Auntie Charo's Soapbox

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan Variety News Staff wrote in today's on line version of the Marianas Variety that Antonio Sablan lambasted the Guam Chamber of Commerce and Guam’s elected leaders for "focusing on the almighty dollars without giving consideration to the social and environmental impact of having a bigger military presence.That, "We should learn a lesson from Philippine experience. Until now they are still struggling with the issue of who will clean up the toxic waste that the U.S. military left behind when they left Subic and Clark", and that," GovGuam demand lease payment from the U.S. government for the military’s use of Guam land." and, “We have valuable real estate resources. Guam is a prime and strategic location that the military is sitting."
Cagurangan also reports that Sablan also" warned of the danger threatening Guam with the nuclear presence. The nuclear submarine USS Buffalo will be home-ported on Guam to replace USS San Francisco, which sailed away from Guam last summer after an accident that killed a crewmember and killed 60 others.(I don't recall the killing of 60 others, perhaps injuring 60 others, but think there was only one killed) Anyway, Mr. Sablan, me thinks that Guam already has nukes and they ain't only on subs, gads, why do you think they close Marine Drive when they're driving ammo to Andersen? I digress!!
Cagurangan reports that:"Debbie Quinata of Nasion Chamoru said the presence of more military personnel will result in a housing shortage among local residents. “How exactly does she think the people will be able to compete with the U.S. military personnel for the limited housing available, them with their inflated housing allowance — us with our minimum wage?” Quinata asked.."
Wow!!!! I hate to say this but most Nacion people are GHURA(get their funds from Uncle Sam, the uncle most Nacion they hate the most) and GHURA pays more for rentals than most can afford which landlords prefer renting to in the first place, as for rentals, there are so many apartments and houses for rent, all of her Nacion members and half of the island can rent right now before the Marines arrive...
(You can read the entire story on-line) He was also on Rlene Live yesterday on K57 speaking with the same 'lambasting' tone.
In a perfect world, the Marines will come to Guam and there will be housing for all, new jobs for all and rent paid for property used...in a perfect world. We don't live in a perfect world. The Marines will arrive and we'll have some problems, just as we already have with our own people, just as we have with our visiting cousins from neighboring islands and neighboring countries that come to Guam to work or visit. It would be stupid to say that the 7,000 Marines will come to Guam and everything will be honky dorry(is it spelled dorrie?)
I have seen businesses open and close because of the economy...7,000 Marines would help the economy. Maybe the Ben Franklin building with the island's first escalator will be rented, as will the other empty building next to it. As for charging the military rent, perhaps we should be reminded that the US government comes to our aid the minute after a typhoon or earthquake is over with hundreds of thousands of dollars....that they pay for our highways, help with our schools, with capital improvements and long lists of other things. Perhaps we could look at those investments as rent?
I hope that when Marines hear comments that come from Nacion they'll know that there are more people from the community that are waiting their arrival with open arms and the 'hafa adai' spirit and hospitality spirit that the people of Guam are known for!