Independence General Assembly - December
Water is an
essential element for human life across the Pacific and around the world. Hånom is one of the six elements that are
invoked each day by thousands across the island when reciting the Inifresi. At present, our access to
clean and safe water sources is complicated by the U.S. Navy’s ownership of
Fena Lake in the south and the potential damage to the northern aquifer
outlined in the Record of Decision should the U.S. continue to increase its military
presence on Guåhan.
As an independent
country, we would be able to control access and use of these resources to
ensure that future generations have clean and reliable water. Next week’s
General Assembly will focus on policies an independent Guåhan can enact to
ensure that our water is protected.
In light of recent
developments in Washington D.C. over the possible passage of war reparations
for Chamorros in Guam, we will also honor as our Maga’taotao for the month the late Senator Cecilia “Chilang” Bamba,
who introduced the legislation for the first commission on the topic. Senator
Bamba was a war survivor, a tireless advocate for the Chamorro people, a
businesswoman, a mother of ten, and a former director of the Commission on
Self-Determination. Senator Bamba was receiving her First Communion when
Japanese bombs first brought the war to Guam in 1941. Like all Chamorros she
suffered greatly during the war and emerged not only with gratitude when the U.S.
returned in 1944, but also questions. “At the end of the war I had lost both my
parents,” she was quoted saying in Daughters
of the Island. “It was ironic though that the United States who liberated
me from the enemy forces took over our land after Liberation – my resources for
my livelihood. This really changed my life.” As an elected official, Senator
Bamba led justice movements for the Chamorro people in terms of war reparations
and compensation for land taking by the U.S. military after World War II.
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