|
Sparks between Adelup, AG's Office continue to fly
As the island celebrates Independence Day, one thing that sure sets off fireworks is the dispute between Adelup and the Office of the Attorney General. At issue is Acting Governor Mike Cruz's recent order for the Department of Revenue & Taxation to renew the licenses of amusement devices that the AG's Office - after months of investigation - deemed illegal gambling devices.
Now using Independence Day as another means to augment his decision to order Rev & Tax to renew the licenses of close to a thousand amusement devices, the AG's Office previously determined as illegal gambling devices, Cruz continues to defend it isn't about gambling, rather about respecting one's legal rights - in this case, Guam Music, the main supplier of liberty machines on Guam and D&D Games, which now have licenses to continue for another year to operate their amusement machines in 24-hour game rooms.
"We want to make sure that notwithstanding the gambling issue that fairness due process which is a fundamental cornerstone of our country especially today July 4, which is this is the birth of our country and these same constitutional rights are to be ensured," the acting governor told KUAM News.
The same rights that Attorney General Alicia Limtiaco told KUAM in early June were afforded to these amusement device owners when they were notified that Rev and Tax would not renew their licenses when they expired on June 30. Furthermore, a hearing before the General License Board was scheduled for August 1st to hear the appeals filed by both companies. But soon after the AG appointed local attorney Anthony Camacho as the Administrative Hearing Officer, and the contract was forwarded to Adelup.
The administration felt there could be a conflict of interest with his selection. Since then, the Acting Governor says he has been meeting with the AG. Cruz said, "I have been meeting with attorney general actually for the last two days and our concerns that we said there could be a conflict of interest and to ensure that the process we're concerned about which is the issue of fairness and due process continues forward we went ahead and signed off on the contract for the hearing officer, namely Anthony Camacho. But we said that you may want to take a look at the possible conflict that he may have because apparently his wife works for one of the appealing attorneys for one of the companies."
But the AG's office as we reported said there was no mandatory disqualification required. Chief Deputy Attorney General Alberto Tolentino told KUAM that a party can either waive or move to recuse Camacho if they wish. He added that it's important to note that Camacho does not make the final decision on any appeal.
And while the Acting Governor continues to defend that politics wasn't involved with his last minute directive but rather patriotism, what about the people and where they stand on these amusement devices.
And with the help of the Acting Governor license holders too are big winners, unless, of course, the Attorney General's Office takes legal action. Since the directive was issued, the AG's Office has said they are not wavering on their position regarding the gaming machines in question and that due process was in fact afforded to the business owners of these machines.
|