By Gregorie Michael Towai (Eipéráng)
Former Governor Ralph Torres recently offered a detailed public response to questions surrounding the financial audits during his administration. I appreciate his willingness to respond and clarify several figures that have become part of our political discourse. Some of those distinctions matter, particularly the difference between total liabilities and bonded debt.
I am including the accompanying graphic simply to place several of those numbers into context. It is not intended to assign blame or defend any administration, but to help distinguish what the figures actually represent and where legitimate questions remain.
What follows is something I would rather address directly to you, Governor Torres, than simply write about you in the third person. I offer it respectfully and humbly, as a concerned citizen of our Commonwealth, and in the spirit of Inafa’maolek and Tirow. This is not an attempt to condemn you or relitigate the past. It is an appeal for an honest conversation about the complete record, what was learned from it, and the public trust upon which leadership ultimately depends.
Governor Torres, I read your statement carefully, and I appreciate that you responded. I believe you are correct about an important point: the approximately $1.254 billion figure should not simply be characterized as $1.254 billion in bonded debt. The financial statements distinguish between total liabilities and deferred inflows and approximately $75.6 million in long-term bonded debt. Those are different accounting categories, and precision matters when we discuss something as serious as the finances of our Commonwealth.
But Governor, I hope you will understand why, for some of us, that clarification cannot be the end of the conversation. In many ways, I believe it should be the beginning.
The people are not only asking what these numbers are called. We are asking what they mean. We want to understand the pension obligations, the General Fund deficit, federal grant obligations, accounts payable, audit findings, ARPA compliance concerns, delays in financial reporting, and the decisions that were made while you were entrusted with leading our Commonwealth.
I accept your point that liabilities and debt are not interchangeable accounting terms. But those broader obligations were nevertheless real. The pension liability was real. Accounts payable were real. Tax rebates were real. Federal grant obligations were real. The General Fund deficit was real. Your own statement acknowledges that these were obligations requiring responsible management.
That is why I believe we have to resist both extremes. It is unfair to say that you simply left the CNMI with $1.254 billion in borrowed debt when that is not what the financial statements say. But it would also be incomplete to focus on the approximately $75.6 million in bonded debt in a way that minimizes the much broader financial condition of the Commonwealth.
Governor, you also make an important point about that $75.6 million itself. You explain that a substantial portion of the outstanding bond principal came from 2007 bonds that predated your administration and that those obligations were reduced while you were governor. That deserves acknowledgment. At the same time, approximately $22.5 million remained outstanding on the 2020 Pension Obligation Bond issued during your administration.
I believe both facts should be part of your record.
If debt was inherited and your administration reduced it, tell the people that and show them the numbers. If your administration issued additional debt for a legitimate public purpose, explain why it was necessary, what it accomplished, and what obligations remained. Give us the complete picture rather than allowing either your supporters or your critics to select only the portion that supports their argument.
Your explanation of the approximately $580 million negative government-wide net position is also important. You correctly explain that this does not mean your administration simply spent or borrowed $580 million. A substantial portion reflected the accounting recognition of longstanding pension obligations under GASB standards.
I accept that explanation.
But Governor, the accounting treatment does not eliminate the underlying obligation. GASB did not create the pension problem. It changed how that obligation was recognized in the government’s financial statements. The obligation itself was real.
So again, I would respectfully ask you not only to explain what the $580 million was not. Help us understand what it was, how much of the underlying financial condition was inherited, what changed while you were governor, what your administration did to address it, and what remained unresolved when you left office.
The same applies to the approximately $271.1 million General Fund deficit. I understand your argument that this should not be characterized as $271.1 million in newly borrowed money or cash that somehow disappeared during a single year. That distinction matters. But a General Fund deficit of that magnitude remains a serious fiscal condition regardless of the accounting terminology attached to it.
And this is where I believe the conversation needs to move beyond numbers and toward accountability.
Governor, I also recognize the extraordinary circumstances under which you governed. COVID-19 was real. The typhoons were real. The collapse of tourism was real. Federal reimbursement delays were real. Staffing shortages were real. Technological transitions and difficulties surrounding the auditing process were real.
Those circumstances should be considered fairly when your record is judged.
But I also believe circumstances and accountability can exist at the same time.
We can understand why something happened while still asking whether it could have been handled differently. We can acknowledge the enormous pressures placed upon your administration while still examining how your administration responded to them.
In fact, one of the most important things I found in your statement was your own acknowledgment that stronger controls, better records, greater staff continuity, and improved audit readiness would have placed the Commonwealth in a better position.
Governor, I appreciate that acknowledgment.
I believe there is strength in being able to say something could have been done better. There is even greater strength in explaining what you learned from it and what you would do differently today.
The ARPA questions deserve the same honesty. I appreciate your clarification that the widely repeated $80 million to $86 million figure was not itself an Ernst & Young audit finding declaring that your administration simply overspent that amount. If people have represented that preliminary figure as a formal audit conclusion when it was not, then the record should be corrected.
