Benigno Repeki Fitial (born November 27, 1945) is a Northern Marianan politician who served was the seventh governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The second longest-serving governor in CNMI history, Fitial was elected on November 6, 2005, assumed office on January 9, 2006, and was re-elected to a (five-year) second term in 2009. He was impeached by the CNMI House of Representatives on February 11, 2013, and was scheduled to face trial before the CNMI Senate to determine if he should be removed from office. He resigned on February 20, 2013, after 7 years, 1 month, and 11 days in office. Fitial founded the Covenant Party in 2001 after leaving the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. He rejoined the Republican Party on January 5, 2011, announcing that his goal would be to merge the Covenant Party back into the Republican Party. Fitial was the first governor in any US territory or commonwealth to be impeached and only the 13th governor in the history of the United States. On February 11 & 12, 2013 the CNMI House of Representatives voted to impeach Fitial on 18 different charges contained in Articles of Impeachment.http://www.cnmileg.gov.mp/documents/house/hse_res/18/HR18-002.pdf The charges include neglect of duties, commission of felonies and abuse of power. Rather than facing an impeachment trial before the CNMI Senate which was set for March 7, 2013, Benigno Repeki Fitial became the first governor in CNMI history to resign from office on February 20, 2013. In his resignation letter he cited "personal health" reasons and the "best interests of the Commonwealth".

Personal life

Born on November 27, 1945, and raised in a

Satawal Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island with about 500 people on just over 1 km2 located in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Satawal is t ...

ese family, Fitial graduated from high school with honors at Saipan's Mt. Carmel School in 1964. He obtained a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanc ...

with an emphasis on business management from the

University of Guam University of Guam ( ch, Unibetsedåt Guåhan) (U.O.G.) is a public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level ...

. He is recognized as a University of Guam Distinguished Alumni. Fitial is the first elected governor of Carolinian descent in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Carolinians are indigenous to the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

, and the ancestors of most Carolinians now living in the northern Mariana Islands immigrated there in the early 19th century, from the Yap and Chuuk island groups of what is now the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states compri ...

. The Chamorro are the indigenous inhabitants of the Marianas, and past winners of gubernatorial elections in the CNMI had been Chamorro. The former Governor is married to

Josie Fitial Josepina "Josie" Padiermos Fitial (born November 25, 1962) is the former First Lady of the Northern Mariana Islands and the wife of former Governor Benigno Fitial. She became First Lady upon the inauguration of her husband as the 7th Governor o ...

(

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

Padiermos), a Filipino who as a contract worker in 1983 moved to the CNMI, where Filipinos outnumber residents of all

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

ethnicities combined. Padiermos, like many Filipinos, moved abroad for employment to send financial support to family members still in the Philippines. The couple met while she was working as a waitress on

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

. They have two children together, Patrick and Christina, in addition to Benigno Fitial's four children from a previous marriage, Jason, Cathy, Junella and Julie. Fitial has described himself in the past as a "good friend" of convicted U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who caused some controversy in both the Commonwealth and Washington. As vice president of Tan Holdings, Fitial worked closely with Abramoff, who had the family textile conglomerate as a consistent client. Fitial and his wife are residents of Gualo Rai, Saipan.

Political career

Fitial worked as a

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

analyst for the government of the former

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. History Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...

. He also worked as a former executive for Tan Holdings Corporation, which was the largest garment manufacturer in the Northern Mariana Islands at the time. Fitial is a former member of the

, and served as the chairman of the Republican Party in the CNMI. Fitial left the Republican Party, and founded his own

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

, the Covenant Party in 2001. He used the Covenant Party as a vehicle to run for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 2001 gubernatorial election with his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pres ...

, then-Education Commissioner Rita Inos. However, Fitial was defeated in a landslide by the Republican ticket of Juan N. Babauta and his running mate, Diego Benavente. The Babauta-Benavente ticket received 5,512 votes, the largest number of votes ever received by a gubernatorial candidate in history to date. In 2003, Fitial was elected to the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives in the 2003 midterm election. Candidates from his Covenant Party were also elected, giving the party the majority in the House of Representatives. Fitial was further elected the Speaker by the House in 2003, replacing Republican Speaker

Heinz Hofschneider Heinz Sablan Hofschneider (born July 1, 1957) is a politician from the Northern Mariana Islands. Hofschneider served as the Speaker of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004 and is a four-time candidate for Gove ...

