First postmaster of Guam, first Secretary to the Governor during US Naval Era. Atanasio Taitano Perez (1874 – 1950), commonly known as Don Perez, is the only child of Francisco Taitano Perez and Maria Encarnacion Perez.
Atanasio Taitano Perez Read Post »
Long time senator. Vicente (ben) Cabrera Pangelinan (1955-2014), known as “Senator ben,” was a fighter and champion for many causes that affected the people of Guam. Pangelinan was born in Saipan to Luisa Cabrera Pangelinan and Francisco Sablan Pangelinan on 22 October 1955 and moved to Guam with his family at the age of seven. He had two sisters, Maria and Jesusa, and one brother, Antonio.
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Guam’s colonized past under Spain. When the Europeans came to the Mariana Islands in the 16th and 17th centuries, they found a vigorous and highly developed community of people with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture and language in common. These Pacific islands were settled over 4,000 years ago by a group of people who came to be known as CHamorus. They were the first group of Pacific islanders to receive the full impact of European civilization when the Spanish began their colonization of the Marianas in 1668.
Guam’s Political Development Read Post »
Self-Determination: A promise for true democracy. To understand what the process of self-determination means for many Chamorus on Guam, one must have some knowledge of the island’s long colonial history.
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Significant developments relative to the return of lands to the people of Guam have occurred since the original publication of this article in 1996. For instance, the Chamorro Land Trust Act (21 GCA §§ 75101-75117) or the statute enacted in 1975 to provide for the disposition of public lands in a manner that facilitated the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the Chamorro people, has been implemented, albeit on an incremental basis.
Update: Land Ownership in Guam Read Post »
Granted Congressional US citizenship to the people of Guam. The Organic Act of Guam is federal legislation passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by US President Harry S. Truman on 1 August 1950. In general, the act established a non-military, civil government on Guam; granted congressional US citizenship to residents of the island at the time and their descendants; and solidified the island’s political status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly a Spanish colony, Guam was ceded to the US in 1898.
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In the 1960s the United Nations issued Resolution 1514 (XV) “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,” as a call to end colonization around the world. As a result, many nations began the process of decolonization as territories negotiated new political statuses and exercised their rights of sovereignty and self-government.
Book: Secret Guam Study Read Post »
Tinituhun. On 21 July 1991 at Latte Stone Memorial Park in Hagåtña, a small group of Chamorro men and women gathered to form a new organization. This organization would be comprised of a number of different grassroots and family-based groups, who were all connected through a commitment to the Chamorro people and to the protection of their lands, their culture and their rights.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Government of Guam created the Commission on Self-Determination (CSD) to continue the quest for a change in Guam’s political status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. There were two commissions mandated by law: the first was organized in 1980, and the second in 1984.
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In 2006, the United States and Japan signed an agreement known as the Roadmap for Realignment Implementation. This bilateral agreement initially involved the realignment of some 8,600 marines from bases in Okinawa, Japan to the US territory of Guam in what would be the largest military buildup in the region since World War II. In addition to the relocation of marines, land would be needed to accommodate live round weapons training, as well as housing for military personnel, families and laborers.
