Gov. Camacho reacts to the override of Bill 149

After the singing of songs and praying, Ben Pangelinan got ahold of the agenda and managed to get an override of the Gov's Veto of Bill 149. The Gov's office didn't waste anytime getting this into the media's inboxes. It's worth remembering that the lead counsel of the Taxpayer's case indicated that should an override be successful, they would move for a injunction against the implementation of the law. Developing!

We are clearly disappointed in this override considering the legal concerns we presented upon veto of this measure. The Senators had an opportunity to address the concerns we brought forth prior to the override to make this a valid transaction.

Bill 149 purports to make an irrevocable assignment of the GTA Promissory Note to the retiree class eligible for the COLA judgment award pursuant to Superior Court SP0206-93. Bill 149 does not resolve the restrictions imposed on the government of Guam by terms of the Note.

The primary restriction is that set forth in ¶ 7 of the Promissory Note, which provides:

7. Transfer. Without the written consent of the other party, neither
the Payor nor the Payee may assign or transfer any of its obligations or rights under this Promissory Note.

Basically, the assignment of the Promissory Note may likely be invalid since TeleGuam's written consent to assignment was not obtained. Even if the assignment is valid, the failure of the government of Guam to abide by the terms of the Note, specifically the anti-assignment provision, may render the Government liable for damages for breach of the Note.

It would have been easier to have authorized the Governor to transfer the note for the benefit of the COLA class.

Despite these concerns there is an opportunity for the remaining COLA judgment debt to be paid down thanks to Bill No. 168, introduced this week by Senators David Shimizu, Rory Respicio, Judith Guthertz, Tina Rose Muna Barnes and Adolpho Palacios.

We want to encourage the entire Legislative body to move forward on this measure so that this entire debt can be paid down instead of through piece-meal public laws that may not be enforceable and only delays the money that is owed to our retirees.

Here is the memo attached to the statement.

re_149.pdf