Guam, Subic link up as sister-city

Senator Eddie Calvo is leading an effort to establish a sister-city relationship with Olongapo City, Philippines. Olongapo City includes Subic Bay, once the U.S. military’s major Asian military installation.

“Subic is a community that once had a strong U.S. military presence,” Calvo said. “We can learn from their experience and share in the prosperity ahead. I want to build a strong partnership that will benefit both our communities.”

The coordination of Guam tourism, economic development and labor agencies into this partnership follows the senator’s meeting with Olongapo City mayor James “Bong” Gordon yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Guam.

Gordon is visiting Guam with a contingent of Philippine government officials and businessmen. The group is participating in the Guam Industry Forum.

“We’re here not only about opportunities for workers, but also for investments,” Gordon said. “The people of Olongapo are interested in setting up businesses here. We can forge a sister-city relationship.”

Calvo yesterday wrote to the agency heads of the Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority and Department of Labor informing them of the mayor’s invitation to establish a sister-city relationship.

The senator and the mayor discussed Guam and Olongapo’s shared history as host communities of major U.S. military installations. They also discussed similarities in the economic future of both communities.

The mayor said he believes Guam and Olongapo are insulated from the world economic crisis. Olongapo City, according to Mayor Gordon, is experiencing major economic development with a resurgent private sector looking to Guam because of its familiarization with the economic benefits of a U.S. military host community.

“Many of our residents can trace their roots to Subic and Olongapo City,” Calvo said. “It was an honor and privilege to discuss issues important to all our people with a leader from the Philippines, who cares about the new direction our island is taking.”

Several residents of Guam can trace their roots to this region of the Philippines. Gordon earlier this week met with the Zambales Association of Guam. Olongapo City belongs to the province of Zambales.

Gordon comes from an influential political family, which has led the Subic area for decades. His father was mayor of Olongapo City. His brother, Philippine Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, became mayor as well. Then-Mayor Richard Gordon led the city and his country through the difficult transition following the closure of the U.S. military installation at Subic. Richard Gordon and James Gordon concurrently led the revitalization of Subic and Olongapo.

Senator Richard Gordon is considered a front-runner in next year’s election for Philippine President. Senator Gordon yesterday announced his application to the Philippine Commission on Elections to start a new political party, which his supporters have said will be the vehicle for his candidacy. Senator Calvo also has met Senator Gordon previously while in the Philippines.

Gordon is no stranger to Guam. This is his fourth visit to the island. He first came to Guam in the early 1980s and met with the late Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo.

Senator Eddie Calvo is leading an effort to establish a sister-city relationship with Olongapo City, Philippines. Senator Eddie Calvo, left, meets with visiting Olongapo City mayor James Gordon at the Hyatt Regency Guam on Tuesday.
Variety News Staff

Japan Lower House OKs US Marines Move To Guam

TOKYO (AFP)--Japan's lower house Tuesday approved a multi-billion-dollar plan to transfer 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa island to Guam by 2014, despite objections from opposition parties.

Under the agreement, Japan would pay up to $2.8 billion for infrastructure and other work in relocating the Marines and their 9,000 dependents to the U.S. Pacific territory.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japan's Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone signed an agreement in February on the relocation project, part of a wider 2006 bilateral accord on transforming US force deployments in Japan.

The plan is expected to be voted down in the opposition-controlled upper house but is assured final approval under a constitutional provision that gives the lower chamber precedence on international accords.

The Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties have rejected the plan, citing doubts about its cost breakdown and related plans to move a U.S. Marine airfield from a city to a scenic Okinawa shore.

Okinawa - where a bloody battle was fought in the closing days of World War II - has since the war been the reluctant host of more than half of the 40,000 U.S. troops based in Japan.

Many Okinawans are opposed to the related plan to move the Marine airfield to the shore, citing environmental and other concerns.

But the Clinton-Nakasone accord tied this plan to the pullout to Guam aimed at reducing the burden of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa.

Okinawan islanders have long complained of noise from military operations and a series of crimes committed by U.S. servicemen.