But Governor, your own statement also acknowledges serious ARPA compliance issues involving allowable costs, procurement, documentation, reporting, and subrecipient monitoring.
Those concerns cannot disappear simply because one particular number was mischaracterized.
So help us understand what happened.
What was questioned? What was ultimately allowed? What required additional documentation? What was reimbursed? What corrective action was taken? What was ultimately resolved, and what remained unresolved?
I believe those answers would contribute far more toward restoring public confidence than another argument over which political side has the more damaging number.
I also agree with you that we must be fair about FY2023. You left office in January 2023, while the fiscal year continued through September. Government obligations do not reset when one governor leaves and another takes the oath. Some conditions were inherited. Some decisions were made years earlier. Some were made during your administration. Others occurred afterward. Some consequences crossed administrations entirely.
That same standard should apply to everyone.
Governor, this is precisely why I do not want this discussion reduced to Torres versus Palacios, Republican versus Democrat, supporter versus critic, or one political camp against another. Our Commonwealth’s financial challenges are larger than any one individual, and many of them developed across multiple administrations.
In the spirit of Inafa’maolek, I believe we should be able to confront difficult truths without immediately turning them into weapons against one another. And in the spirit of Tirow, I believe we can speak honestly and directly while still recognizing the dignity of the person standing across from us.
That is the spirit in which I am addressing you.
I am not asking you to accept every accusation made against your administration. I am not asking you to apologize for things you do not believe were wrong. And I am certainly not asking you to surrender accomplishments that you believe deserve recognition.
I am asking you to give us the whole story.
Tell us what your administration accomplished. Tell us what you believe you got right. But also tell us where you believe things could have been done better.
Tell us what you learned.
Tell us what you would change with the benefit of hindsight.
Tell us how financial controls could have been stronger, how audit readiness could have been improved, how federal funds could have been better documented, and how greater transparency might have strengthened public confidence.
Because Governor, there is another part of this conversation that cannot be measured on a balance sheet.
Trust.
For some people, the concerns surrounding your administration were never simply about whether $1.254 billion should technically be called debt. They were about whether government was sufficiently transparent, whether financial controls were adequate, whether public money was being properly documented, whether audits were being completed on time, and whether the people were receiving the accountability they deserved.
Some people supported you throughout your administration. Some opposed you. Some may have once supported you but later felt disappointed or let down. Others are simply trying to separate years of political accusations from the actual record.
I believe you should hear all of them.
Not because every accusation is correct.
Not because every criticism is fair.
But because public trust cannot be rebuilt by correcting accounting terminology alone.
Governor, you have an opportunity now to do something more meaningful than simply defend your administration.
You can reflect upon it.
You can tell the people, “This is what we inherited. This is what we accomplished. This is where we fell short. This is what I learned.”
To me, that would not demonstrate weakness.
It would demonstrate leadership.
No administration is perfect, particularly one governing through natural disasters, a global pandemic, economic upheaval, and enormous institutional pressures. But leadership is not measured solely by whether mistakes occurred. It is also measured by whether we are willing to recognize them, learn from them, and become better because of them.
Governor Torres, I offer these words not to tear you down, not to glorify you, and not to rewrite history. I offer them because I care about our Commonwealth and because I believe our people deserve an honest conversation about our government, our accomplishments, our failures, our institutional weaknesses, and the lessons we should carry forward.
So I respectfully ask you to continue the conversation you started.
Give us the record.
Show us the numbers.
Explain the difficult parts.
Correct what has been misrepresented.
Acknowledge what deserves acknowledgment.
Tell us what you inherited, but also tell us what you left behind.
Tell us what you accomplished, but also tell us what you learned.
And trust the people enough to allow us to reach our own conclusions.
Governor, I genuinely appreciate that you responded publicly to these questions.
But I hope you do not stop there.
The numbers matter. The audits matter. The explanations matter. But ultimately, public leadership rests upon something that cannot be calculated in an audit.
Trust.
Trust is not restored by winning an argument over accounting terminology. It is restored through transparency, humility, accountability, and a willingness to confront the entire record, including the parts that may be uncomfortable.
You have answered part of the conversation, Governor.
I humbly ask you to continue it.
Not because we must agree with you.
Not because we must condemn you.
But because our Commonwealth deserves a conversation in which leaders and citizens alike can confront the past honestly, learn from it, and find a way forward together.
That, to me, is the spirit of Inafa’maolek and Tirow.
And perhaps that is where the most meaningful conversation about our Commonwealth’s future should begin.
Gregorie Michael Towai (Eipéráng) is a native Refaluwasch son of the CNMI, an independent researcher, published author and founder of the RJKC. He lives in Oregon and writes on governance, culture, economic sustainability and the future of the Marianas. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of NMI News Service.