. He represented Precinct 3, which includes parts of

and the northern islands.

Governorship

Fitial was the seventh

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). He defeated independent candidate

and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta during the 2005 gubernatorial election with 28.1 percent of the total vote after absentee ballots were counted. The 2005 gubernatorial election margin of victory of 84 votes was the closest in the history of the Commonwealth.http://www.pacificislands.cc/pm122005/pmdefault.php?urlarticleid=0004 Fitial and his running mate,

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Timothy P. Villagomez Timothy Pangelinan Villagomez (born September 10, 1962, Saipan) is a Northern Marianan politician who served as the seventh lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 9, 2006 until his resignation on April 24, 2009, under G ...

were sworn into office on January 9, 2006. He implemented a dress code of

business attire Informal wear or undress, also called business wear, corporate/office wear, tenue de ville or dress clothes, is a Western dress code for clothing defined by a business suit for men, and cocktail dress or pant suit for women. On the scale of fo ...

for all

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

members shortly after his inauguration. Fitial faced challenges during his first term as governor, including

shortfalls, a weak

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

even before the

Financial crisis of 2007–2010 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline o ...

, declining Japanese

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

, electrical power generation failures, and the long-proposed federalization of CNMI immigration that was eventually enacted. Pub.L. 110–229, tit. VII (May 8, 2008). Fitial appointed as his Special Legal Counsel

Howard P. Willens Howard Penney Willens (born May 27, 1931) is a lawyer and author who served as Assistant Counsel to the Warren Commission from December 1963 to September 1964. In that role, Willens worked with the lawyers and agents conducting the investigation o ...

, who had represented the

Marianas Political Status Commission The Marianas Political Status Commission was a body composed of representatives of the Northern Mariana Islands who negotiated the political status of the Northern Mariana Islands from December 1972 until February 1975. The Commission negotiated wi ...

from 1972 to 1975 in negotiating the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, Act of Mar. 24, 1976, Pub. L. 94-241, 90 Stat. 263, ''codified as amended at'' 48 U.S.C. § 1801 note. Some observers and local publications (such as the '' Marianas Variety'') accused Fitial of concentrating power in his office. This included a decision made to abolish the autonomy of at least two government agencies, with their functions being transferred to the executive. The governor and his supporters asserted that drastic measures need to be taken to cut excessive government spending during the tenure of the previous governor,

Juan Babauta Juan Nekai Babauta (born September 7, 1953) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who served as the sixth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 14, 2002 to January 9, 2006. Biography Early life and education Juan Babauta wa ...

. Fitial was away from office for several weeks in late 2006 when he underwent successful surgery at UCLA Medical Center in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

on October 31 to correct spinal stenosis. Lieutenant Governor Timothy Villagomez resigned from office on April 24, 2009, following his

conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is ...

on federal criminal charges related to

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

while he was a member of the CNMI House of Representatives. Villagomez became the highest ranking CNMI official ever to be convicted in a criminal trial. Under the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Constitution, when a Lieutenant Governor vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a successor with the "

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...

" of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate. Governor Fitial nominated the CNMI Secretary of Finance Eloy Inos to fill the Lieutenant Governor vacancy on April 27, 2009. Fitial and Inos had first met years earlier while both were working for the government of the now defunct

. Fitial was working as a budget analyst, while Inos was employed as a

tax manager A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

for the Trust Territory's

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive rev ...

division at the time. Inos was unanimously confirmed in a vote by all 9 members of the Senate on Friday, May 1, 2009. Inos was sworn into office by Governor Fitial shortly after the Senate vote, becoming the Northern Mariana Islands first unelected Lieutenant Governor. A minority bloc in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' House of Representatives filed an impeachment resolution August 28, 2012 against Governor Fitial, who was at that time in the United States for the Republican National Convention. The resolution was filed by Joseph Deleon Guerrero, a former Republican who left the party and became an independent. It accused the governor of "multiple felonies, multiple acts of public corruption" and of neglecting official duties

