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.

Federalization vs Federalization

Our top reporter, E.E. is at it again informing the CNMI public that what it reported earlier about the Governor's special adviser's comments on federalization. It was reported that the adviser believed that guest workers are required to leave the island in two years after the federal takeover of the immigration system.

Now, the paper reports that someone from the federal committee is contradicting the adviser's statements earlier.

What raised my brows again is that the reporter did not name the source and reported it. I guess the source is too reliable to counter the adviser's statements. However, this is E.E. reporting....

Hmmm...

The Reveler

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

Counting the Blessings

Today, Rep. Joe DL Guerrero held a Catholic blessing ceremony of his new office up at the Legislature. He's just occupied the former room of Rep. Cinta Kaipat where she held office for two years.

Rep. Guerrero quipped that the reason why he had to have the room blessed is because all (mostly) that occupied that room in the past didn't win the succeeding elections...

It was remembered that Manny Brown and Kaipat held office in that room.

The current Lt. Governor also held office there, btw.

The Reveler

Pawn Da Replay

My friend and I were scouring the pawnshops on Saipan for a great deal on some digital cameras my friend needs, when we saw this TV set being sold there. Notice the stickers on top of the monitor frame?

It says DLNR-DFW. Hmmm...our nasty thoughts played once again...

The Reveler

150 vs 1,000 ++

Now this is interesting. Yesterday the Tao Tao Tano CNMI Association led a rally in response to the Unity March held in December. The two newspapers on the island made the event the headline today.

Marianas Variety is claiming that the group that wants nonresident workers out of the CNMI was able to gather "thousands" of community members and its members to rally against federal takeover. The Saipan Tribune, on the other hand, reports that only 150 including government and business officials participated in the group's march yesterday.

So, I guess this discrepancy is not like what we had before regarding the Unity March, where we were debating if it was over 10,000 or only 3,000 people attended. At least in this case the people were debating on a thousand basis.

Is it 150 or over a thousand? It's like MV vs ST? "Witch is Witch?"

The Reveler
(Photo: Tacder/ST)

Film Revue: Clobber-feel on Cloverfield

As I write this my head pounds like crazy due to a unexpected migraine attack. I'm used to having this migraine every week since I was younger. However, I was feeling better two hours ago before we went to see the newly released flick "Cloverfield."

It's Blair Witch Project comeback with a different genre. This time with a "ginormous" character wreaking havoc in midtown Manhattan. So, when I mentioned Blair Witch Project, I'm sure you got the drift about the point of view of the movie that comes from the lens of a digital video camera?

The movie is gripping; makes you feel you are one of those people screaming and running for their lives in New York City. Some absurdities of course but in general the movie was very well done.

One word for you: nausea.

Be sure to take motion sickness pill before or after the movie.

The Reveler

Hold Up!

Did you hear about this news two months ago and just recently about a tourist bus that was hijacked by some men on the island and held up some tourists? Our sources said that the tourists were in utter shock to have been robbed inside the bus. The sources also mentioned that one tourist bus that took the back road route was also held up by armed men and took each tourists valuables.

Isn't this the saddest news ever? Oh well...

The Reveler

KRNM Shutdown?

Ruth Tighe made it to today's Saipan Tribune headline reporting the prompting closure of the 10-year old public radio station in the CNMI--KRNM soon. I had the chance to speak with its station general manager before but then it was just mere cost cutting measures that shutting down was not in the picture nor an option. If this were true, I'd say that Carl Pogue has given a great fight to retain the station on Saipan. Believe it or not, I would say there are more listeners to this station than the mainstream ones.

For the complete report, read Ruth's article here.

The Reveler

Chain Mail Chronicles # 1

Click on the photo to read the story. This is hilarious clinton at its best!