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Guam buidlup videos

General David Bice talks military buildup on Guam (4 of 4)


http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1C6B263051B8B308&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL
Follow above link to play all remaining discussion with General David Bice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL7pj94lcxs&NR=1
Locations of Guam Buildup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOPJS521AqA
This video is in Chinese, but the author added the English subtitle for the benefit of non-Chinese speakers.

US will invest $15 billion for the next 10 years for construction of new facilities or expanding old ones on US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Two Chinese analysts explained military and geopolitical significance of this US military posturing in West Pacific Region.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4gIRo7wc2I&NR=1
Guam: Tip of the Spear - USA - by journeymanpictures
China's militarisation is challenging the balance of power in the Pacific. In response, America is shifting tens of thousands of serviceman to Guam and transforming the island into a military fortress.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3NvbdjeZtU&feature=related
Guam History: World War II Conquest of the Marianas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZu-2n1HZsY
Guam Video Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXYswH7vwm0
Short slide show about Guam - a relatively unknown gem in the Western Pacific. Situated beautifully, filled with lovely flora, fauna and people

Funds already flowing for Guam buildup

By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, April 6, 2009

TOKYO — When the United States and Japan agreed in 2006 to move 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, a succession of public meetings, task forces, proposed legislation, and — dare we say it? — PowerPoint slide shows ensued.

Now, three years later, the promise of billions of dollars in military investment still hovers over Guam, and shovels are more than a year from going into the ground, military officials say.

Yet, while everyone waits for congressional approval of money and a final environmental impact statement, the U.S. military already has designated up to $165 million for the buildup, according to Navy officials.

The spending authorization began in May 2006, less than a month after U.S. and Japanese officials figured out how to split the costs of moving the III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa to Guam, according to Pentagon contract records.

Back then, the Pentagon awarded a $40 million contract to Tec Inc. Joint Venture of Charlottesville, Va., to help the military write the required environmental impact statement and a project master plan, said Gary Damaschi, the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific’s point man on the project.

Earlier this year, the cap for that contract grew to $65 million, Navy spokesman Don Rochon said.

In October, the military agreed to another contract with a $100 million cap. They hired Pacific Program-Design Management Services out of Pasadena, Calif., to help the military write the architecture and engineering specifications it will need to award construction projects, said Damaschi.

"It’s to take inventory of the infrastructure of possible sites," said Catherine Cruz Norton, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s engineering command on Guam. "It’s about coming up with a framework for the requirements."

So far, the Navy has allotted $12.1 million to Pacific Program-Design in four payments. The most recent was $5.7 million in March to determine construction needs on Navy bases in Finegayan and at Apra Harbor, Cruz Norton said.

Other parts went to the California company to plan for housing for transient workers, she said.

The military expects it will need workers from outside of Guam to complete the project, which will nearly triple the number of military servicemembers and workers on Guam.

Both contracts bring in private-sector experts to help the military survey land, study the environment, inventory current utilities and roads, and create a foundation to write future contracts, the Navy officials said.

Both also allow for spending in Hawaii, home to the military’s Pacific Command, and in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where the military envisions training sites for the Marines.

The overall buildup plan on Guam includes the move of the Marines, the addition of an Army air defense unit and improvements to Navy facilities to accommodate frequent visits from aircraft carriers.

The military cannot award construction contracts until the environmental impact statement is approved.

Approval is expected in early 2010, said Marine Capt. Neil Ruggiero, spokesman for the Joint Guam Program Office.

It’s also possible the military won’t spend the entire $165 million already authorized, Damaschi said.

"The scope of the contracts … is to give us flexibility in case we need it," said Ralph Naito, director of the engineering command’s Pacific architecture and engineering contracts division.

Marianas buildup, not Guam military buildup

By Haidee V. Eugenio - Saipan Tribune Reporter

Guam Lt. Gov. Michael Cruz yesterday said he and Gov. Felix P. Camacho propose to rename what has long been known as the Guam military buildup to “Marianas buildup,” and both look to forming a regional economic task force to tap a projected $2 billion to $4 billion in annual defense-related contracts associated with the influx of military personnel on Guam.

