As island leaders kicked off the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Organic Act Tuesday, they noted that Guam still has unfinished business with the United States – including settling the island’s political status.
Representatives from the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government were joined by grandsons of Baltazar J. Bordallo and Carlos P. Taitano, chief figures in Guam’s quest for U.S. citizenship, at a news conference in the Guam Congress Building Tuesday morning.
The group outlined plans for a celebration called Lumala’ I Estoria-ta, History Comes Alive, with tours, exhibits, a panel discussion and a festival. But they also emphasized that more work remains in Guam’s quest for self-determination.
The Organic Act, signed by President Harry Truman on Aug. 1, 1950, granted citizenship to people born on Guam and established the framework for the civilian government. Having survived a brutal enemy occupation in a war that wiped out 10% of the island’s population, residents did not want to be governed by the U.S. military.
“This was not just a legal milestone,” Guam Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert J. Torres Jr. explained. “It was a defining moment in our island’s long journey toward greater self governance. For decades prior, Guam was governed by the U.S. Navy, with little regard to the democratic process or democratic norms. The Organic Act changed that.”
Victor Lujan, the eldest grandson of Carlos P. Taitano, said he grew up hearing Taitano’s “countless stories of the struggles of the people of Guam under naval governance.”
When Taitano traveled to Honolulu in 1936 to visit his brother and go to school, “he quickly recognized the disparity in how people are treated. He was shocked, confused, totally taken aback, a testament to the environment he grew up by naval governance in Guam,” Lujan said. “Guam and its people were relegated to a construct that suited the military.”
In 1937, Baltazar J. Bordallo and Francisco B. Leon Guerrero traveled to Washington, D.C., to push for citizenship. Although a bill was introduced in Congress, it failed.
After the war, Guam leaders again pushed for citizenship and self-governance. Conflicts between local leaders and the naval governor led to the Guam Congress walkout of March 1949. Taitano reached out to contacts in the U.S. news media, garnering attention for the island’s struggle. In September 1949, the island was no longer governed by the Navy, with Carlton Skinner appointed as the first civilian governor. The Organic Act was signed the following year.
“The Organic Act of Guam is a beginning and not an end,” acting Gov. Josh Tenorio said. “It represents an essential, critical chapter in the island’s ongoing journey toward true self determination. Today is not just about why law is very important. It's about why our people are important.”
Tenorio said the people of Guam have different views on political status, but “all of us know that there are big limitations. I mean, the most obvious one is that our men and women, the sons and daughters of Guam, have been called out to war. And they cannot even vote for the president of United States. That's such a very thing that remains in our face as an example of unfinished business.”