PAY 2 PLAY: THE MSN SCANDAL
For the past week, the island has been in an uproar over allegations made against Guam’s popular new congressional delegate, Michael F. Q. San Nicolas. Subsequently, his accuser, John Paul Manuel has been targeted with false accusations, suspected of being a part of a vast non-existent plot to tank San Nicolas.
Kandit News’ Johnnie Rosario, then, inexplicalbly, targeted me in a barrage of unhinged, false accusations, as well.
Although, I had wanted to stay on the sidelines of this volatile public scandal – (because I absolutely loathe the potential political outcome) - I feel I can no longer remain neutral due to those insidious fabrications, mounted to do nothing less than trick Kandit viewers and maliciously impugn my integrity, credibility, and reputation in the public arena.
Thus, the time has come for guamblog to put this puppy to bed – like a Michael Bordallo pet killer.
But, first, let’s set the framework for this blog post.
There will be no Kandit-style trashing of anyone; no lascivious, red meat gossip. No talk about “sex toys and strap-on dildos, and whose ass they went up,” as mentioned several times by Johnnie Rosario on Kandit, in her rabid, out-of-control rants in defense of San Nicolas.
There’s a lot of ground to cover – because our congressman has been a busy little narcissist for years – so, let’s get started, from the top.
After being goaded by Kandit News and San Nicolas, Manuel filed a complaint against his former boss, late Friday afternoon.
Included in the complaint were attachments that showed an illegal solicitation of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) by the congressman from local businessman Andrew Park. If Andrew Park is not a US citizen, this could be another huge problem for him – and the congressman.
Andrew Park is the agent for South Korean energy provider, Hanwha Energy, a company that benefitted significantly from San Nicolas’ favorable vote on a major bond measure before the legislature.
Last August, Guam Power Authority signed a multi-year, multimillion dollar contract with Hanwha to build and operate a solar power plant. As part of the contract, Hanwha rate charges will increase each year for the term of the contract.
GPA will pay multiples of millions to purchase the plant from Hanwha when the contract ends.
In June, Hanwha attempted to stop the awarding of another energy contract the company had bid on, but lost. The company sought to control half of all the energy produced by GPA for island ratepayers. GPA denied Hanwha’s protest.
It’s the same contract, with Korean Electric, that senator Clynt Ridgell recently tried to get GPA to hold off on due to his concerns over how the contract was awarded and questionable costs and rate information provided to the legislature, and the public, by the Consolidate Commission on Utilities.
According to Manuel’s complaint, San Nicolas laundered the illegal solicitation provided by Park by running it through the lax local campaign regulations governing small dollar fundraisers. This is a common practice utilized by politicians to hide illegal donations.
Another way island politicians run around the law to hide illegal campaign donations is to attribute them in campaign financial filings to raffle ticket sales – which are also poorly accounted under existing local election laws.
Michael San Nicolas is not the only politicians to launder money this way…(right, Speaker!?)
Michael San Nicolas’ Pay-2-Play game goes farther back than the recent solicitation from Park, and seems to favor Korean donors. Park, and another Korean businessman also benefitted from their “friendship” with Mike in the creation of a virtual monopoly on electronic/video billboards on Guam.
San Nicolas’ close buddy, Tae Oh, was the other beneficiary. Tae Oh is another deep pocket donor; his family is in the business of land and property development.
He also owns and operates the tutoring service company Ivy Educational Services.
In 2017, then-senator San Nicolas wrote a bill that would legalize video billboards on properties owned by Park and Oh, before disallowing the further possibility for new electronic billboards; thus, creating a monopoly for his donor pals.
Initially, the GLUC illegally approved the addition of video billboards on the properties, despite the Commission’s own legal counsel warning them that such action was against the law.
Tae Oh was appointed as a commissioner to the GLUC board in 2015. He is the current chairman of the GLUC.
The vice chair, at the time of that illegal action was Victor Cruz, staff assistant to Gov. Eddie Calvo. A longtime, fairly useless, political operative who earned $85,000 a year, plus benefits. Another commissioner on the board was the chief executive officer for Korean-owned Core Tech.
When told by the GLUC attorney of the illegality of their actions, Cruz famously said he didn’t care.
