Month: October 2020

Senator Therese Terlaje seeks further input on three of the four bills requested by the Judiciary

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (October 28, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) 

The Committee on Health, Tourism, Historic Preservation, Land and Justice held a public hearing today on a series of four bills that were introduced by Senator Therese Terlaje at the request of the Judiciary as a means to address the backlog of cases in the courts due to the public health emergency and pandemic.  The language and proposed amendments to statutes in Bills 408-35, 409-35, 410-35, and 411-35 were adopted by the Judicial Council of Guam in August of this year and the draft bills were sent to the Legislature on September 23rd.

“In an effort to assist the Judiciary in alleviating its backlog of cases, I introduced these bills with the exact same language as proposed by the Judicial Council and Chief Justice.  We learned today that the real root of the backlog issue may be the limitations of the court facilities to safely conduct 12 member jury panels and bring in jurors to conduct voir dire.   Based on information from today’s public hearing and concerns from local criminal defense attorneys, I will seek further input on Bills 409, 410, and 411 and ensure that we have exhausted all means available to expand our courtroom facilities and address the concerns raised,” stated Senator Therese Terlaje.

During the public hearing, the Judiciary noted that in conformance with operation restrictions set by Executive Order, it is currently utilizing only one courtroom for 12 person juries due to current health protocols and guidelines, and indicated that renovations on two other large courtrooms are underway and will not be available until December or January.  The Judiciary also estimated that it is currently experiencing a backlog on 175 arraignments and 300 criminal cases.

Testimony from the Judiciary and the Office of the Attorney General was in support of all four bills.  Attorneys from the Public Defender Service Corporation, Alternate Public Defender, and private firms provided testimony in support of Bill No. 408-35, but opposed Bills 409-35, 410-35, and 411-35 for their potential restrictions on the rights of defendants.

“I appreciate the suggestions shared during the hearing and I am very open to any additional feedback as to how we can help the courts alleviate the backlog they have now or may have going forward.  We need to strike a balance between adjudicating and administering justice as efficiently as possible without impeding on individuals’ rights or holding persons in prison longer than necessary, particularly during the pandemic.  I welcome the community and all stakeholders to submit input to my Committee until November 6th,” stated Senator Terlaje. 

Testimonies may be submitted to the Committee on Justice via the mailroom of the Guam Legislature in the Guam Congress Building, or through email at senatorterlajeguam@gmail.com.

Senator Therese Terlaje seeks to expand Chamorro Land Trust program for descendants of those whose ownership or use of land on Guam was unjustly disrupted by land takings

 FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (October 12, 2020- Hagåtña, Guam) 

On Friday, Senator Therese Terlaje, Chair for the Committee on Land, introduced Bill No. 419-35, an Act relative to preserving the land restoration and justice mission of the CHamoru Land Trust.

The changes to the Chamorro Land Trust Act proposed in the bill are intended to more clearly demonstrate that the Chamorro Land Trust program is a land restoration program meant to rectify the unjust taking of Chamorro homelands by the United States federal government between 1898 and 1968, and would expand the program’s eligible beneficiaries to include individuals and their descendants who owned or who ranched, farmed or otherwise occupied the lands that were taken.

“We have seen firsthand the impact of the massive land takings on Guam’s families, too many who live in poverty over eight decades later, without a stable place to live, and their ability to use the land to provide for their families severely disrupted.  It took years of vision, courage, advocacy, protests, and even lawsuits to get where we are today and in honor of those who preserved these rights for us, we must never stop fighting for, protecting, and expanding the potential of this land and its precious resources to nurture and sustain future generations  It is our duty as lawmakers to safeguard the land restoration mission of the Trust, to protect the Trust from being raided by special interests; to manage the Trust better and make it more conducive to thriving residences, agriculture, and cottage industries; and to carry these homeland programs into perpetuity for future generations, so that we truly remedy the long-term injustice of massive land takings,” said Senator Therese Terlaje.

The Chamorro Land Trust law was authored by then Senator Paul Bordallo and passed by the 12th Guam Legislature in 1975.   No Governor appointed members to the Commission, until protests, a campout, and a lawsuit brought by Attorneys Mike Phillips, Mike Bordallo, and Therese Terlaje on behalf of the Nasion Chamoru, led by Angel Santos and Ed Benavente, ordered Governor Joseph Ada to appoint the first Commission in 1992.  The rules and regulations were authored by then Senator Angel Santos and enacted by the 23rd Guam Legislature.  This bill recognizes the land use history of the people of Guam and will expand residential and agricultural leases to those individuals and their descendants whose use of land on Guam was disrupted due to land takings.

Download a copy of Bill No.-419-35-COR here:Download

35th Guam Legislature Confirms DPHSS Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 19, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) – During the close of its regular session today, the 35th Guam Legislature has confirmed the appointment of Arthur U. San Agustin as the Director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

Senator Terlaje, Chair for the Committee on Health, Tourism, Historic Preservation, Land and Justice, stated, “I felt it was important to contemplate the gravity and responsibility of this position during this particular time when our island is facing a health pandemic and is struggling to control a virus that has taken many lives over the last 9 months, that has shut many businesses down and put more than 30,000 people out of work, that has kept many of us isolated and limited from spending precious in-person time with our family and close friends, and that has completely overwhelmed our health care system.”

Carrying out the burden of leading Guam out of this pandemic comes with the full unprecedented Health Emergency authority which also entails the management of millions of dollars of procurement and federal funds, and tremendous pressure from the administration, hospitals, health care companies, lawyers, doctors, business owners, the legislature and the entire community.

