Vol. 4 No. 10 October 2020 Digital | Page 3

WHAT WE HAVE THIS MONTH

Our Cover
Palau CNMI
$ 1.25
A CRISIS
WITHIN A

CRISIS

A suicide surge amid the Covid-19 pandemic
VOL . 4 GUAM • PALAU CNMI • FSM NO . 10
Emerging from isolation
How will the MVA bring commonwealth islands back in the game ?
OCTOBER 2020
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A shortage of mental health professionals amid a looming mental health crisis 20-21
From the Publisher ’ s Desk The first victim of Covid-19 4
Brief Chat
Lilian Perez-Posadas : “ We feel beaten sometimes .” 6
Insights *
Views from the Trench : Pay it forward 7
Yo Amti : More on GMH 8
Variations : Revisiting the Trust Territory era 9
Government affairs Why political hiring never stops 10
Policy Compact talks 11-12
Education Exploring pod teaching 14
Politics
Underwood , Castro on self-determination 16
Military Beefing up ties with Indo-Pacific 18
CNMI Resistance greets parks plan for Rota 19 MVA ’ s 10-year plan for tourism 23
Technology
Tides : Future accelerated
26
Just a Byte : Counting 50
27
Around the Pacific
Yap : Shut out of the deal
29
Palau : Emerging from isolation
30
Breaking away from Solomon Islands 31
A bleak Pacific islands economy
31
Chuukese perspective : Fitting in
32
Bougainville vote : Now what ?
33
Philippines A foreign policy not so independent 34
Life Lessons : The boy in a fast red car 36 Daydream : When old places are gone 37
Travel Wanting a good massage 38
* Opinions expressed by columnists are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Pacific Island Times .