They voted to ignore the law and the Attorney General’s Office and gave permission to Park to build a 30’ video billboard on his property in front of Churrasco’s, in Tumon. Tae Oh quickly began installation of a similar board on his building, next Mobil, at the airport intersection.
Then-senator Frank Aguon later tried to introduce a measure to suspend and reform the GLUC.
“Knowingly and willfully disregarding the legal advice of the assistant attorney general of Guam,” Aguon wrote, “It presents a complicated issue addressing the priorities of this board and its respect for the rule of law.”
The Kalbi cabal in the legislature killed that effort.
Apparently, Tae Oh forgot his response to the former senator, when Aguon asked him during his confirmation hearing, in 2015, what he would do in the event of a conflict of interest with his business interests.
Tae Oh said he would recuse himself. So much for that.
Moreover, Tae Oh has also benefited enormously from his pals in politics by getting away from paying taxes on all the substantial number of accommodations and boarding that he illegally provides for foreign nationals attending private schools on island, St. John’s, Harvest, etc.
Former senator, now Guam airport head, Tom Ada is another “friend of Tae Oh” – and led several legislative attempts that would, or did, benefit the Oh family, including the sale of government land to the Ohs.
However, despite San Nicolas’ pay-2-play shenanigans with Korean businessmen – who may have a serious federal issue if it turns out they are not US citizens – the bigger problem may be the malignant narcissism that led him to file what may, in fact, be a fraudulent complaint with the FBI.
Thinking you are smarter than everyone else is a symptom of this sort of extreme narcissism, which might explain why he thinks/thought he could pull a fast one on federal law enforcement.
By now, all of Guam has heard San Nicolas’ claim of a political blackmail conspiracy that he cites to skirt the serious allegations of corruption and illegal campaign finance violations leveled at him by his former right-hand man, John Paul “JP” Manuel.
San Nicolas has thus far refused to answer a straight "yes" or "no" on whether he was having an illicit affair with a staffer, or whether he misused campaign funds. But he did accuse local politicians, and their operatives, of “conspiring” to get him, citing a complaint he filed with the FBI earlier this year as proof.
The problem is, in a page straight out of Third World tinpots’ playbook, that complaint may actually be a fraud, and part of an intimidation scheme hatched by the congressman himself, to exploit judicial and law enforcement processes to coerce Manuel into silence.
However, no one ostensibly named in the complaint has received ever been contacted by the FBI relative to any investigation associated with San Nicolas' alleged conspiracy complaint.
All that said, let me express my personal and political dismay – and clarify one thing: I am not eager to see the congressman vacate his seat; not just yet. Like all of you, I was stunned to see the allegations on the congressman’s timeline.
Kandit News’ Troy Torres, in fact was the one who alerted me that the comments had been posted, several hours AFTER they were posted. Everything Johnnie Rosario, of Kandit News, has been peddling to their viewers about me being a part of some conspiracy or plot to attack the congressman is pure fantasy. Manufactured lies.
Is there rib-splitting gloating going on with the political demise of San Nicolas? Yes. Lots.
But, hanging in the balance is the possibility that governor Lou Leon Guerrero would have the ability to unilaterally designate anyone of her choosing to fill a vacated congressional seat. That’s not something any of us should be amused by.
Twisting words I spoke to Andrea Pellacani to make it appear I said something that I did not, Johnnie Rosario gleaned over the heart of my discussion last week with Drea: The idea that our political system is so broken, that we, as voters are forced into a situation where we have to choose. We are obligated to trade off criminal conduct and moral turpitude in our elected officials for competency.
Allegations notwithstanding, San Nicolas has been, without a doubt, a highly effective delegate for the people of Guam, in D.C.. However, it is my fervent belief that Bisco Lee is just as mercenary and narcissistic as San Nicolas. While less malignant’ but she is also far, far less competent. And not the one.
Please, as we all sit back and watch this miserable shit show unravel, think about it. The congressman’s egregious personal choices have created this crisis. But, with every crisis comes opportunity; possibly choosing a replacement for a political foe, just happens to be the opportunity for you.
The opportunity lays before us to make sure the lax Guam election laws that permit this sort of play-to-play are eliminated. This is an opportunity to clean up the cesspool of Guam politics.