The Health Chair noted that the appointment by the legislature should come with the commitment to provide the department with needed resources, that DPHSS is not scapegoated when it is everyone’s responsibility to improve our situation, and that that the advisory groups and the private sector truly work with them to implement a clear exit strategy that has been communicated effectively to the public.

“I expect the Director to serve the people of Guam first and foremost… that he is direct and completely forthright with the community he serves, and to remove any impediment that keeps information from the public,” said the Senator.

Recognizing the many challenges presented to the new director, Senator Terlaje also outlined some of her expectations including advocacy on behalf of the people of Guam without political interference stating on the session floor, “I expect denunciation of scare tactics or the threatening of furloughs of Public Health staff in the middle of the biggest public health emergency our island has seen and I expect policy to be driven by data and by an unwavering allegiance to saving lives.”

Mr. San Agustin declared his willingness to take on the leadership responsibilities over the Department and his intentions to work towards the improvement of the well-being of the island during his confirmation hearing.  Art San Agustin has dedicated his career to serving those in need, to Public Health, often called upon to serve as Acting Director during his long tenure with the agency and 32 years of government service.

Visit Video (1:07) for full remarks on this confirmation below.

DPHSS Oversight Indicates Continuing Struggle With Data; Progress With Tracing and Technology Highlighted

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 1, 2020 – Hagåtña, Guam) – As the community continues to learn how to adapt to life with COVID-19, Senator Therese Terlaje, the Oversight Chair on Health, continues to monitor progress with the Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) to get a clearer picture of the trajectory of the reopening of Guam businesses, tourism as well as restoring some semblance of normalcy for residents.

The third in a series of Oversight Hearings took place on the first day of FY2021 via Zoom with members of the 35th Guam Legislature and administrators from DPHSS to get an update on the progress of COVID-19 response measures including the Contact Tracing and Investigations capacity, implementation and results of COVID-19 tracing apps, public disclosure protocol for case investigations and contact tracing information, status of the CARES Act funding request and other federal funding, and Public Health Authority Powers under Chapter 19, Title 10, Guam Code Annotated.

“Since the first oversight on contact tracing held in May through today, these hearings have been essential to getting information to the public when there has been so much uncertainty.  Hearing that there is progress is encouraging and lets everyone in our community know that DPHSS is working hard to keep them safe, while also considering their need to get back to work,” said the Oversight Chair.

The DPHSS Workflow has been streamlined for contact tracing and containment, and they can now contact a positive case, close contacts, plan isolation, and instruct on quarantine for family members within 5-8 hours of test results.  According to Dr. Chima Mbakwem, Projects Coordinator for the Office of HealthCare Associated Infections Epidemiology, the new strategy is a time-saving mechanism where the containment team identifies family members and close contacts and immediately hands the data to the contact tracing investigation team who completes their investigation within 1-2 days while those identified are already under quarantine and are being monitored for 14 days.

Annette Aguon, COVID-19 Epidemiology/Surveillance Branch Lead, also updated the Oversight Chair on contact tracing investigation resources stating that there are currently 22 investigators, 25 contact tracers, plus 3 contact tracers with Dr. Mbakwem’s team.  Also assisting in this effort are approximately 42 DOE nurses, 38 existing Public Health staff, among others. In addition to public and private partners, a pilot project has started at UOG which will augment the investigation team at a separate site.  Santos and Mbakwem attributed the increased staffing, household contacts in multigenerational homes already under quarantine, and the current lockdown in assisting them to complete investigations sustainably until Guam starts reopening and shifting gears.

Although the Guam COVID Alert App has only seen a 19.6% adoption rate, short of the recommended 60% gold standard, efforts are still ongoing to increase the levels through various outreach and incentive programs.   Public Health also launched the SARA Alert technology which will eventually replace most of the manual monitoring, allowing a more robust way for patients and close contacts to report their symptoms daily via telephone, email, smartphone, or text messaging.

Though much progress has been made regarding containment and contact tracing, Dr. Ann Pobutsky, Guam’s Territorial Epidemiologist, advised that they are behind on data management and migration, stating that it will be at least another month until we get more robust weekly surveillance reports, which will break down community spread by activity categories.  The categories are a work in progress but could contain the information that the community has been pressing for, to make well-informed decisions about what activities could be riskier for them and their families and to help the government determine what businesses could be classified as lower or higher risk.

Senator Terlaje stated, “I continue to urge the Department to provide more data to the public to help them understand what information is driving the decisions so that they have confidence in this process going forward.”

Acting Director Art San Agustin updated the Chair on the latest changes to quarantine protocols, noting that those who wish to test on day 6 and test negative, can opt to fulfill the remainder of their 14-day quarantine at home.  Dr. Mbakwem clarified that these individuals are on restricted movement, which means they can go to the store for essential items and exercise because they have a lower probability of testing positive.  This is different from quarantine for close contacts who have been exposed to COVID-19.

Although the ongoing community positivity rate averages approximately 8% according to the JIC, Aguon advised that DPHSS is still confident in their ability to adequately trace contacts and control the spread of infection, especially with the recent adjustments made with the isolation and quarantine team and updated internal protocols with the trace investigation team.

“I am optimistic about the progress made in just the past few months regarding containment and contact tracing, however, I cannot stress enough about the importance of transparency in the process and data-driven decisions being the key to public participation,” stated Senator Terlaje.

View the full oversight hearing by clicking here or below: