BY OYAOL NGIRAIRIKL
Journal Staff
A new bill aims to compensate ancestral landowners for property taken from their families for federal or local government use.
Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero submitted to the 36th Guam Legislature the proposed legislation, titled the 36th Guam Land Bank Reform Act of 2022. According to the governor, its main goals are:
- To clarify the criteria for ancestral owners eligible to receive compensation.
- To provide for multiple funding streams, including annual budget appropriations, Section 30, and others; and
- To provide means for the ancestral owners’ claim to be calculated and distributed to original owners or their descendants.
There’s no estimated cost included in the bill. Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes wrote to Lester Carlson, director of the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, requesting a fiscal note. The vice speaker also submitted Bill 345 to the Clerk of the Legislature on Oct. 19 to be forwarded to Speaker Therese M. Terlaje, chairwoman of the Committee on Land.
The governor is urging Terlaje to act quickly to hold a public hearing and then place the bill in the November session.
The proposed legislation states the Land Bank, on top of existing funding sources, be funded by “government of Guam agencies that utilize ancestral property, a portion of Section 30 monies received by the government of Guam, and other annual local and federal appropriations or other funding sources and amounts deemed appropriate by the government of Guam.”
“These funds may further be used to pay for the cost of the described services incurred by the Commission in furtherance of its efforts to provide just compensation for dispossessed ancestral landowners,” the proposed legislation states. “The Commission is also authorized to enter into financial Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to receive payments and reimbursements with government of Guam agencies whose services are requested and provided in furtherance of the Commission’s efforts to provide just compensation for dispossessed ancestral landowners.”
The bill’s introduction comes after the governor met with, among others, ancestral owners of Eagle’s Field on March 22. She said the Ancestral Lands Commission and Guam Economic Development Authority have met with more than 53 representatives of families whose land in Mangilao is the proposed site of the governor’s proposed hospital and health compound.
“The Land Bank Reform Act of 2022 is the result of the collaborative work of multiple agencies over several months, led by the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, the Department of Land Management, and the Guam Economic Development Authority, who took into account the concerns expressed by our original landowners and their descendants. I am also especially grateful to the Office of the Attorney General for its help developing this legislation,” the governor stated.
On Oct. 18, Terlaje held an oversight and public hearing on the Eagles Field property. Original landowners of the property known as Eagles Field and the surrounding area gave comments.
Terlaje said the Guam Legislature is not opposed to the construction of a new hospital as shown by bills recently passed to establish a health task force and authorize the government of Guam to enter into contract for the design, build, finance and lease of a medical campus. But they did want to get the thoughts of the landowners.
Frank Tenorio Lujan, a member of the public with ties to land on Eagles Field, along with other landowners, said they want ancestral property returned.
The committee chair noted that she was looking to determine what the landowners thought of the proposal of a 99-year lease, instead of the return of land, and the hospital being situated there. Landowners resoundingly united in support that they wanted the government to advocate for the return of their property. mbj