomat says is disparaging to Filipino workers in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

“I am writing to express concern over your remarks during an interview with KSPN on 14 March 2008, during which you were heard to say, in connection with the recent departure of the Filipino accountant of Island Medical Center, that 'It is typical of the Filipinos...when they have problems...they [dis]appear and leave for some reasons,'" Maximo said in his March 19 letter to Glad.

Copies of the letter were also given to the media.

On March 5, the CNMI Department of Public Health ordered Island Medical Center to shut down due to alleged noncompliance with rules and regulations.

The health agency cited Island Medical Center’s “unlawful pattern or practice by issuing health
certificates either without blood screening tests or on the basis of false, forged and/or altered lab test documentary results."

In interviews with the local media a few days after the forced closure, Glad expressed suspicion that his Filipino accounts manager, Romeo Dolot, may have something to do with the violations due to the employee's sudden departure from Saipan.

Dolot reportedly went back to the Philippines.

Maximo said Glad's remark was a slur on all Filipinos on the islands.

The Sweet Escape

Reading the news about the Island Medical Clinic and its plight made me realize I have several instances that I could share about an employee fleeing the "crime scene" in the CNMI. The certain employee Mr. Dolot immediately flew back to his home country, my guess would be the Philippines, just when the alleged scam was dug up by the Public Health. Its owner based on news said he was dubious when this employee bought a $15,000 car and wondered where he got the dough to purchase such expensive car for a non-resident worker.

This made me realize that I have known some non-resident workers that fled from the island for similar reasons. I know one employee of Century Hotel got away with alleged over $20,000 cash with him. The company didn't pursue but reported the case. I just found out another acquaintance that I used to bowl with also flew back home for the same reason. However, I heard he got more money from his company than the other.

Then I remember I was taking a friend to the airport and I saw someone I knew (close to a paper editor before) and she dashed from the cab with her backpack to the check in counter at the airport. I wondered why she was in a hurry. I wanted to say goodbye but a friend who was close to her said it was not a good idea. I didn't ask further why.

I found out that the woman left the island without consent from her employer. Again, why? I learned that the woman had to flee due to a case involving her colleague at work. I heard that her colleague stole covertly money from the company and she got afraid that she was going to be implicated with the case. Thus, she ran away.

Of course, the biggest case is the one that involved a MARPAC manager taking a huge sum of money.

What led them to such crime, obviously, financial difficulty. However, some just wanted to get a better car....

Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Read this letter to the editor by business tycoon Anthony Pelligrino where he is questioning where have all the good old days gone. He is brought down to the memory lane bringing up the past when the CNMI used to be in that golden era. I believe he has posted some questions for the community to ponder on.

Sometimes I get the feeling that our feet are walking forward but our heads are screwed on backward. We yearn for 1986 through 1997-the “golden years.” During this period everybody and everything was on a roll making money and tourists were flooding into the CNMI. Land was being leased at fabulous prices. New hotels and other attractions were filling the skyline of Saipan. We actually reached over 736,000 guests in 1996. Ah, yes, those were the good old days. How we wish they would come back. Sigh! Sigh! But..

Today the picture has turned quite bleak. Government laments that revenue is way below previous years. Tourists are not flocking here as previously. No new hotels are piercing the skyline. Investors have become endangered species. Garment factories are obsolete. Indigenous people are packing up and flying off to happier hunting grounds. How could this have happened? After all, what did we do to scare them off? And, of course, the usual question: Who is to blame? It's not our fault. Right?

He is asking who is to blame here....

Free Publicity

Whoa. I guess the MVA doesn't need to spend for more publicity about Saipan since the Miura case trial for extradition. Now, with his hiring of Michael Jackson's lawyer in his defense? That is something to look forward to.

Is Saipan now known at least in the biggest state in the US? Are people asking where Saipan is? Has this perked Californians' curiosity?

In Japan, I believe Saipan is now more popular than ever. This is the time that the tourism agency should be taking advantage of, right?

Wrong? Let me know...

Tina Sablan, Too Young?

Is Rep. Tina Sablan too young to be taken seriously up there in the Legislature? This is the buzz that we heard from some people, that the newspapers shouldn't be writing about her press releases or her stories at all.

