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Limtiaco ready to take on bond-borrowing issue
Expected to be the major news event Tuesday's is the inescapable is Governor Felix Camacho's bond-borrowing case, which will be heard before the highest court in the land. Earlier today KUAM News spoke with Guam's chief legal officer who says she's ready and prepared to take on the case in the best interest of the people of Guam. The island's chief executive and Attorney General Alicia Limtiaco are both in the nation's capitol to attend the hearing before justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Former attorney general Douglas Moylan brought the case to court on appeal, contending the governor's bond-borrowing plan to pay off the government's debts is illegal because an islandwide appraisal has not been conducted. The former AG has argued Guam's high court erred when it ruled in favor of allowing the bond plan to go forward, with Moylan believing the Organic Act of Guam set a debt ceiling and that the government can't borrow any more money.
AG Limtiaco spent the last day or two reviewing the briefs of the case and meeting with the AG's Washington legal counsel. From the nation's capitol she told KUAM News via phone, "The arguments in this case are complex or complicated...we also would need to hear the questions that the justices as they may or may not provide us with some guidance in where they may be leaning or there decision thus far this matter has been handled at least where I'm concerned has been handled by the firm of Wilmer Hale in a very professional manner, and again looking forward to the final resolution of these legal issues so that we can forward."
The governor's legal counsel, Attorney Daniel Benjamin, has argued the U.S. Supreme Court cannot hear the case because it was filed in an untimely manner. Additionally they argue the Guam Supreme Court's ruling is consistent with the Organic Act.
Meanwhile, while in Washington, AG Limtiaco met with the commissioner of the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, Attorney Margot Bean, who is a former deputy attorney general on Guam. The meeting comes on the heels of a recent follow up audit conducted by the Guam Office of the Public Auditor that found serious problems with the local AG's Office's Child Support Enforcement Division, specifically with undistributed collections and arrearages.
According to that audit, in Fiscal Year 2005 Guam ranked forty-eighth out of fifty four and territories in terms of collecting child support payments in arrears. "Our meeting was very productive," Limtiaco summarized. "We have plans that we are working on to improve our child support case management and enforcement, and most especially in light of the most recent December follow-up audit.
More meetings are in store for Limtiaco, as she is working with Guam's congressional delegate, Madeleine Bordallo, to schedule meetings with the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Office, and the Department of the Interior. "It is very important for the Office of AG to establish communications and a cooperative working relationship with both our local and federal agencies and departments there are valuable resources with these various agencies and departments especially when it comes to grant opportunities and training opportunities and other law enforcement programs and projects," she said.
According to Limtiaco, the meetings are part of what she says is the critical mission of the Attorney General's Office to work cooperatively with other law enforcement agencies to ensure the agency is providing the most effective quality of services to the people of Guam.
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