Cruz was the keynote speaker at yesterday's opening of the two-day 2009 Economic Restoration Summit, which drew over a hundred businessmen and government officials from the CNMI and Guam.

He talked about the growing need for a regional approach to the economic challenges faced by the Marianas.

“I firmly believe that Guam's strategic value would diminish if not for the assets of the CNMI. The complexity of current military operations and the security requirements which accompany them cannot be resolved by one island alone,” Cruz told participants in the summit held at the Fiesta Resort and Spa in Garapan.

Jobs

In his remarks, Cruz said he and Camacho propose a regional program in which the CNMI government will share experts with Guam for up to four years, with taxes paid to the Commonwealth to ensure critical government services.

Cruz said the next four years will increase Guam's need for tax enforcement officers, building inspectors, environmental health inspectors, policy specialists and public safety officers.

Although Guam will train its people to meet the increased demand, the number of needed positions requires that it finds other sources such as the CNMI.

“If the CNMI has an excess of these officials, we believe our governments can engage in a program of shared expertise during the peak years of the buildup,” he said.

The program, according to Cruz, would allow the region to share in Guam's future prosperity and by giving jobs to people.

Opportunities

CNMI Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, in his welcoming remarks, recognized the military buildup and the federal stimulus funding as opportunities for the islands.

The summit identified agriculture, aquaculture, edu-tourism and call centers as alternative industries for the CNMI, and brought together experts, entrepreneurs, lawmakers and other policymakers to help develop these industries.

Results of the summit will be presented at the U.S. Department of the Interior-sponsored Business Opportunities in the Islands Conference in Hawaii from April 6 to 8.

In an interview, Cruz recognized the CNMI's growing interest in agriculture and aquaculture which on Guam, “unfortunately, is sort of a dying industry because of multiple concerns, and the increasing price of land.”

Reducing the cost of shipping goods from the CNMI to Guam, he said, is a key area of cooperation.

“Gov. Felix Camacho has been very strong about ensuring the region benefits from the prosperity that Guam is going to see. A healthy region is a healthy Guam, and a healthy Guam should mean a healthy region,” Cruz said.

He added that the Marianas buildup recognizes the various impacts the military relocation will have on the islands, which need to work collaboratively to share in the success coming their way.

“This region must deal with a higher military profile, a large population influx, and a severe lack of skilled labor. If we do not meet our challenges together, we will be divided by them.” he added.

To implement this concept, Cruz and Camacho propose the creation of a regional economic task force that will use the Marianas buildup as the initial engine to address the region's economic concerns.

The proposed economic task force is seen to explore continued collaboration on the guest worker program to ensure new federal regulations address the region's shared concerns.

Accompanying Cruz on Saipan for the summit was his chief of staff, Carlotta De Leon Guerrero, a former TV anchor on Saipan.

Difficulties

Businesses in the CNMI and Guam experience significant difficulty identifying federal contracts and obtaining them, according to Cruz.

While companies with Guam addresses transacted approximately $250 million with the federal government last year, only less than 10 percent of the companies in Guam actually performed the work, he said.

“With a projected $2 billion to $4 billion per year in defense-related contracts associated with the buildup, companies throughout Guam, the CNMI and Micronesia must participate in these good times, especially after we survived the hard times,” said Cruz.

Over the next four years, Guam's population is expected to grow by 28 to 30 percent-the equivalent of some 22 years of population growth occurring in less than a third of that time.

Cruz said the government of Guam is spearheading efforts to prepare for the buildup, but these efforts are not for the military alone.

A dramatic increase in the population requires an upgrade to public services such as health, education, public safety, cultural preservation and economic development.

No easy solutions

Fitial, in his welcoming remarks at the summit, said it's not an easy task to develop promising new industries because of a dramatic change in the economic environment.

