Saipan — Governor David M. Apatang has formally reinstated Office of Grants Management Administrator Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr., issuing a memorandum Friday declaring that the earlier termination letter signed during Acting Governor Dennis C. Mendiola’s tenure was legally ineffective.
In the memorandum, identified as GOV 2026-117, Apatang wrote that the February 19 letter purporting to terminate Cabrera’s employment “effective immediately” was without effect because Cabrera is an excepted service employee and the applicable employment terms require advance notice.
Apatang wrote that termination without cause requires 60 days advance notice, while termination with cause requires seven days advance notice. Because the February 19 action provided no advance notice, the governor said Cabrera “is reinstated as Administrator.”
The governor also challenged the legal basis cited for the firing, writing that the statute relied on by the acting governor, 1 CMC § 2901(f), had been repealed in part by implication through Amendment 20 of the Second Constitutional Convention, which restricted termination of board and commission appointees.
Apatang further stated that the period between the termination letter and Friday’s memorandum will be treated as administrative leave with pay. He also wrote that any official actions taken by Bruce M. Camacho as acting administrator during that period will retain full force and effect.
The memo marks the first formal written reversal tied to the recent firings that triggered a public split between Apatang and Mendiola, and it follows Apatang’s earlier statement that he would look for a constitutional path to restore Cabrera to his position.
