FROM THE PUBLISHER ’ S DESK
At the 23rd anniversary celebration of Palau ’ s independence in October , Vice President Raynold “ Arnold ” Oilouch recalled the questions that saddled Palauans when they headed to the polls that would seal the future of their nation : “ Do we know what we are getting ourselves into ? Can Palau survive as independent nation ?”
The same questions confront each of the remaining colonies in the 21st century — including Guam . But such questions are more of a reflection of self-doubt and beget answers only when one takes the plunge . The post-trusteeship period presented the answers , Oilouch said . “ Yes , yes , yes ; we can . It has been a successful 23 years for our young republic ; we are a stronger nation today than we were when we started 23 years ago ,” Oilouch said .
Palau chose to be a sovereign state in free association with its former colonizer . It may not be perfect — no political system is — but Palau takes pride in its maturity , having made a decision to transition toward self-determination that involves great responsibility . Its feats and failures are its own .
On Guam , when things go wrong , our leaders point to the territory ’ s weak political status as the default cop-out that perpetuates the victim mentality . Under its current status , Guam ’ s relationship with the feds is a love-hate affair . Like other U . S . territories , Guam is institutionally a second-class citizen — a status from which the island has the option to graduate .
Last month , Gov . Eddie B . Calvo spoke at the United Nations , to “ reiterate our intent as a people to vote on our political status – as well as the challenges that we face in that regard .” He made “ this appeal to a larger audience , one that I hope will help bring resolution to the fight for our rights as a people . I have made no secret over the years that my personal preference on polit-
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ical status but even more than that my desire is that we , the people of Guam , are raised out of our current status as an unincorporated territory and brought into a status of our own choosing .”
But no grand speech can put across the nuances of Guam . Regardless of the size of the worldwide audience , Guam ’ s quest for self-determination will remain in limbo unless we acknowledge that the impediment to this goal is found right at the home front . Introspection can bring us to the realization Guam ’ s true adversary is our own fragmented ideas about which direction the island should head out to and about who should have a say on the future of the island . This is exacerbated by the consequent apathy on the part of those who are alienated from the yet-to-be scheduled plebiscite . The progress on this voting process is stunted by a local statute — thumbed down by the district court for its discriminatory nature — that would exclude a significant portion of the island ’ s population . Those who fight to take part in the process are disdained as villains .
At the UN , Governor Calvo quoted his great grandfather Tomas Anderson Calvo who , in a speech during the opening of the first Guam Congress in 1917 , “ asserted that we must not be afraid to defend our rights as a people to determine for ourselves what path we should take . His rally cry that we fight for our right to self-governance resounded over the decades and we continue to hear its echo in the voices of the young leaders of today …. He closed by posing the question , of whether we are to be members of the American people or their servitors . My fellow brothers and sisters , we cannot wait another one hundred years for this question to be answered .”
There is no substitute for action to find the answer , which will come from here . Palau didn ’ t wait a hundred years .
Publisher Mar-Vic Cagurangan publisher @ pacificislandtimes . com
Editor-in-Chief Bruce Lloyd editor @ pacificislandtimes . com
Associate Editor ( Pacific Note / Palau ) Ongerung Kambes Kesolei okkesolei @ gmail . com
Palau Bureau Chief Bernadette Carreon carreon . bernadette @ gmail . com
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