For example, the CNMI no longer holds its traditional competitive advantages such as local control of minimum wage rates, local control of immigration, and duty-free access to U.S. markets via Headnote 3(a) provision.

There may be no easy solutions, he said, but the Economic Restoration Summit represents a “good, healthy starting point.”

Fitial thanked former Supreme Court chief justice Jose S. Dela Cruz and others for publicly calling for an economic summit to discuss the CNMI's problems. He also thanked Commerce Secretary Michael Ada for organizing the summit along with other public and private sector agencies such as CDA, Northern Marianas College, and IT&E.

The well organized summit, co-sponsored by the Department of Commerce and the Commonwealth Development Authority, identified agriculture, aquaculture, edu-tourism and call centers as alternative industries for the CNMI.

Commerce Secretary Ada presented the Commonwealth Economic Development Strategy, which serves as a master plan for the CNMI's economic development. Among the priority projects involve the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., inter-island super ferry, alternative energy, and housing. Ada also provided an update on CNMI efforts to tap into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the federal stimulus package.

Dr. Arthur L. Smith, president of consulting firm Management Analysis Inc., said with half-a-billion dollar in proposed projects, the cost of which is more than three times the CNMI's annual budget, there is increased opportunity for public-private partnership.

He cited as examples the CUC power plant 1, Garapan Elementary School, Garapan redevelopment, Pinatang Beach Park, alternative energy and international sports complex as areas in which public-private partnership can benefit the CNMI.

Sergio Loya, project manager of MAI, presented the results of discussions on aquaculture, agriculture and edu-tourism. Each was followed by presentations of experts and entrepreneurs, including Dr. Shaun Moss of the Oceanic Institute who talked about aquaculture; businessman Tony Pellegrino, who talked about agriculture; and Wayne Pangelinan, who talked about edu-tourism.

The summit was broadcast through video teleconference to Rota and Tinian participants, who were also able to ask the presenters questions.

Guam official says military buildup should be a national commitment

By Gemma Q. Casas - Variety News Staff

GUAM Lt. Gov. Michael Cruz says the planned military buildup in the Marianas region should be a national commitment because the islands don’t have the resources and capabilities to ensure its success.

Cruz, the keynote speaker in the two-day CNMI Economic Restoration Summit, is also the chairman of the civilian military task force of Guam.

The buildup project involves relocating more than 8,000 U.S. Marines and their dependents from Okinawa, Japan to Guam starting 2012.

Photo: Guam Lt. Gov. Michael Cruz, left and his chief-of-staff, Carlota Leon Guerrero, a former senator and KMCV news director, are on island to attend the two-day CNMI Economic Restoration Summit at the Fiesta Resort & Spa.

The construction of facilities that will house them and their families, among other infrastructure projects, are scheduled to begin next year.

Cruz said Guam needs the assistance of other federal agencies to ensure that the construction projects go smoothly as scheduled.

“We’re appealing to the federal government outside of the Department of Defense. The other federal agencies need to be involved to ensure that this buildup happens in the time frame that they wanted to,” he said in an interview.

“Our job is to continue to lobby for additional resources and funding to ensure the success of this project in the long run,” he added.

Guam will host the relocating Marines while the Northern Marianas will provide the venue for their training and drills in land, sea and in the air.

Japan and the U.S. agreed to realign their forces in 2005.

Cruz said $2 to 4 billion will be used for the buildup project and the Marianas region must use this opportunity for their economic benefits.

“With a projected $2 to 4 billion dollars per year in defense related contracts associated with the buildup, companies throughout the region must participate in these good times. If we do not meet our challenges together, we will be divided by them,” he said.

The visiting Guam official said plans to form a regional economic task force in connection with the buildup are still a work in progress.

The idea will be discussed at the next meeting of the Council of Micronesian Chief Executives.

“We look forward to working with our brothers and sisters in the CNMI and throughout Micronesia so that we may see more of our people gainfully employed and ultimately, see an improvement in the quality of life for all of our citizens,” Cruz said