by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Island residents with last names starting with the letters 'P' through 'Z' wrapped completely around the Micronesia Mall in Dededo, with the Guam Police reporting some who lined up as early at 2am.

It opened an hour later than the two other shopping centers, but Tina Taijeron, who is from Dededo, said waiting in line for nearly three hours for two tax refund checks was worth it. "Now I can have my little coffee and a little breakfast this morning," she joked. "Either way, I'm happy that I will receive this because some of our kids needs it, too [sic], they need the help, not only the parents, but our kids really do especially not only the debts but something we can really enjoy."

Yet for Yona resident Vicente Taisapic, waiting in line for two-and-a-half hours may seem short compared to others, but he believes habing people line-up for tax refunds is an unfortunate situation to begin with. "I'm not really happy because this is outrageous, there is no reason for this," he told KUAM News. "I hope it won't be this way again for the next four or five years."

Governor Eddie Calvo visited all the sites to look how operations were moving and if there were any kinks or shortage of personnel. He says distributing the checks today will help create a government that is more conducive in servicing and helping the people. "So I see a lot of happy faces and I'm glad we've been able to get these people their tax refund money and now we're going to make sure moving forward that we can continue and this becomes the norm where people get their tax refunds for those years that they're processed," he stated.

An hour after the lines opened, GPD did not report any disturbances, but they did note concerns dealing with residents waiting in the heat outside. They hope to learn from today and prepare for tomorrow's batch of recipients. KUAM News did receive some reports that FSM residents were being turned away due to not having proper Guam identification. Rev & Tax said as long as they provide a government issued picture ID, there shouldn't be any problems but will look into the complaint.