It's their moment of glory, or a month to be exact, as May 2022 is Senior Citizens Month, the governor proclaimed Monday at the Tamuning Senior Citizens Center.

Minutes prior to Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero proclaiming May 2022 as Senior Citizens Month, she addressed the island's elders, including the two dozen present.

"You raised your children, you raised your grandchildren, maybe you raised your great-grandchildren and what you did was you instilled the basic values and character of your children, our people of Guam," she said. "You taught them the value of respect, you taught them the value of generosity, you taught them the value openness, you taught them the value of trust, honesty, loving your neighbor, and sharing. That's the value I see from our Manamko and that can never be taken away from you."

It's the first time since 2019 that members of the community gathered with the island's maga'haga to recognize our seniors, after hosting proclamations online in the last two years due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

"Today we are back to some normalcy and we will recover, we are recovering, loom you're here ready to play bingo and things will get so much better," the governor said. "Biba Manamko!"

This declaration signing comes just after three weeks of re-opening almost all 12 Guam senior centers, following the shutdown over two years ago because of COVID.

Leon Guerrero pointed out that over 300 of our island's manamko' returned to a renovated center on May 2. During the course of the pandemic, the Office of the Governor allocated some $20,000 to fix up the environment.

As the governor reaffirmed her commitment to supporting the island's manamko, DPHSS Director Art San Agustin in his remarks stated that a conference of aging, centenarian event, and hall of fame for seniors is in the works.

Meanwhile, Democrat Sens. Amanda Shelton and Joe San Agustin presented a resolution on behalf of the 36th Guam Legislature.