Why not? "Because she's young and very idealistic," that's what they'd say to us.

But what do you think?

Cast your votes now ------->

Saipan Tribune vs Marianas Variety

There you go. At least 55 readers voted in this poll. Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety's online edition tied with 43.6 percent of the votes. That means the voters would usually go online to read what's the latest in the CNMI. Residents from North and South Carolina, California and Massachusetts also cast their votes on this poll.

However, 36 percent of the readers grab the hard copy of Saipan Tribune more than the Marianas Variety (30 percent). Pacific Daily News got 1.8 percent votes both on its online and hard copy editions.

Pacific Times...nil...zilch...zero.

Thanks for voting!!!!

Oldest Hub to Shutdown?

Could it be true that the oldest diner here on the island is also in the brink of shutting down? I had the chance to chat with one of its staff and he told me that this diner unbelievably is thinking of closing the business due to the dwindling economy in the CNMI.

He said what used to be a popular night in the restaurant would mostly turn into almost like a ghost town. Yes. As in for a night no customer would show up to dine in. He said most of its avid customers have mostly left the island, hence, the turnout.

If this happens then it would be a sad note for its loyal diners.

Miura Equates Border Control?

The recent turn of events that gathered a large number of Japanese journalists to the CNMI has been regarded by local officials an excellent indicator that the Northern Marianas has a reliable control of its borders.

The Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura's allegedly plotted the murder of his wife back in 1981 made international sensation as Saipan has been mentioned several times in major news network in the US and in the world.

The government expressed that the weekend's event disproved criticism from Washington, D.C. that the local government has poor control over its border. Reports added that it is not difficult to control the local border, as the Commonwealth is an isolated chain of islands.

“Our ports of entry are clearly defined. We have only a few ways to get in and out-by ship or by air. There's no connecting landmass, obviously, since we're a remote island. We have a good border control system here and it is getting better and better,” the government spokesperson said.

Border control, along with national security and the CNMI's history of labor abuse, is among the major concerns commonly cited by supporters of federalizing local immigration. (ST)

Extra Virgin Atlantic and the CNMI

While the first Virgin Atlantic airlines made its maiden flight using coconut oil as part of its engine fuel, the CNMI has made another mark on a gas hike making a gallon cost $4.04 each gallon.

The islands have definitely no option to this worldwide crisis, however, some countries have been exerting efforts to relieve themselves of this dilemma. Countries like Korea, the Philippines and Japan have been implementing a butane gas enabled taxis and cabs. Manila is operating a public utility vehicle called the Jeepney that runs on electricity.

Now, this Boeing 747 jumbo jet plane runs partly by coconut oil. Critics expressed it was just a publicity stunt for the airline. Can you imagine the loads and tons of coconuts that should be collected for this biofuel? Much as we want the CNMI to use coconuts as an alternative fuel for power, there's not enough natural resources to support the cause.

Whatever has happened to PTI's study on Wind Power? It was an issue before that one scientist explored the possibility of a nuke power here.

So we believe in law of science, where there's an action there will always be an equal reaction. So folks, expect CUC to jack up its utility rates sometime soon.

LB Resorts to Shooting Resorts

The Legislature is proposing to legalize and allow hotel resorts to house shooting ranges for international events that could rake in millions of dollars of added income to the dwindling CNMI economy. Reports said the bill would "diversify" the tourists that visit the islands.

I totally have no idea how much shooting resorts are earning in the world, however, it seems that the Legislature deems it to be one of the income generating attractions in some parts of the world.

What do you think?

F&B 911: Garlic Restaurant cum Urashima

Did you hear about this, of course some all ready did, that the Garlic Restaurant 2298 Ninikuya in Garapan has been acquired by the owners and operators of Casa Urashima also in Garapan. We had to gorge on food at the restaurant and I must say that the food are fantastic!

Though, it's not cheap to dine in there but the beer is only 4 bucks each. We enjoyed the garlic deep fried chicken and the garlic mushrooms. Dining inside the establishment is pleasant due to neat interior and lighting.

We can say that this is Urashima that is more affordable for someone like me.

The Reveler

Phil ConGen meets TTT's Cruz

Whoa! Smiles and sincere greetings seemed to be going on between the Philippine Consulate General and the Tao Tao Tano group leader today during lunch time at the 360. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised with that meeting at the revived and now hip lunch place in Susupe.

