ULUDONG ANSWERS GOV. ADACHI ON VP DEBATE
September 25, 2016
Gov. Yositaka Adachi
Candidate for Vice President
Dear Candidate Adachi:
This is a response to your letter of September 21, 2016 (Wednesday) that I never received up to now but only saw it last Saturday, September 24, three days later, in the opinion page of the Friday (9/23/16) edition of the Island Times newspaper and I understand it is in the Facebook. I notice also that you only addressed the letter to me and PMC but not to Director of Development, Tchuzie Tadao and PCC which was the co-sponsor of the debate and took part in the planning and decision making on all aspects of the debate since the beginning.
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I also want to know why attack me and PMC a week after the debate. It‘s over and damage had been done and you are bringing it back. You will pay dearly for this in term of votes.
I can see also that you did not intend to send me the letter but only to publicize it in the other newspaper and the Facebook in order to justify your running away from the September 15 VP debate. It is also clear that you never intended to take part in the debate because either you were afraid to be whipped publicly by Sen. Oilouch who is more educated, more informed, good debater as an attorney. Or maybe you were afraid of possible questions by the media and students about uses of Koror government funds and employees to campaign in the last one year in Palau, Guam, and elsewhere or even questions about leasing Koror public lands and waters to your nephews, nieces, other relatives, state employees, or your cronies and their children.
If your memory has failed, let me remind you that the debate was originally set for August 30 but it was you who requested to postpone in your August 25 letter. You had said it was such a short notice and also expressed concerns over the order of speakers, all candidates must take part and your representative must be in the entire planning of the debate. PMC and PCC met and decided to postpone it to accommodate you.
A meeting was held on August 30 and the Koror State Government Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ernest Ongidobel who appears to be your campaign manager while serving as a government employee, showed up. He made four demands that you 1) want to review all questions; 2) will participate only if all candidates take part; 3) Diaz and no other is to film film debate; 4) you will be the last speaker. None of candidates for president and vice president of Palau in debates since first national election in 1980 has ever made such demands to debate sponsors. Even President Obama did not make such demands to USA media in the debates with Mitt Romney in the 2012 USA election. We are not stupid, we know you were afraid to take part in the debate and you should have been man enough to say it from day one.
Still PMC and PCC took your concerns as well as those from the other two candidates under advisement and after several meetings, rescheduled the debate for September 15, 2015. Your representative was invited to the planning meeting prior to the debate and he did not show up. The debate was left open for you and other candidates to participate. We had hoped that you will come to your sense and take part as the people were waiting to hear from you. You and the other candidate decided to stay away and as a result, it turned into a one-candidate forum not because of PMC or PCC or my relationship with Mr. Oilouch but because of you.
Why did you not just say no in the first place and instead waited until a week after and few days before election and blamed me.
For your information, I have been away for over two weeks from September 5-21 and did not participate in the meetings of PMC and PCC with representatives of the candidates when the final decision was made on new debate schedule. So accusing me of staging the debate to benefit my cousin, Sen. Raynold Oilouch, is outright false and is cover-up for your running away from facing him. When a bully knows he is going to be whipped, he runs.
Yes, Sen. Oilouch is my close relative as my father is older brother of his father and my mother is an auntie of his mother. And yes, I support him not because he is my relative but because he has articulated a better platform and better ideas and has more knowledge about the VP position and is able to do the job . He has higher education and more knowledge about the law and government and has proven himself as a lawyer for MLSC, in private practice, and as a senator for eight years. But more so he is humble and hard working, not arrogant and dictatorial. He came from a poor family in Ngechesar, not from highest clans of Koror and Ngeremlengu or a well-to-do family in Koror but rose to his position now because of hard work and wits. And he is going to top Tuesday election also because he had visited practically every home and family in Palau from Kayangel to Angaur and has personally talked to more people than you and has seen their living conditions and can better understand and represent them as vice president and minister.
You of all the people should know Sen. Oilouch because he is a good lawyer and had represented and won cases for KSPLA as Koror attorney. You must have reviewed the case files or attended the land hearings and saw him in action when he won many cases for KSPLA. May be that is why you are afraid to face him in a debate before TV cameras. Governor, you are no match to Sen. Oilouch and you know it. And I do not need to rig a debate for him as he will win on his own as you will see in the Tuesday election.
In your letter you also mentioned another debate after the primary election being organized by the Chamber of Commerce and the Bar Association and that you are a part of the debate planning. I am a member of the Bar and I have asked the officers and they confirmed that you were never part of the debate planning. Furthermore you did not make such demands to them as you did to PMC and PCC. And by the way, are you sure there will a vice president debate after the primary?
I notice the arrogance, sense of power, and condescending tone of your letter. I guess after trashing the members of the highest clan of Koror and traditional leaders of the state for many years along with winning three gubernatorial election, power can get into one’s head. Please understand that the media in Palau stand for higher purposes and goals and will not be intimidated by your power and position in the Koror State Government which will end in December of 2017.
PMC and PCC have no other motive in sponsoring the debate except to provide an opportunity for the people of Palau to know the characters, thoughts, ideas, and platforms of those who aspire to public offices before they elect them. The people have the right to know their leaders and government and have freedom to express themselves in elections. This is the only way to prevent corruption, nepotism, abuse of power and misuse of public funds in state governments as well as the national government and to assure transparency, openness, and accountability in governance so that freedom and democracy will prevail in this young Republic .
Sincerely,
/s/Moses Uludong
Cc Dr. Patrick Tellei, PCC
Tchuzie Tadao, PCC
Island Times
PMC Board Members [/restrict]