PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Senator Judi Guthertz

HAGATNA, Guam (Marianas Variety, Oct. 25) – When I reflect on my relationship with the late Senator and former Speaker Tony Unpingco, I remember his calm, gracious and consistently civil approach to our Legislative work.

He took the time to help freshmen Senators like me to learn procedures in the Session Hall. He was a wonderful teacher to us. We were colleagues and we always treated each other with a full measure of esteem and dignity. He was a gentleman at all times, and every Senator appreciated that.

Speaker Unpingco has the distinction of being the longest serving Senator, and he was the last of the "old guard" politicians, whose names were synonymous with artful and thoughtful action on the Legislative floor.

He was first elected during the days when being a "deliberative body," as intended by law, was an exact and appropriate description of the Guam Legislature.

It is unfortunate, but those days in some ways, seem to be long gone.

The public and the media now look suspiciously at careful, thoughtful consideration of legislation, and time consuming deliberation is looked at as "stalling" or "delaying the process."

In today’s world, fancy billboards and suavely spoken promises have become the name of the game for many Senators. Often, the public sees only the persona of an elected official, and not the actual man or woman that they choose to represent them.

In our fast moving lives we rarely get the opportunity to really know and appreciate our leaders. We vote for those who sound good, or have the catchiest theme song, or who get their names in the media a lot.

Speaker Unpingco was not like that at all. He was re-elected so many times because he was from the old guard. We all knew him and he was one of the most genuine leaders around. People were comfortable with him and around him. They wanted to have him in the Legislature because they knew he wouldn’t do the wrong thing or let bad things happen.

The tenure of Antonio Reyes Unpingco in the Guam Legislature should remind us of just how ludicrous some of the suggestions to change the Legislature really are.

The most obvious is term limits. There are those who talk about and even support placing limits on the number of terms that an individual can serve as a Senator. I don’t agree.

Voters "fire" Senators all the time. History will show that the average Senator serves 3 to 4 terms. Voters have always done a good job of putting new faces into the Session Hall.

Term limits aren’t good because they will prevent Guam from being able to retain Senators of Speaker Unpingco’s caliber. Term limits would force us to "discard" good, honest, hard-working servants of the people.

By the time we find out which candidates are the best ones, we won’t be able to re-elect them. Point of fact: If term limits had been in place, a dedicated public servant like Speaker Unpingco, who had truly found his niche in life, would not have been able to serve the people in the way that he has for so many years.

The inopportune illness of Speaker Forbes, along with the unfortunate demise of Speaker Unpingco coming right on its heels, should make us think long and hard about the effect of reducing our Legislature from 21 to 15 members.

Decreasing the number of individuals who decide on our laws is in direct opposition to true democracy, where everyone decides on issues. A body of 15 is much more seriously affected by two missing members than is a body of 21.

Dr. Judi Guthertz studied in the Philippines but has lived on Guam all her life. She is a retired professor and dean of the University of Guam’s Business and Public Administration. She now serves as democratic Senator representing Mangilao in Guam.

Marianas Variety
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