by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - In the past year the Commission on Decolonization not only reconvened after several years, but accomplished participating in testimonies at the United Nations, a visit by Dr. Carlyle Corbin, and speaking to over 500 of the islands school children. For 2012, executive director Ed Alvarez hopes to continue to bring awareness on the issue by raising more funds to the groups nearly nonexistent budget.

"Preliminarily, we thought $2 million would be a good number. Is that realistic it depends but at this point we might have to deal with less but I am working on a plan to see what we can get for a million or so," he said.

He adds the Commission also wants to obtain legal counsel to ensure it is operating in the proper framework when dealing with enabling acts, legal opinions and UN resolutions. Other plans include to network with other islands and engage in conversation not only with the United Nations, but with the DoD and the State Department and commence the study of knowledge base of decolonization on Guam.