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Popular News

Former Philippine President ‘Noynoy’ Aquino dies

June 24, 2021

Vax N’ Win Week 2 winners announced

June 23, 2021

GVB reacts to ‘Vax N’ Win’ raffle drawing criticisms

June 24, 2021

Latest News

Applicants on Chamorro Land Trust Commission list since 1995 suddenly told...

June 24, 2021

GEC supports bill making early voting permanent

June 24, 2021

Some hotels not responding to vaccine tourism inquiries

June 24, 2021

@PNCGUAM INSTAGRAM

GEC supports bill making early voting permanent By

GEC supports bill making early voting permanent
By Julianne Hernandez - June 24, 2021

Guam Election Commission Executive Director Maria Pangelinan (PNC file photo)
The head of the Guam Election Commission supports the bill to make early voting permanent.

Recently a public hearing was held on Bill 120-36.

Bill 120-36 would allow Guam residents to vote early within a 30-day in-office period without the requirement of providing proof of reasons.

Maria Pangelinan, Guam Election Commission executive director, went on air with Newstalk K57’s Patti Arroyo about her testimony on Bill 120-36.

She said that the time-consuming process needed to ensure the integrity of the votes should be maintained.

“Each absentee ballot, if you’re familiar, we seal them in envelopes or the voters seal them in envelopes with the affidavit on so we have to get all those envelopes to the right precinct to make sure it’s complete,” Pangelinan said.

She added: “We make sure that the affidavit is complete, together with the signature. On the other side of that envelope, we will tag on the application form to make sure there’s one more check and that it’s the correct person and this goes with the application.”

The GEC executive director also explained the cost breakdown for the early voting process. to the legislature.

“We received $600,000 directly from the US Election Assistance Commission. We received CARES funding directly from them so we spent $179,000 of that towards early voting during the pandemic. The rest of it, we spent totally for the run-off election. So, we didn’t factor in the cost, we’ve actually … what we’ve factored in was what we’ve spent, plus the overtime, and for both the 3/10 periodic employees we picked up and the overtime of our regular employees,” Pangelinan said.

Although early voting during the last election was supported by CARES funding, GovGuam will be the one responsible for funding early in-office voting moving forward.

Pangelinan says that GEC estimated that early voting alone will cost $175,000 per election.

Last year, they had a total of 13,000 early voters

##

Some hotels not responding to vaccine tourism inqu

Some hotels not responding to vaccine tourism inquiries
By Gerry Partido - June 24, 2021

The Guam Visitors Bureau’s vaccine tourism program has been officially launched and Guam’s tourist markets are responding favorably to the program.

But what good would this be if delays and bottlenecks come from the local end of the program?

This was tackled during Thursday’s GVB board meeting after GVB President Carl Gutierrez disclosed that a number of hotels have not been answering vaccine tourism inquiries.

“As a test, we made some calls to local hotels inquiring about vaccine tourism and a number of them have not been responsive. Several hotels transferred us and we never got anywhere,” Gutierrez lamented.

He added that some hotels don’t even know what vaccine tourism is all about and didn’t know what to do when inquiries about vaccine tourism were made.

Gutierrez did say that Pacific Islands Club and the Hyatt were very responsive and helpful when vaccine tourism inquiries were made at their hotels.

But GVB members pointed out that the heads of PIC and the Hyatt belong to the Reopening Task Force and are thus well-apprised of the latest developments, which they can then transmit to their hotels’ rank and file.

To remedy this, GVB members suggested a stronger communication and information campaign to make island hotels more aware of vaccine tourism.

GVB also plans to reach out to the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association to help increase awareness of vaccine tourism.

#guam

GVB reacts to ‘Vax N’ Win’ raffle drawing cr

GVB reacts to ‘Vax N’ Win’ raffle drawing criticisms
By Gerry Partido - June 24, 2021

The Guam Visitors Bureau has responded to criticisms of the “Vax N’ Win” raffle drawings of which GVB is one of the organizers.

The “Vax N’ Win” raffle draw was started to serve as an incentive for more people to get vaccinated. In order to participate, island residents must be fully vaccinated on Guam and currently live on island for a chance to win one of six cars, $10,000 cash, and other weekly prizes until Liberation Day.

There have been criticisms raised over the transparency of the program. Critics are asking why there is a time lag between the drawing of the winners and the announcement of the winners. Some have said that the raffle drawing should be done in real time with the media present.

But during Thursday’s board meeting, GVB vice president Gerry Perez said they use a third party company — Glimpses of Guam — to handle the drawing of the winners.

In turn, Glimpses uses “Woorise” — an independent software company that handles giveaways, contests, and prizes.

As for the time lag, Perez said this is necessary for the Department of Public Health and Social Services to verify if the drawn winners are indeed fully vaccinated.

Perez said the names of the winners are usually drawn on Monday, given to DPHSS for verification, and on Tuesday or Wednesday the verifications are received.

