FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (October 18, 2022 – Hagåtña, Guam) – Original landowners of the property known as Eagles Field and the surrounding area weighed in today at the Guam Congress Building during an oversight and public hearing on the proposed location of a new hospital. The hearing was conducted by Speaker Therese Terlaje and the legislative oversight committee on land, who invited landowners, agency, and government officials as well as the general public to discuss their concerns on the siting of the proposed medical campus as well as the procurement of contracts pertaining to it.
The Oversight Chair on Land clarified that the Guam Legislature is not opposed to the construction of a new hospital, evident by the laws the body has passed to establish a health task force, and to authorize the government of Guam to enter into contract for the design, build, finance and lease of a medical campus.
Frank Tenorio Lujan, a member of the public with ties to land on Eagles Field, along with other landowners, urged the members of the legislature to advocate for them to which the Speaker stated that she is supporting what the people of Guam have supported for decades, the return of property to its original landowners stating, “we are with you.” Terlaje had cited the position of I Liheslaturan Guahan since the passage of the Guam Ancestral Lands enabling act, P.L. 24-45 in 1999, that the government of Guam “memorialize the true history of land takings on Guam, in spite of well-settled legal protections, as a foundation for establishing a process for the recognition of indigenous Guamanians’ claims to their ancestral lands, also known as “ancestral titles” so that the property rights of all citizens residing on Guam may be fully and equally protected in the future.”
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.
“I agree that we need a new hospital and have supported the efforts that have come before the legislature. However, if there is an intent and willingness to lease Eagles Field for 99-years, then that sounds like excess to me, as was already indicated in writing by the Secretary of the Navy in his January 15, 2021, letter. If we were not bold, not unified, nobody would have gotten their land back. Unless the local law is changed, we should honor it. This is justice for Guam and the landowners, and I thank them for reminding us of the real effects of the massive land takings and of generations that were displaced.” stated the Speaker.
The full 5 hour oversight and public hearing can be found at these links for Part 1 and Part 2.