Some of the Filipinos dining in today were questioning as if surprised and vehemently reacted on what they saw? One of them ask why was the ConGen meeting with the TTT leader that she said has cursed, tarnished and offended the Filipino race here on the island. I was eagerly listening to them until they caught me and shut up.

What could be going on in this meeting? That we had no clue. Maybe TTT invited the Philippine Consulate General to convince his fellow Filipinos to accept the current law? Or maybe the Philippine ConGen invited the TTT leader to be more accepting to the nonresident workers?

I don't know. We had no idea. This ConGen has not spoken vocally on the issue of federalization and the Labor Reform Law. He reportedly said that he has not said anything to keep the relationship between the two countries in good shape.

We wondered who paid the lunch today....

The Reveler

A Tribute to Tribune's Publisher

Just a quick one.

Here's our tribute to the man that ran the Saipan Tribune into stardom. John Pangelinan passed away this afternoon at 3pm. Every one at the Trib was all saddened by this loss. He would be remembered as the lighthearted, understanding and full of vision of a man.

Kudos to you in heavens...

The Reveler

CHC - a No In-Patient Pharmacy Zone

Yes. This is the case now. Sources told me that the in-patient pharmacy at the Commonwealth Health Center has been closed by the Department of Public Health. Its loyal and dedicated head pharmacist has transferred to a private pharmacy as a retail pharmacist. I was also told that this director has not been renewed and still has some money owed to him by the department.

Can a local hospital operate without in-patient pharmacy? I was also told that a certain hospital should have an in-patient pharmacy if the facility has over 100 beds for example. Now I don't know about the CNMI's case here. I heard that the hospital tried to outsource the pharmacy services to the private pharmacy here but the company asked for a fee that's impossible for the hospital to afford. The fee was just a move to tell the hospital to renew the contract of its pharmacists.

I also heard from inside sources that the Public Health is going to privatize the in-patient pharmacy, that's why....

The Reveler

Meetings Left and Right

"To the left, to the left...Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable...." Beyonce.

This Grammy nominated song plays in the background as my mind rambles with questions why have there been meetings with nonresident workers left and right. This week, the local government met with the contract workers group trying to convince them that the Reform Law is a good thing for every one. Then, we've heard that the office of the Ombudsman also met with the nonresident workers. Then, I got these calls from nonresident workers asking me the time of supposed meeting with the same office tonight.

What's going on? Well, I could hear the excitement from these callers like there have been epiphanies of hope for a brighter future. However, again this could also bring false hopes to some...

What's going on?

The Reveler

Give Me A Chance...

Cliche as it may seem but this was the phrase that key officials of the CNMI government used and told hundreds of nonresident Filipino workers this week, that is to give the Reform Law a chance.

According to the news written by veteran labor reporter and former Marianas Variety assistant editor Haidee Eugenio, these officials said that the Public Law 15-108 is better than any law one could find in the world, including the United States. "…This is the best system there is," said Deanna Siemer, a volunteer attorney, told the Filipino workers, adding that guest workers should “give the new law a chance."

GMA News TV - Key officials of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) government told about a hundred representatives of various Filipino groups on Saipan to give the new labor reform law a chance.

In a three-hour open forum on Tuesday night exclusively covered by GMANews.TV, the CNMI officials said Public Law 15-108 or the Commonwealth Employment Act of 2007 still allows foreign workers to transfer jobs through administrative orders and not necessarily through the filing of a labor complaint against their current employers.

The officials said the new law allows foreign workers to have part-time jobs of up to 32 hours a month, and provides more protection to guest workers than the current system.

Headline Times Four?

I haven't been checking the printed newspaper lately especially the Marianas Variety. Browsing through their website I noticed the headline story last Friday (at least online) was about "Japanese investors trying to help the CNMI." What baffled me was the "Part 4" written after the title. Of course, I had assumed that it was the fourth part of the written story.

If this were the case, all I can is that Emmanuelle Erediano must be serious with his job now? I can't imagine a daily newspaper would have to cut their headlines into four publication dates? If it were a special report, that's understandable for me.

Do you actually believe what this guy writes?

You tell me....

The Reveler