All charges were eventually dismissed

2009 Gubernatorial re-election campaign

Governor Benigno Fitial announced in March 2009 that he would seek re-election to a second term in November. On June 12, 2009, Fitial presided over Covenant Party midterm rally in Susupe with an estimated crowd of approximately 3,000 people in attendance. Fitial and Inos officially filed to run for re-election with the CNMI Election Commission on July 23, 2009, in the presence of nearly 200 family and supporters. In the November 2009 gubernatorial election, Fitial was challenged by the Republican nominee,

, as well as independent candidates

Juan Pan Guerrero Juan "Pan" Tenorio Guerrero (born December 10, 1949) is a Northern Mariana Islands politician and businessman. He has been a member of the Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands in the past, and ran for Governor of the Northern Mariana ...

and Ramon "Kumoi" Guerrero. In March 2009, Fitial had publicly stated that he will retire from politics if his re-election bid was unsuccessful. In the general election, Hofschneider led Fitial by just 8 votes; because none of the candidates won a majority, a runoff between Hofschneider and Fitial was triggered. Fitial won the runoff by 370 votes and therefore was re-elected. Due to a newly ratified legislative initiative, Fitial was expected to serve a five-year term, as the next gubernatorial election would now be held in 2014.

Impeachment

Fitial became the first governor in any US insular area and the 13th in the history of the nation to be impeached (February 11, 2013). The CNMI House of Representatives pre-filed 18 Articles of Impeachment against Fitial on the day of their Inauguration (January 14, 2013). They voted to adopt 13 of the Articles of Impeachment on February 11, 2013, and adopted the remaining 5 Articles of Impeachment on February 12, 2013. All 18 charges were transmitted to the Senate where Fitial would have stood trial had he not resigned. House Votes

"No" votes: Minority leader George Camacho (R-Saipan), Reps. Felicidad Ogumoro (R-Saipan), Teresita Santos (R-Rota), and Richard Seman (R-Saipan)

except for Article 10 - Rep. George Camacho abstained due to conflict. “Yes” votes: House Speaker Joseph Deleon Guerrero (IR-Saipan), Vice Speaker Frank Dela Cruz (IR-Saipan), floor leader Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), Reps. Antonio Agulto (IR-Saipan), Anthony Benavente (IR-Saipan), Roman Benavente (IR-Saipan), Trenton Conner (Ind-Tinian), Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero (IR-Saipan), Cris Leon Guerrero (Cov-Saipan), Janet Maratita (IR-Saipan), John P. Sablan (Cov-Saipan), Tony Sablan (IR-Saipan), Mario Taitano (IR-Saipan), Ray Tebuteb (IR-Saipan), Edmund Villagomez (Cov-Saipan), and Ralph Yumul (IR-Saipan)

except for Article 15 - Rep. Roman Benavente abstained unknown reasons.

Career prior to governorship

*Government: ** Speaker (politics), Speaker of the House of Representatives, 3rd, 12th, & 14th NMI Legislature **Vice Speaker, 5th NMI Legislature **Minority Leader, 2nd and 4th NMI Legislature **Chief Administrative Officer, 1st NMI Legislature **

Budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environme ...

Officer, 1st NMI Legislature **Budget Analyst, Trust Territory Government **News Director, KJQR Radio Station *Business: **President,

Bank of Saipan A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

**Vice President, Tan Holdings Corporation **Special Consultant, L&T Corporation **President, Century Insurance Corporation **President, Century Travel Corporation **President, Consolidated Transportation Services Inc. (CTSI) **President, Pacific Oriental Inc. (POI) **President, Home Improvement (MPI) *

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

& Civic Contributions: **Founder, CNMI Covenant Party **Chairman, Northern Marianas Republican Party **Chairman,

Bush for President Committee Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: ***Ge ...

for the CNMI **Chairman, CNMI Zoning Board **Chairman, NMI Trusteeship Termination Task Force **Chairman, 1st CNMI Civil Service Commission **Chairman, Saipan Municipal Scholarship Board **Member, CNMI Tax Task Force **Member, Republican Presidential Task Force (US) **Delegate, 1st Northern Marianas Constitutional Convention **Chairman, Constitutional Convention Committee(s) on Tax, Public Debt, Education, & Local Government

References

External links