'This is our homeland': Prutehi Guahan speaks out at Guam Defense Forum

Tensions ran high on the last day of the Guam Defense Forum, where a local activist confronted military leaders and island officials over environmental concerns and the use of public funds to host the event. The moment, captured on video, has gone viral, drawing renewed attention to the long-standing concerns about accountability amid the military buildup.

A two-day forum for dialogue on defense and security turning into a public confrontation thursday for many watching, both in the room and online.  "We are the second island chain. We are not disposable," proclaimed Monaeka Flores, from grassroots activist group Prutehi Guahan. She took the floor and sharply criticized the military’s environmental impacts on Guam, and the growing disconnect between words and actions.

"We have 30 percent of the island occupied by bases. So many ancestral burials desecrated," she continued. "You’re saying the issue in Hawaii is an emotional one? You are contaminating and desecrating their homeland. This is our homeland. With all due respect, it does not matter how much you say homeland over and over and over again, this is not the homeland. This is our homeland."

Flores called attention to chemical contaminants like dieldrin and PFAS—substances linked to past military activities. The harmful contaminants have been found in Guam’s water wells across the island, with dieldrin especially concentrated in Yigo. That same night, officials held a townhall meeting to address the pesticide.  

Flores said, "You are violating our human rights, our dignity and our indigenous rights with every single incident of contamination and destruction."

She also pushed back against a proposal to install small nuclear reactors to power Guam’s missile defense system. Flores drew historical parallels with the US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, saying, "Earlier this morning, someone asked about nuclear reactors that are going to be placed here for the missile defense system. Nobody bothered to address that person’s point. Everybody glossed over it."

"We don’t have to look very far– look to the Marshall Islands– to see what permanent displacement looks like and the fact that that military waste was never removed. We have nowhere here to store any nuclear waste."

The remarks took a turn to local leaders when Flores criticized the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the very forum where she spoke. "And here we are in this hotel with everybody here missing their jobs today. How much taxpayer money is being spent for this lip service? This propaganda? This does not make us feel more safe," she stated.

The forum, hosted by the Governor’s Office, was held at the Dusit Thani Resort Guam Ballroom with over 300 people in attendance each day.  That includes top military officials like Indo-Pacom Admiral Samuel Paparo and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment Dale Marks. 

"First of all," Flores said, "I want to thank our agencies for trying to give us a forum to engage, but this is not real community engagement…it’s not real transparency. You’re talking about something in the distant future, but this destruction is happening now."

In a statement to KUAM, Flores wrote, “The Guam Defense Forum was marketed as an opportunity for community engagement, but that didn’t happen at all. Panelists avoided answering several questions and would not speak to concerns about nuclear reactors being placed in Guam for the missile defense system. The presenters seemed focused on ways to ‘Sell the buildup’ and influence or ‘infiltrate’ the community. There was a lot of minimizing, manipulation, and whitewashing of several issues. It was patronizing and extremely frustrating. After hours of listening, I made this comment."

In the meantime, the governor's communication's director Krystal Paco San Agustin defended the forum's purpose while acknowledging the concerns.  She said, "The forum was intended to promote a meaningful dialogue between our community and federal officials concerning the Guam buildup. This is not the end of our work, but rather a continuation of what we must do, which is to tell our story, articulate our need, and demonstrate why each of these things is vital to the defense of the nation.

"The governor is pleased that many members of the public were engaged and exercising their right to freedom of speech."