Adelup then makes the announcement usually on Wednesday afternoon.

“The public announcement is deferred to the governor as a courtesy since she facilitated and sponsored this vaccination campaign initiative,” Perez said.

Derrick Muna-Quinata, the owner of Guam Auto Spot and a GVB board member, half-seriously asked whether GVB can issue a press release about the transparency of the “Vax N’ Win” raffle drawings, saying he has been receiving a lot of inquiries about the matter.

Guam Auto Spot provided the automobile prize during the fist “Vax N’ Win” raffle drawing.

#guam

Potential clients balking at high cost of vaccine

Potential clients balking at high cost of vaccine tourism; GVB seeks to lower costs
By Gerry Partido - June 24, 2021

Guam Visitors Bureau president Carl Gutierrez (PNC file photo)
Potential customers of the Guam Visitors Bureau’s vaccine tourism program are balking at the high cost of getting vaccinated on Guam.

GVB President Carl Gutierrez said during Thursday’s board meeting that upon the launch of “Air V&V,” the program has generated a lot of buzz and taken a life of its own, with Taiwan being the most responsive source market.

In fact, Gutierrez said Phoenix Travel plans to bring in Taiwanese tourists on July 6, 14, and 18.

However, Gutierrez said a number of vaccine tourists have been canceling their bookings upon learning of the $880 fee that they have to pay for the vaccination procedure and documentation.

This is separate from the hotel bookings and airline flights that vaccine tourists have to pay on their own.

To lessen the costs for vaccine tourists, Gutierrez is proposing that GVB subsidize the $75 cost of the Sara alert that vaccine tourists are required to sign on to.

Gutierrez pointed out that signing up for the Sara alert is more for the protection of the local community and not so much for the benefit of the visiting vaccine tourist.

The GVB president said the vaccine tourism costs will go down significantly when Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero declares herd immunity for Guam by July, which the island is well on its way to achieving.

With herd immunity, Gutierrez said travel restrictions may be lifted entirely including testing and vaccination requirements, thereby reducing the cost to vaccine tourists and other travelers to Guam.

Gutierrez is asking Adelup to give GVB enough lead time to adjust its costing for vaccine tourism so that the bureau can communicate to its source markets about the revised costs and requirements for vaccine tourism once Guam relaxes its entry requirements.

#guam

Moylan welcomes government subsidy for private sec

Moylan welcomes government subsidy for private sector jobs
By Gerry Partido - June 24, 2021

Senator James Moylan has expressed his support for the administration’s plan to offer incentives to the island’s employers.

During the GHRA economic forum this morning, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero announced that her administration plans to subsidize new hires for 3 months so that businesses can get back on their feet.

“I was ecstatic to hear the Director of the Department of Labor, David Dell’Isola, announce at the Economic Forum this morning that his agency will be introducing an initiative to help subsidize private-sector jobs. The program is similar to Bill 76-36 (COR), which I introduced in March of this year, along with Senators Tony Ada and Chris Duenas. The ‘Displaced Employee Workforce Incentive’ (DEWI) Act was part of our “Let’s Get Guam Moving” Initiatives for Economic Recovery,” Moylan said.

According to Moylan, the DEWI Act would create full-time, private-sector jobs, subsidized through federal funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP). These positions would be for one year and would require the employer to provide all the benefits which are offered to other full-time employees of the organization. The compensation would also be fair market wages for the individual’s skill set and the position, and the objective would be that the employer considers keeping that employee even after the program expires.

He said few minor differences between Bill 76-36 (COR) and the initiative announced this morning is that the Department of Labor is proposing a 90-day program and capping the subsidy at $9.25 an hour. While this is a good start, Moylan said this is a short-term band-aid solution which may not be adequate for the intended objectives.

“I am certain there are concerns with the funding, but the reality is that the priority of the federal ARP funds is intended to invest into the economic recovery of our island, and not just about addressing government shortfalls. After all, if we improve our economy, our tax base improves, hence reducing public sector financial shortfalls,” the senator said.

#guam

Vice Speaker expresses condolences on death of for

Vice Speaker expresses condolences on death of former Philippine president ‘Noynoy’ Aquino
By Gerry Partido - June 24, 2021

Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes has expressed her condolences to the people of the Philippines and the Filipino community on Guam.

“I extend my deepest condolences and sympathies to the friends and family of President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ C. Aquino and to the people of the Philippines. By all accounts, President Aquino was a humble man who led the Philippines with integrity and discipline during his tenure,” the vice-speaker said.

She added: As the son of President Cory Aquino, the woman who helped bring democracy back to the Philippines with her unwavering faith in her people, he had a lot to live up to. Through his leadership, he oversaw the country’s fastest economic growth since the 1970s, and I truly believe we can learn a lot from his presidency as we work to rebuild our economy. I join the Philippine people in honoring his life and memory.

#guam

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