By Johnnie Rosario
(Yigo, Guam) Sen. Jim Moylan said he suspects patience from his colleagues across the aisle may be waning about the lack of answers from Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero to questions senators have been asking about the illegal procurement of hotels for quarantine and isolation facilities.
The governor has said she and her administration did nothing wrong, and said she empowered her legal counsel and son in law, Haig Huynh, to lead the procurement of the hotels.
Mr. Huynh, however, said he didn't lead the procurement; he said Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association president Mary Rhodes did.
Ms. Rhodes told senators in an oversight hearing on the procurement matter that she had nothing to do with the contracts for those hotels and merely connected Mr. Huynh to hoteliers.
Carlo T. Branch, the governor's staff assistant, told senators in that same hearing that Ms. Leon Guerrero, not Mr. Huynh, was the procuring authority.
According to documents, this is not the case of there being three versions of the truth. Documents indicate that Mr. Huynh and Mr. Branch's different stories both are lies, and that Ms. Leon Guerrero and Ms. Rhodes are telling the truth: Haig Huynh led the procurement.
Mr. Moylan has been asking the administration for information regarding the procurement, as documents indicate millions of dollars in payments have been made to the hotels without any contract, purchase order, requisition, request for direct payment or so much as a price quote in the procurement record.
This is illegal, and Mr. Moylan says he and other senators want answers and want people to be held accountable.
Here is his full statement:
"Since the start of this pandemic, our office has been making several inquiries into matters associated with government spending, and unfortunately we are not getting the cooperation from the administration. I am presently asking my colleagues to please stand with me and help get Bill 338-35 on the agenda next week, as it would add some transparency towards actions pursued during the emergency declaration pursuant to Chapter 19. I am willing to take the next step and add more teeth to the language, to assure that failure to share information will have consequences.
"If things continue to remain status quo, and the administration turns a blind eye to legislative inquiries, I have no problems asking the appropriate chairperson to consider convening a legislative investigation. Based on recent history, I suspect that may happen pretty soon."
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